Elementary Chef

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is not the time to decide to learn how to cook. ;>)

Still, all over the country families will be waiting in expectation of a feast come that special Thursday, so I thought I’d provide a few suggestions. A lot of this can be done right now.

First, figure out what you can reasonably do. Make yourself a menu of the dishes you’d like to serve, (try to keep it simple!) Start a shopping list.

See if you’ve got the pots and pans to make everything, and bowls and platters for serving. Do you have enough forks to go around?

Consider your refrigerator/freezer space. You need room to thaw the turkey for about two days, as well as storing elements of dishes you haven’t yet cooked. This is not even to mention leftovers.

How many people are you feeding? Maybe for your first time out, you should keep the group small. Where will they sit?

Try to get your shopping done as early as possible. Stores tend to run out of popular items, and you don’t want to be frantically searching the city for fresh cranberries at the last minute!

Get all of your recipes together. Read them all through and be sure you understand them. See what can be made ahead.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If any of your guests have specialties (and they’ll often ask what they can bring) take them up on the offer, since this means one less thing for you to do. This also goes with the bit about understanding the recipes. Anything that seems too difficult or complicated could be left to somebody else.

Almost everything traditional to a Turkey Day meal has a convenience-food version. There are frozen pies, of course, but also refrigerated pre-cooked mashed potatoes, canned/frozen yams, frozen squash, bake-n-serve rolls and etcetera. Even turkeys come precooked and/or pre-stuffed. (A friend tried the pre-stuffed frozen kind one year, and found it excessively greasy, BTW)

The turkey has directions for cooking times right on the wrapper. The Butterball Hotline hours and days of operation are right here, if you have more questions.

Figure one pound worth of bird to one person. Don’t buy a 25lb turkey just because your mother always did. Don’t buy a whole turkey smaller than about 10lbs, because you get into turkeys without much meat below that size.

Consider a turkey breast or even a chicken for a very small group. OR you may even choose to serve ham or roast beef instead. Whatdaheck, it’s your house!

When it’s a one-person operation, the cook often doesn’t get to sit down right away, and sometimes doesn’t have time to eat, at all. If there’s a favorite item you’re looking forward to, and you know there’s seldom any left over, serve yourself a bit in the kitchen before putting it on the table. You might have to nuke it later, but it’s still better than missing out!

If anybody else has more tips, (or questions) leave them in the comments section!