Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Thanksgiving Menu

I will be hosting an early Thanksgiving meal for my parents, siblings, and grandparents on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

I wanted to make sure that Grandma could sit down and enjoy dinner with all of us, and due to various other plans on the Actual Day, I decided it would be easier if I had a meal ready the day my family arrived. Hopefully we can all sit down to eat before their van engine has a chance to cool down.

Last year, we had a roast dinner the day before Thanksgiving, and after visiting and appetizers, Grandma abruptly decided they had to leave about 15 minutes before we were ready to sit down to our fancy meal! Poor Grandpa was disappointed. Dementia has it's unknowns, but to avoid a repeat of last year, I'm asking them to arrive when my family does to a fully prepared meal with no waiting interval. :)

So, here is my trimmed down simple meal menu:

Brined and Roasted Turkey
(I've always wanted to brine, so this will be the year!)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Souffle, courtesy of Tom's garden and recipe from the Nisbett's
Green Bean Casserole
Cornmeal Rolls


Due to traveling, Mom will be unable to bake so I asked her to contribute cranberry sauce and sparkling juices (we went through 8 bottles last year and they were hardly enough!)

Dessert will be the traditional pumpkin pie (from Tom's pumpkins) and pecan pie. Yes, I am talking basic here!

Here is my "plan"

Monday
Clean the house
Bake pies, 2 of each
Prepare green bean casserole
Prepare sweet potato casserole
Brine Turkey

Tuesday
Finishing touches on house, set up tables and chairs
Make mashed potatoes
Roast Turkey
Make & bake rolls
Bake green bean and sweet potato casserole

What do you think? Any recommendations? I will be away from home starting Thursday (tomorrow) until Sunday evening, so Monday and Tuesday of next week are my only days to work with.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great plan, Rachel, and you wil LOVE the brined turkey!! My mouth waters just thinking about it...
    I love the simplified menu.

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  2. hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

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