First of all, I would make sure that you get one of those thermometers that you put in your oven, don’t rely on the temp guage of your oven. And make sure that you cook some things in there, and test the temp long before you attempt your Thanksgiving meal, just to get a feel for how it really works.
Here are a couple of websites that give some good step by step Advice on Preparing a Thanksgiving Meal and this one from Epicurious and this one is About Everything you Need to Know about Cooking Turkey and this one for Stuff You Can Make Ahead of Time
Make sure you have an instant read themometer for checking the Internal Temperature of you Turkey
Another tip I will give you is to hire some helpers, whether it be a college kid who isn’t going home for the holidays, a professional if you can afford it, or simply a relative or two who will be attending your meal (who will probably do it for free or for a pie). Thanksgiving dinner preparation is not for the faint of heart, and should not be attempted alone, unless you are super-experienced. Then make sure you give these folks specific tasks, you don’t want them to be there simply to be underfoot. If you want to assign someone to clean the house and set the table and the decorations and move furniture do that. If you need someone to help you bake the pies and make the dips and other dishes that can be done ahead of time, be very specific on what you need them to do. If you need someone to be in the kitchen with you while you attend to the turkey, make sure you give them specific tasks to do that will help you get all of your food out on time and so that you aren’t just running around like a turkey with its head cut off. Be very specific, even if you need to print out a task list, which can be very helpful.
Make sure that you completely clean out your fridge and get rid of unecessary items (or move them to someone else’s fridge) a few days before you start this operation. Make sure that you will have enough room to put all of the items in your fridge that need to go in there, including the leftovers after the fact. Practice putting the containers that you know you will be using to see if they actually fit in your fridge. You may want to get a big picnic cooler full of ice to put things such as drinks, that can be cooled safely and save the fridge for the actual food items.
If you plan to send leftovers home with people stock up on a bunch of these nifty Restaurant Style Containers with Lids They’re easier to deal with than random tupperware and you can stack them compactly out of sight. Make sure you have plenty of plastic bags too.
For your ownself, you can use the above containers, or your own tupperware, but also have lots of freezer bags on hand for after the meal. And make sure one of your helpers is specifically put in charge of putting the leftovers into the fridge immediately after the meal. Guidelines About Leftovers
For your own sanity, and so your guests won’t keep bugging you about it, make sure that you have at least one or two big trash cans with trash bags, either in your garage, or if you can fit one in your kitchen, discreetly, or even outside on the patio. I can’t recall how many parties I’ve been to where the poor hosts forgot to do this and then people just kept piling up dishes everywhere, because the tiny little kitchen wastebasket was overflowing. Put one of your helpers in charge of trash patrol. This person should be the same person who asks people if they’re finished with their plates and then removes them (instead of the guests having to do it) so the junk left on the plates can be discareded into the big trash can immediately. I would advise getting some attractive plastic drink cups for the same reason. Your guests will have a drink, set their cup down, forget about it and then need another one or two or three. Make one of your helpers be in charge of collecting, dumping and disposing of cups and making sure that the guests always have a clean cup or a new drink when they need one. Smart and Final has a lot of different styles of plastic cups, they also carry the foil containers with the lids. If you don’t want to use any plastic cups, make sure that you either buy some inexpensive glasses ahead of time, or borrow some. People use a lot more glasses than you would think. And make sure you have enough plates and silverware, again, borrow some if you need to, but do it ahead of time.
Another thing you might want to get is several large sized plastic bus pans, like the ones they use in restaurants to collect dirty dishes. The reason being, is because you will be so busy prepping and moving food from your kitchen to the table, and people will be eating and finishing up their plates, long before you are able to wash them or even put them in the dishwasher. So if you have a designated spot to put your bus pans (even it it’s out in the garage on a portable table, or a specific spot in your kitchen so it doesn’t impede your cooking and prep. Have one of your helpers be the person who scrapes the junk off the plates into your designated big trash can and then stacks the dirty dishes into the big bus pan, so that you can wash them later, but don’t let your guests start stacking dirty dishes where you will be still making and serving food, and later serving dessert. Just get ‘em out of the way for now (preferably out of sight, even if that means laying a big towel over the stack).
If you think you will be serving coffee, keep in mind that a standard coffee maker is really meant only for about 6 to 8 cups of coffee at a time. If you can borrow another coffee maker, you can make sure that one of the pots is always brewing while you’re serving out of the other one. And don’t forget the cream, sugar and sweet and low (the last party I went to, they forgot these items, so people had to drink black coffee LOL).
And assume that you will need a lot more ice than you have. If you have an extra freezer in your garage, clean part of it out so that you can buy bags of extra ice. Or wait until almost the last minute to send one of your helpers to the store to buy ice to put in your big cooler.
And make sure that you have a stash of “emergency” cleaning supplies on hand. You should get some big bottles of club soda just in case someone spills wine on your rug. And have a spray bottle of Clorox Cleanup to use in the kitchen (you should be regularly wiping down your counters as you go along) and have tons and tons of paper towels (and extra rolls of toilet paper out in plain sight so your guests don’t have to rummage through your cabinets). My cousin even put one of those automatic scent spritzers in her bathroom, thank goodness. And make sure you have plenty of hand soap, a bottle of hand sanitizer and maybe some of those nifty disposable paper hand towels for your guests. Some people (myself included) are horrified at the thought of drying our hands on the one wet, drippy hand towel that everybody else has used.
If you need to, set up yours or a borrowed, extra folding table with a pretty plastic tablecloth if you have to. It’s often better to put all of the food or the drinks on a different table than the one that the guests are sitting at, which can become very crowded, especially if you have decorations.
And make lists, with big fonts, so everyone that needs to use them can actually see them without having to find their glasses. Your lists should have tasks for everybody who will be helping you, with timelines. You should walk through your house about 2 weeks ahead of time to figure out your problem areas. Do you need to move or remove any furniture or wires or throw rugs or pets water dishes or lamps or breakables, for safety’s sake or for traffic flow situations? Make sure you have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen.
Clean your house thoroughly a week before Thanksgiving, and then give it a quick once over the day before, or have one of your helpers do that. And then have one of the helpers give it a quick check about an hour before your guests are supposed to arrive. Make sure that the bathroom is sparkling clean and has the soap, sanitizer and disposable guest towels and extra toilet paper ready to go, before your guests arrive. Make sure that the table is set first thing in the morning and that your extra tables are set up with your drink station, and put out any not yet filled bowls and serving platters and extra napkins and extra whatevers on these tables. Make sure you have your ice. Go over your check lists to make sure you have everything you need.
And have a great time, and don’t worry about any little mishaps. Most of your guests won’t care, they’re just their for the food and the comraderie.
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