What Are Your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips?

RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? Post By Golightly05 (Guest Post) (11/08/2007) I found this great page on the Good Housekeeping site that has a countdown to Thanksgiving! http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/holidays/thanksgiving/ RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? Post By Wanda Rogers (Guest Post) (11/20/2006) I take one day, Set down write out entire menu for Holiday. I then clip all my coupons, Go shopping and purchass the ingredients. The Day before the Holiday, I prepare all deserts and Home made Bread. The day of I prepare and cook the Turkey. While Turkey is cooking, I prepare the side dishes with pre measured ingredients that have been put in baggies the day before and set all aside to be put in oven as Turkey comes out. This is good because it alows the Turkey to set and rest while side dishes are baking . Have Fun! | (11/19/2001) Many of you will be traveling for Thanksgiving. Please be safe and try not to be in too much of a hurry. Being stressed takes away from the fun. Everything always works out somehow. Whether the food is burnt, someone forgot their dish or the tablecloth has a hole in it, your attitude about it can make it a miserable situation or something for all of you to laugh about. Make sure to laugh a lot. Togetherness with the family and friends, having fun and giving thanks for what you have is the most important thing, not the food or decorations. Enjoy the holiday! If you don't have any family to spend the time with, invite over some friends that are in the same situation and put together a small feast, rent some movies and have a good time. If you have friends with no where to go, invite them to come with you. Thanksgiving, especially this year, is a time when no one should have to be alone. - Staff RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/15/2001) Place a whole onion (skin and all) along with few large pieces of celery inside the cavity of your turkey before baking for a very moist and flavorful bird. I also baste the turkey with apple juice instead of butter or fat which results in a beautifully golden crisp skin and moist meat without any added fat. As a bonus your house will smell fabulous. The turkey will not have the taste of apples. - Callie - Tampa, FL Pumpkin Pie Cake | (11/15/2001) Pumpkin Pie Cake Recipe 1 large can pumpkin pie mix (has the sugar and spices in it) 1 large can evaporated milk 4 eggs 1 yellow cake mix 1 cup butter, melted 1 cup chopped pecans Mix the pumpkin pie mix, milk, and eggs together. Pour into 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over the pumpkin mixture. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Cool. Serve with whipped cream or frozen whipped topping, thawed. Serves 12 to 15. - Shirley RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/14/2001) Every year when we sit down at the Thanksgiving table, after we have said the prayer I have each member of the family share what they are thankful for. It has become a family tradition. Also at our Christmas dinner table we all take a time sharing a favorite Christmas memory from years past. This proves to be a lot of fun especially to hear what the grandparents have to share. - Terri RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/14/2001) My class & I make the Mayflower out of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with dip. The sails are pretzel rods, and sliced American cheese. Really cute, & the kids love it. - Julie Rotating Responsibility | (11/12/2001) Every year we rotate who will have Thanksgiving and Christmas. One person will have Thanksgiving and another Christmas. We also rotate who will bring the turkey and ham. One person donates the ham and turkey for Thanksgiving and another for Christmas. The person that brings the ham and turkey can fix it at their house or drop it off at the house where we are gathering and it will fixed there. Every one gets a turn and the cost is divided. - Angela RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/12/2001) Every Thanksgiving, my son and his cousins make hats for every one. Some of us are Pilgrims, some of us are Indians. It's fun for the kids. By comparing pictures of past Thanksgivings, we can see how different their imaginations are each year! It also teaches the kids about the first Thanksgiving. - Michelle RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/12/2001) Here's a recipe for Rolls: Thanksgiving Yeast Rolls Ingredients 1 stick margarine 1 c. Seven Up (I use diet) 2 c. bread flour 2 pkg. fast rising yeast 1/2 c. sugar 3/4 tsp. salt 2 beaten eggs In pan with thermometer, heat margarine and Seven Up to 120 to 130 degrees Add to flour, yeast, salt and sugar (already mixed in large bowl) Beat for a couple of minutes with electric mixer Add eggs and beat again, add enough additional flour to make a soft dough Knead on floured surface till elastic Put in large container sprayed with butter spray then spray top. Put in warm place till doubled, knead again and roll out and cut into rolls or make loaves of bread (you can do anything with this) Bake at 400 for rolls (bake for 20-25 min till golden brown), 350 for bread (bake 40-50 minutes till golden brown) You might want to brush the tops with beaten egg or melted margarine before you bake them. (You can also use milk or buttermilk instead of the Seven Up. - Debbie RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/07/2001) My family loves a simple supper dish that I make from Thanksgiving leftovers. Dice some of the leftover turkey and mix it in with some leftover stuffing and an egg. Form into patties the size of thick hamburgers. Wrap each with a strip of bacon, secured with a toothpick. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes, until the bacon is cooked. Serve with cranberry sauce and/or leftover turkey gravy if you have some. Sue - Edmonds, WA RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/07/2001) I think making mashed potatoes at the last minute in order to keep them hot is very tricky while your juggling everything else for Thanksgiving. I make them a day or two before. I just make them as usual, sometimes adding sour cream and garlic salt. Put them in a casserole dish and refrigerate. Then on Thanksgiving, I pull them out and let set to room temperature and microwave to warm them up at the last minute. No one knows they were done early. - Candace - Annapolis, MD RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/07/2001) When carving pumpkins for pie, don't throw out the seeds! Wash off the gooey stuff, spread on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with Lawry's (seasoning) salt and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Makes a great snack. - Sunny RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/07/2001) Every Thanksgiving weekend, my family hosts it's yearly Christmas party. Since Christmas is always so hectic, and many friends travel home for Thanksgiving, it is the perfect time to get everyone together. We all decorate the tree and house, eat Thanksgiving leftovers (everyone brings leftovers deserts and snacks) and enjoy catching up with each other, before the hectic weeks of Christmas shopping and other Holiday obligations fill up our already too busy schedules. Everyone looks forward to the party - including myself. I don't have to do much cooking and thanks to friends and family - the house is decorated in no time! - Annie RE: What are your Thanksgiving Preparation Tips? | (11/07/2001) As Thanksgiving is the largest cooking holiday in our family, I've learned that preparing early is very helpful. One week prior I buy all the canned goods, clean out the fridge, and start thawing the turkey. The day prior I make most of the side dishes, desserts, and make one final grocery run. Then all I have to do on Thanksgiving is make the turkey. - Tara