Growing up, most of my Thanksgivings were spent either at home or with friends, and although I had certainly helped my Mom cook Thanksgiving dinner (help as in prep cook and then back to watching Lifetime movies), I never actually had to cook a whole Thanksgiving meal until I was 35.
In 2009, my Beloved and I set up shop together, and we decided to have his parents over for Thanksgiving. Well, as you can probably imagine, this threw me into a complete tailspin. I so wanted to impress his Mom and to have everything be perfect.
Unfortunately, the one person who could assist me (my Mom) had to work. So, she did what Moms do best. She wrote down a painstaking guide (about ten pages single-spaced) on how to cook Thanksgiving so that I could cook Thanksgiving exactly how she and my grandmother did.
(And it is actually pretty funny to read.)
When I lost my Mom in 2011, I simply did not know if I had it in me to host a Thanksgiving dinner. It was just too painful. But I did.
I put on my big girl panties, dusted off those Thanksgiving instructions, and got to work.
And, amazingly enough, a day that I was sure would fill be with sadness brought me much joy. And many wonderful memories.
Over the years, I have given out those instructions to young people setting up housekeeping for the very first time. Or friends of the family who wanted Mom's words.
This past week I've been sharing a lot of Thanksgiving recipes with friends, and I thought a blog post might be in order to synthesize Mom's instructions for a Thanksgiving novice--or for those of you just seeking an additional reference.
An Overview
One thing my Mom always said about cooking Thanksgiving is that it's a lot of work--whether you're cooking for five people or ten--the amount of effort required to get everything ready is the same.
So in that light, give yourself some time. Don't wait until Thanksgiving Day to start your preparations and begin cooking. You'll only overwhelm yourself.
Take Inventory
Once you get into the habit of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, this will become a bit easier. About ten days before Thanksgiving, take stock of your supplies. If you are using silver, look to see if the silver needs polishing. Check your table linens.
Same thing with things like foil, flour, seasonings, and other dry goods. (I am notoriously bad for purchasing spices I already own because I forget that I own them. To date, I have three things of poultry seasoning and three bottles of cumin. Who needs three bottles of cumin?)
As you are taking inventory, think about your menu. Obviously, some things are standard: turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce. But are there Thanksgiving traditions from your family and guests that could be incorporated?
Embrace (the old and the new) Tradition
There in nothing more strongly rooted in memory than a holiday--from the food to events--and often, we do things because it's the way it's always been done. Over the years, my mother has had to gently remind me that other people have Thanksgiving traditions, too. I now add giblets to stuffing and make homemade cranberry sauce.
As since my Beloved is Norwegian, we also have lefse and flatbread.
The Recipes
I will divide up the ingredients according to recipes and provide guidance to basic Thanksgiving recipes.
The Turkey
Probably the most intimidating. But, remember, you're not on
Naked and Afraid. And the turkey is already dead, so it can't eat you.
- Two disposable aluminum turkey pans
- One turkey of your choosing
- Butter/Oil
- Tin foil
- Turkey baster
- Meat thermometer
- s/p
One of the questions you may ask: should I get a fresh turkey? I will tell you. I have done both. And both have come out equally good. A frozen turkey will probably less expensive.
I do a fresh turkey simply out of convenience and space.
For this example, however, I'm going to assume that people may use a frozen turkey.
Don't wait until the day before to thaw out your turkey. Take your turkey out of the freezer and place in the sink the Monday or Tuesday before. If the turkey thaws more quickly than you would have liked, simply place it back in the fridge.
Once you have your thawed turkey, removed the giblets from the inside of the turkey and set aside. (I do this the day before.) Wipe down your turkey both inside and out with paper towels and clean up any excess liquid. Place turkey back in the aluminum pan and put back in your refrigerator.
(I will discuss giblets when I talk about gravy. )
The next day when you are ready to roast your turkey, let the turkey rest for about 20 minutes and again wipe down the bird.
Rub down your turkey with butter and add salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey and cover in foil.
(Many people have differing opinions on cooking temperature for a turkey. My Mom was one who chose to cook a turkey on low overnight. Since she gave me standard cooking instructions, that it what I use.)
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Cover your stuffed turkey with foil.
- On average, a 20-lb. stuffed turkey should take about six hours.
Okay, now these are Mom instructions:
"If you have an 18 pound turkey, take it out of the fridge at 9 in the morning. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees. Rinse off your turkey again, pat it dry, put it in the turkey pan, and let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature. There are roasters with racks, but a good one is not cheap. I’ve always used the Aluminum pans. If after 20 minutes, there is any juice in the bottom of the pan, wipe that out with a paper towel. Your turkey is ready to be stuffed."
Thoughts while the turkey is cooking:
"I usually put about a can of chicken broth in the bottom of the turkey pan when I put it in the oven. Grandma taught me to do it this way. Also some people sew the turkey shut with cooking string. I don’t do that. I stuff the turkey, and then cover that part with extra foil just to hold the stuffing in. I usually cover the whole turkey with foil. It will probably take several strips of foil to do this. I have found that I get more broth when I do it this way. But, it’s very important that you brown the turkey.
