Three Weeks Until Turkey Day!

A friend of ours who lives close by and never leaves our place without a meal, suggested that I have more recipe posts.  How appropriate with Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks! omm omm ommmmm...

It can be overwhelming to plan and prepare a Thanksgiving feast, but Mama Stuart loves playing hostess. J  My sous chef/dish washer/post-party-cleaner-upper may disagree about having people over, but he has lovingly agreed that hosting Thanksgiving can be our tradition.  The key to a smooth Thanksgiving is an organized shopping list (various recipes will call for the same ingredients), a timeline (to coordinate all the prepping and oven times for various dishes) and having guests bring a few dishes.  You know the Tanners can’t function without lists and timelines! 

Some other things I've learned each year:

1.   Make room in the fridge!  The week of Thanksgiving, I try to keep all leftovers to a minimum to free up space for Mr. Turkey Tom and all my prepped veggies and dishes. 

2.   Plan ahead.  Defrost your turkey days in advance.  You don't want a frozen turkey! 

3.   Make sure your turkey is in a tray or securely bagged when defrosting in the fridge. 2008 Turkey Tom bled all over my fridge.  This called for a late night cleaning and disinfecting. Not fun.

4.   Think about when you want to start brining.  2009 Turkey Tom wasn't able to be brined to the fullest (up to 24 hours) because I didn't start early enough. Also, my fridge isn't big enough for a giant stock pot or my roasting pan, so 2009 Turkey Tom slept oustside on the balcony in a cooler with ice overnight. 

5.  Have a lot of tupperware on hand that you don't mind giving away.  This makes for easy packing up of leftovers for your guests and for your own stash.

So, in honor of the anticipated Turkey Day, each week I’ll post something that I serve at our Thanksgiving dinners (I use some recipes year-round too).

Do you have any delicious Thanksgiving recipes to share?  I could use some turkey variations or better recipes for sides (gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc).