Today (Friday) I am washing and pressing all the linens, checking all the serving pieces (dishes and cutlery) and polishing any silver that isn't pristine.

What are you doing?

Alexa

Shelley

Our meal is very, very casual so I don't need to do all the linens/silver stuff, but I do have sheets to wash and guest beds to make this weekend.

Plus.......I'll be making pies tonight for a Pie Social at church tomorrow evening. Most of my day tomorrow will be spent at our local, annual Bazaars. There are about 25 of them that all advertise together and publish a map. It runs from 9-5 and the Pie Social is at 6. It'll be tight. Deli chicken, pizza or something in the crock pot for dinner probably. Luckily, I live 2 miles from the church so it doesn't take long to get there!

I'm mostly in a holding pattern for the Thanksgiving stuff today.

Deanna

CRANBERRY APPLE WHEEL
Ocean Spray
  INGREDIENTS:

3-4 cups flour
1 package yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup coarsely chopped Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
2 apples, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
5 tablespoons flour
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS:

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Combine butter and milk and heat to a temperature of 120ºF - 130ºF. Add to dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Add egg; mix well. Add enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough that is not sticky when handled.

Lightly grease a medium mixing bowl. Place dough in bowl and roll around so that it is lightly covered with grease. Place bowl with dough in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients, except powdered sugar and water, in a medium mixing bowl. Punch down dough and place on a cookie sheet. Flatten dough into a 10-inch circle. Spread topping over dough, leaving an inch all around. Place in a warm place until dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Combine powdered sugar and water in a small mixing bowl to make glaze. Cool wheel completely and drizzle with glaze. Makes 1 10-inch wheel.

Alexa

Deanna..I'd actually start brining it Tuesday to Wed..take it out Wed night and let air dry in the fridge a bit, then roast on Thursday..so no..not to soon..

I'm going to pick mine up Mon afternoon/eve..it will be slightly frozen and presalt it that night, let it "sit wrapped" until Wed night, uncover and let air dry, then roast Thur...

David

Today I polished copper pots so I can serve in the kitchen right from cooking pans. Visualized but didn't touch the linens. Last week experimented with Kale salad -- too much prep work. No go. Tonight made winter greens from farmer's market -- pre-washed salad with same recipe. Easier--I think it works. (Add to greens: pomegranite seeds, pine nuts, goat cheese, thinly sliced pears and apples, oil, lemon juice.)

Still daunting. Would love ideas on how to be good natured and effective at getting multi-generational guests to pitch in with clean up. (Pick tasks out of a hat?)

Deanna

I'm solo this year for Thanksgiving, so I'm going to put my feet up and live vicariously through you folks. It's sounding lovely so far! :)

For about the last 20 years, a Lutheran, Catholic and U.C.C. church that are located near each other have a joint service at 7 P.M. on Thanksgiving Eve to give thanks for our blessings, followed by coffee and finger food desserts at whichever church is hosting that year (this year it's ours).

This afternoon, I'm making a batch of lemon snowflake cookies for that event. I'll roll the balls while watching the Penn State game, bake them tomorrow, and frost on Tuesday.

She did manage to get one of the last cans of pumpkin at Target yesterday, so we'll have pumpkin pie for dessert on Thursday.

I'll be behind everyone else, but it's nice to see what I should be doing:)

Safe trip momj47 and share my thanks to your overseas crew.

Cathy in SWPA

jude

Thanksgiving for us involves a 11-hour drive with two big dogs to my parents'. I don't get to cook because my parents, aunts and uncles are a little possessive of their respective schticks, and I respect that and just offer sincere praise of their dishes. I'm sure I'll cook a couple of the "other" meals, which I'll enjoy more, because the menu will be more malleable.

We spend the week pheasant hunting and visiting people we don't see often, then drive 11 hours back home and get ready to do it all over again in a month.

Shelley

DH is in town all week, I have the week off work and since I'm not having TG dinner at my house I have lots of time to cook other things. So I'm deciding what all I want to make this week - making grocery list - going shopping. It's a fun luxury for me to have all the time in the world to do this stuff for a week.

Cranberry-Orange Relish
by John Engels
A pound of ripe cranberries, for two days
macerate in a dark rum, then do not
treat them gently, but bruise,
mash, pulp, squash
with a wooden pestle
to an abundance of juices, in fact
until the juices seem on the verge

of overswelling the bowl, then drop in
two fistsful, maybe three, of fine-
chopped orange with rind, two golden
blobs of it, and crush
it in, and then add sugar, no thin
sprinkling, but a cupful dumped
and awakened with a wooden spoon

to a thick suffusion, drench of sourness, bite of color,
then for two days let conjoin
the lonely taste of cranberry,
the joyous orange, the rum, in some
warm corner of the kitchen, until
the bowl faintly becomes
audible, a scarce wash of sound, a tiny
bubbling, and then
in a glass bowl set it out
and let it be eaten last, to offset
gravied breast and thigh
of the heavy fowl, liverish
stuffing, the effete
potato, lethargy of pumpkins

gone leaden in their crusts, let it be eaten
so that our hearts may be together overrun
with comparable sweetnesses,
tart gratitudes, until finally,
dawdling and groaning, we bear them
to the various hungerings
of our beds, lightened
of their desolations.
"Cranberry-Orange Relish" by John Engels, from Sinking Creek. © The Lyons Press, 1998.

* The filling needs to be cooked some or the apples in finer pieces (Granny Smith) because it didn't get done in the middle at all.
* The dough should have been rolled out, the filling spread, and the whole thing rolled or folded over.
* Then you could form it into a ring/wheel or just leave it as a log.