If you cook at 350, it should take about 5 hours for your turkey to cook. You won’t see too much going on for the first few hours. When you hit 2.5 hours, you can open your oven and uncover it enough so that you can see if you are starting to get much broth. If you are, you can use your turkey baster to start removing some of the broth. Then cover it back up. You can do this every 30 minutes or so. The closer you get to it being done, the more broth you should have. Strain it, and put in a pan on the stove. (This is the pan you will make your gravy in)
When you have reached the 4 hour mark, uncover the turkey. Now is the time that you want to start browning it. Check it every 15 minutes to see if it is browning. After 45 minutes, it should be browned for you. If not, let it go a little longer. You also have the option of turning the oven up to 375 or so if you need to brown it more. Just watch it. After it’s browned, if your meat thermometer says it isn’t done, then cover it back up, so it doesn’t brown anymore."
Remember that your meat thermometer is your very best friend when cooking anything--but especially turkey and stuffing. Ideally, your temperature for turkey should be around 165 degrees with your stuffing being around 170.
Once these temperatures have been reached, remove your turkey from the oven and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
And that was the hard part!! :)
Grandma Kelley's Stuffing
I know there are some people on the fence about stuffing: is it safe, etc.? I've had this my entire life, and all has been well. Should you decide to cook the stuffing outside the turkey, simply place the finished stuffing in the oven and cook at 350 until done.
Having said that, here's the recipe for my Grandma's stuffing.
- One of your aluminum pans
- 1.5 loaves of white bread
- 1-2 sticks butter
- 1 whole yellow onion
- 1 bag celery
- Poultry seasoning
- Chicken broth
- s/p
Usually, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I chop the onion and celery (and that's I as in my Beloved.) You want to chop the celery and onion as fine as possible. Once they are chopped, you will want to cook them in one pond (four sticks) of butter. I know that seems like a lot.
Keep that heat on a low setting. Keep a mindful eye and stir on occasion. You don't want to burn the butter. Your onions should be soft and translucent, and your celery should be nice and soft.
Guess what?? That was the hard part!!
Place in a Tupperware dish until ready to cook your turkey.
I like to rip up my bread the day before Thanksgiving. I'll grab that extra aluminum pan and rip up that bread into pieces. I use at least a loaf. And I'll cover in foil and set aside.
On the day of Thanksgiving, I will take that bread and cover in salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.
A good tip: use your pepper before the poultry seasoning. Once the poultry seasoning is in there, it's difficult to tell how much pepper you have used. I like a lot of poultry seasoning--at least half a bottle.
Once you've done that--grab the onion/celery mixture and microwave for about 30 seconds to a minute--add mixture to the bread and mix with your fingers. Slowly add chicken broth--1/4 cup at a time and mix well. Stuffing should be most but not soupy.
Add stuffing to the turkey cavity (also known as up the chicken's butt :) ). Secure with foil. Any extra cook separately.
Now your turkey is ready to go.
Mashed Potatoes
I usually determine one potato per guest with a couple of extra--we already have so much food.
This is simply the easiest dish to prepare in advance.
- 4-6 potatoes
- Butter
- Milk
- Sour cream (optional)
- s/p
One thing, my Mom and I disagree on is the peeling of potatoes. I love skins on my potatoes--which is lucky--since I hate peeling them.You can do this two days before.
Boil your potatoes until fork tender. (Use water or chicken broth.) Drain potatoes. Using a masher, mash potatoes and add butter and milk until desired consistency. Sour cream helps with smoothness of texture. If you have a mixer, don't be afraid to make a nice whipped potato.
Gravy
(As is in, "Oh Good Gravy!") Gravy is still something I struggle with. I think I may have mastered it last year, but in the words of my one remaining granny, "Life is too short to worry about homemade gravy. You're made for better stuff."
I still can't help myself. Homemade gravy, it is.
- Gravy flour
- Gravy separator
- Gravy base from turkey
- Turkey drippings
Remember when I talked about your turkey? Well, when you cleaned out that turkey the day before and removed those gross giblets? Well, we'll start with those.
Take those bag of giblets and cover in a small sauce pan. (Remove giblets first. :) ) Cook on a low heat for one-to-two hours until you have a nice broth.
Keep giblets for stuffing or for gravy or toss.
Save that broth, and put in the refrigerator.
It won't be much.
When you have gathered the broth from your turkey while cooking, strain the fat from it, using a gravy separator.
Take the broth from the giblets and heat. In a separate container, mix in the heated gravy and a bit of the gravy flour and shake or mix until a thick, lumpless gravy occurs.
Take your broth from the turkey and heat on high. Slowly. Very slowly. And your gravy mixture. Keep stirring until mixture thickens. Add salt and pepper.
And voila--your gravy.
Cranberry Sauce
When I grew up, it came out of a can. Now, I follow the recipe on the back of the cranberry bag. Super easy (and beautiful to plate), you can do this the Tuesday or Wednesday before.
Dressing Your Table
I choose to set and dress my table the night before. That way, on the day itself, I can focus on the turkey and some last-minute cleaning.
I hope this offers a guide to some basic Thanksgiving foods and that you have a wonderful holiday.
Oh--you may wonder why I didn't include dessert? :) Because my Beloved's Mom brings the Thanksgiving pies.
A few images of last year's effort.
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| (all images courtesy of Framed In The Doorway) |
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FITD love and Happy Thanksgiving!
xo,
B
