Whether you are hosting this year’s feast, or playing musical chairs between houses for dinners, these Thanksgiving Day hacks are sure to help you save time and sanity so you can genuinely experience the magnitude of this particular grateful holiday.
Pre-Thanksgiving To-Dos
1. Begin collecting empty food containers or encourage friends and family to bring their own. Empty butter or sour cream dishes make wonderful no pressure to return Tupperware for guests to take leftovers home. The weekend before Thanksgiving at our house is literally a culinary exploration of how to clear out our freezer and refrigerator to help maximize space for the week to come while collecting these treasures. If you are not hosting, don’t be too proud to take a stash with you!
2. Designate a menu and strategically assign a dish or supply–accommodating out of town guests with a practical contribution. My step sister from St. Louis packs a mean lot of life saving paper products, and my sister from Dallas has been known to order online and set the delivery to the house she is residing for the holiday. One other life changing traveling Thanksgiving Hack invention:: the crock pot car charger! There is nothing worse than being told to “just bring whatever you want” because then you end up with 8 pounds of mashed potatoes or 12 dozen rolls and a very heated conversation over whose rolls are the best.
3. Reserve your ClickList time for pick up! Place your order 3 days in advance (and make sure to mark or unmark “substitutions okay” and provide comments for your items) to insure your desired time is accommodated. Likely, this will not be your only trip to the store that week, but this will be every bit worth the $4.95 charge for your foresight. I make my list on Saturday before Thanksgiving, order on Sunday and pick up on Tuesday evening. This leaves Wednesday for me to make a quick trip for anything that may have not been available or forgotten, but it will probably only require a basket, not a cart, on the busiest day of the holiday week. PS. Don’t forget to order quick meals for the week of just in case hack #1 works too well!
4. Do as much prep work as possible the weekend before and label appropriately. Pies and rolls freeze well, just make sure to smack a label or some type of indication of how to thaw and re-heat. Chop vegetables for stuffing then place pre-measured into labeled storage bags or containers. Print recipes and tape them to the inside of a cabinet for quick and easy access especially if you are fortunate to have a sous chef helping.
Thanksgiving Day-Of To-Dos
5. Start your day off early or rather keep your regular morning wake time and carve out a quick walk, workout or even the Say Grace Race. This will give you a sense of self in a day that is suppose to be filled with gratitude and will hopefully help keep a level head should your kitchen erupt into chaos.
6. Grill, smoke, or fry your turkey. This allows for the men in my life to get involved, and for the oven to be full of casseroles, breads, and desserts and not penalized for the 17-21 pound beast of a bird. We are huge fans of Chef Tom at All Things BBQ in Delano, but there is overnight prep required for this amazingly delicious spicy bird recipe. And yes, we HIGHLY recommend doubling the Cranberry Infused Spiced BBQ Sauce he mentions in minute 14 of the video…cue Savage Garden music, “I’ll be your dream, I’ll be your wish, I’ll be your fantasy…” it is that good. Pro tip: If the turkey is done cooking in advance of dinner, it will stay warm in an empty cooler.
7. Set up “stations” for appetizers, beverages, and desserts. This allows the kitchen to be free of idle workers, or over critical foodies, and later this allows for the cook to enjoy a lingering conversation over a glass of wine without having to clean up and set out the next round of dinner.
8. Complete your feast with kids table covered with paper tablecloths, beautiful disposable place settings and homemade decorations to help bring a touch of whimsy and fancy without the hassle.
