Planning on cooking for 15?

Thanksgiving is a few days away. As a planner and someone who enjoys cooking, this holiday is my favorite. I have detailed game plan of what I’m making, who is bringing what, and what time I need to start on Wednesday; so I’m not stressed out on Thanksgiving day and can enjoy watching the Macy’s TD parade. 

My game plan for this week starts bright and early Wednesday morning with me brining my turkey.

A friend of mine is making her first turkey and was asking me how to brine. There are many different recipes for brining. I prefer to brine my turkey in apple cider. Apple cider brine has less salt than the typical brine, so then I don’t feel so bad about slathering my turkey in a delicious garlic herb compound butter before roasting. YUM!

Each member of our family plays a part in our meal. My husband makes the most delicious sausage stuffing, my stepson Holden is in charge of the apple pie, my other stepson Alec handles the cranberry apple sauce, and my daughter makes the pumpkin pie. I’m so thankful that each of them is able to make something delicious to share with our extended family and close friends on Thanksgiving. I’m also thankful that all this takes place on Wednesday night. We have a small kitchen and having this many people and dirty dishes in such a small space can take the holiday cheer right out of the holiday.

On Thursday I don’t start cooking anything until 12:30 in the afternoon, which is when the turkey goes in. The rest of the day is peeling potatoes, making mac and cheese for my sweet sister, getting the veggies ready for steaming and roasting, and finally making gravy and remembering not to burn the biscuits. We plan on eating around 4:00. This will leave us enough time after dinner to settle into our food comas and then play Just Dance 3  to burn off some calories before enjoying the dessert spread.

In a moment of reflection, I’m thankful I have some good friends and family who have encouraged me to write this blog and to spend the day enjoying food and games with some of them.  Happy Thanksgiving!