Preparing for Turkey Day

We all know that Thanksgiving comes at the same time every year, but somehow it seems to always sneak up on me. I wanted to share with you my Thanksgiving checklist to yield some potential inspiration for how to host your perfect or maybe first Thanksgiving meal for a crowd.



Ali’s Thanksgiving Preparation Checklist:
• Create a menu and grocery list.

• Don’t forget about beverages and hors d’ oeuvres.

• Go to the grocery store – plan for several trips because chances are high, you will forget something!

• If you are planning on purchasing a fresh turkey (not a frozen one) you should call your grocer as early as possible to order one. If you’re using a frozen turkey – be sure to begin defrosting it the weekend before Turkey Day!

• Clean the house.

• Prepare the table linens – stain removal? Ironing?

• Decide what cutlery and serving dishes you will be using on the big day. I always like to set them out in advance to figure out the best place for each dish.

• Bring out the cookware that you will need to utilize to cook your meal – be sure that everything is clean and that you didn’t loan your only pie pan to your sister, leaving you without one.

• Set the table. This can be done days in advance and is often my favorite part of the process.

• Determine a timeline for food preparation. What can you prepare in advance? What is the order in which you need to prepare the food so that it all comes out of the oven at the same time as the turkey?

• If you only have one oven, as I do, be mindful of the fact that you will likely need to bake many more things at a time than will fit in your oven, not to mention that many things will be cooking at different temperatures. Plan this out in advance to avoid any last minute challenges in the oven.

• Hint: visit Cooks Illustrated to view their Thanksgiving Guide, which includes a schedule planner with some excellent suggestions on planning ahead and when to begin preparing certain foods.

• On Turkey Day – grab some vino, follow your schedule and have fun!


(Yep - that's me on my first Thanksgiving in our old house! Thanks to preparation and planning, my first Thanksgiving meal was a triumph - yours can be too.)

My favorite sites for Thanksgiving meal ideas:

www.allrecipes.com – a plethora of recipes created by home cooks across America that must hold up to reviewers like me in order to survive.

www.foodnetwork.com – recipes published by your favorite celebrity chefs and tested time and time again by the Food Network kitchens.

www.americastestkitchen.com – recipes tested over and over and over by Christopher Kimball and his team of chefs – there are only a limited number of recipes available without purchasing a subscription.

Happy Thanksgiving!