Good Morning. Kiss the cook

Who is playing the primary role of "chief cook and bottle washer" this Thanksgiving?  Do you have any tricks for bringing everything out at the right time and temperature for Thanksgiving dinner?

Son#2 accuses me of planning Thanksgiving dinner as I would a military offensive involving several battalions.  You have to backwards plan these things, you know?  You group your infantry, artillery and  calvary to maximize their unique capabilities. You plan their approach and time their advance. You have to coordinate the crossing of battlefield lines or they will blow each other up. I bet you all didn't know you were generals of the dance, did you?  

My house and kitchen are just too small to put out a Thanksgiving spread that is worth anything.  I would love to entertain more but we just dont have the room.  I'm going to MILs on Thursday and mom's on Friday.  Bringing some dishes to both.  I will be helping my mom a lot as she is disabled.  She loves to cook but she just can't do everything anymore.

i absolutely agree.  It is made even harder because my stove, an old JennAir with a grill, has only 1 oven and 2 eyes.  So planning what to serve and when to cook it is a major hassle.  I haven't done it in a few years because with DD away, we eat much more simply or go somewhere that I just have to bring a dish.  That is what I am doing this year. 

I do need to do a final grocery trip today.  With DS home for a long weekend, I will be cooking all weekend, just not a "big" meal.

Love it! so true!

Thanksgiving is here this year, I am off and working Christmas. No tricks here, just try to get done in advance what I can. Like cooking the celery and onion for the stuffing the night before so its cold to mix with the stuffing to decrease bacteria counts in the bird. I know, as a nurse I get a little nuts with the germ thing. Bake the pumpkin pie wednesday night too and pop it in the fridge.

I wonder if my family will notice the trimmed down stuffing and potatoes this year. I bet they wont. Cutting back on the butter this year. No pasta this year either. This crazy italian tradition has got to stop!

~Maria

LOL :) I am usually on dish washing duty.  We do Thanksgiving at my Mom's house and she got a dishwasher !!! YEAH :)

I AM hosting this year - but I'm supplying the sweet potatoes (found some great healthy recipes) and apple pie.  My sister is bringing the meat - which will be in a crock pot (she wanted pork loin - go figure).  My Mom the potatoes and the little side dishes split up between the kids.  All I have to do is have the house ready and fridge cleaned out to put stuff in.

What I'm stressing about is having my countertops in - got a call this morning from the place doing it saying they ran into problems at the install yesterday and will be late here today and may not get it done.  I had my evening all planned with getting things put back together, and then get started on working on cleaning the house.  I figured the install will create a mess of some sorts.  I'm sure it will all work out...

Did you buy a new home Jody ?  I guess I missed a big event !  Good luckwith the countertops- from exoperience don't miss any little detail when theyre there because they wont come back ( fastening dishwasher to countertop., missing  pieces of marble trim etc)

I'm chief cook this year.  It is a well orchestrated ordeal.  I plan out on paper how long things take to cook and actually write myself a time table.    Cooking my DS favorites and making sure there is plenty fthat my DGS likes.

You are so funny Gina......My family might think I act like a General sometimes with all of  the orders I throw out to them.

I'm doing  the cooking for 22 at my house and DH will deliver everything to our DD's via his golf cart.  She has a huge finished basement and although I have a big kitchen  we would be cramped at our house. When it was all adults it wasn't bad but with all of the little ones it gets a little nerve racking.  Another advantage is,  I can leave the mess and clean up later which means I don't have to start cooking as early.

My best weapon is my Crock Pot Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes!!  I make them the night before and they are perfect on Thanksgiving.  With out all of the peeling and cooking time on the big day it eases my stress level considerably.  Everyone LOVES them which is an added plus!!

Would love to hear about these crockpot potatoes, sounds like a winner!