At this point it looks like a 12" very thick (1") pizza with fruit topping. The topping tastes good and the bread is very crusty.

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! And from Oceanspray's site too yet.

I did put a cinnamon glaze on top of the loaf. Tried using the 8X4 pans that were on the recipe, they were way to full, so put the dough into larger bread pans. Next time I will try putting the dough into three small loaf pans and cut up apples a little smaller.

There will on be three of us for Thanksgiving. Not quite what we are used to, usually have aleast 20. Makes it so easy though, not much special to to.
Come Thursday night though we will have 5 grandsons and daughter visiting for the weekend. All the left overs will get used up fast!

This is what I love about the CF. People come back with feedback about what works and what doesn't on a recipe. :)

Sue

Today I went to the wine shop and broke the bank on holiday gift wine. Had fun tasting too! Then stopped at the liquor store on the way back and got the booze for the pear liqueur. With any luck I'll get it going tonight.

I printed out bag toppers for our blessings mix today and I will put those together tomorrow. My daughter is having the dinner at her house this year so she came over to look through all of the Thanksgiving decorations and centerpieces I have. I will probably begin to make the cranberries and other things that can be cooked in advance on Monday and Tuesday night.

I roasted a couple chickens for dinner tonight so I saved all the wonderful pan juices and stock to use for our turkey gravy on Thursday. But I may still buy some turkey wings tomorrow to roast to make more stock.

Pam

+

They're being flash frozen and popped into zip lock bags.

Sue

In the name of preparation yesterday we cleaned the house and today we are heading for Costco. I have Monday for pulling together grocery lists and shopping and Tuesday for making pies. So far so good:)

Kate

I'll do most of my shopping Monday, DH and I will cover all the food prep on Tday itself - maybe make the cranberry sauce (regular and jezebel) the day before. DH is in charge of turkeys. I don't do turkey. I LOVE cooking with my DH, we work very well together.

We're having our company bring wine, drinks, desserts (my baking sucks). Some things I don't WANT anyone else making/buying, like mashed potatoes, and rolls.

My big new tradition before dinner is to read aloud 'Molly's Pilgrim' by Barbara Cohen. From Amazon: "In this classic tale, a little girl named Molly is having problems at school. Her classmates tease her relentlessly, usually making fun of her funny accent and supposed un-American ways. Molly, you see, immigrated to this country with her mother and father from Russia. Jewish in faith, they originally lived in New York City, but now Molly's father has found steady employment in Winter Hill. Here, Molly is the only Jewish girl around, and she suffers mightily at the hands of the other girls. One day, Molly's teacher, Miss Stickley, decides that the class is going to do something a little different for Thanksgiving this year. Each child will design a pilgrim or an Indian for a little diorama and present it to the class. Molly is assigned a pilgrim, and she eagerly tells the assignment to her mama. Her mother, however, listens to the description of what a pilgrim is (someone seeking religious freedom and a life free from persecution) and creates a doll that is a small Russian immigrant. Of course, the other kids at school deride this idea of a pilgrim, until Miss Stickley explains that Molly's doll is perhaps the most appropriate of all. After all, the very idea of Thanksgiving is based on the Jewish harvest holiday of Tabernacles, and unlike any other student in the room, Molly is the real pilgrim."

Sets me off bawling in front of our guests every time since thats how/why my parents family came to this country. And I can relate to the religious teasing in school.

I'll be writing out the slips for our annual "Tell Us" game that we play while sitting around having our desserts on Thanksgiving.

And I'll be picking up a carton of 15 dozen eggs for distribution to our neighborhood co-op members for their pumpkin pies and other holiday baking.

I've done nothing, and I'm having a large crowd. The house is a mess, I don't have a final meal plan. I'm trying to tell myself to relax, but as I sit here and the time gets later, it's not working.

So basically, I'm surfing here for easy, save-my-butt side dishes. I'm doing a turkey, ham, the basic veggies, might make butternut squash lagagne.

I have somebody bringing stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, which, to me, is more work. I'll do the desserts - time consuming. Don't even know which ones yet. Need to figure out a roll/bread plan. I need to talk to sisters about bringing extra chairs. Should buy a new tablecloth. Make a centerpiece. Candles. Liquor store.

It's a good thing I saw all this. It's making me realize all the stuff I haven't done.

So I guess the short answer is cleaning and finding side dish ideas.

Lori - Keep it simple. A double serving of stress kills the flavor of all else. :)

Orange Loaf - lpinkmountain

Bake in 9x5x3 inch greased loaf pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour
1 small seedless orange, washed and unpeeled (I used a navel orange, no seeds. You can use clementines if you deseed. You want a thin skinned orange whatever you use).
6 oz. pitted dates
orange juice
1/2 cup hot water
2 TBLSP butter
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
**I also added 1 T of ground cinnamon, 1 tsp of ground nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp of ground cloves.
Combine orange and dates in a food processor until finely ground. Just do it, trust me, it will turn out good!
Combine juice drained off of orange and date mixture with enough extra orange juice to make 1/2 cup. In a saucepan, heat juice, water and butter until butter melts. When cooled, add the egg and date/orange mixture.
Combine this liquid mixture with the rest of the dry ingredients and nuts. Bake in a greased loaf pan one hour at 350 until cakes tests done. Makes 3 mini loaves, 2 small loaves, or 1 large loaf.

There's a ton of other orangey recipes on the link below to a CF post from a couple of weeks ago. I'm just making the orange loaf because I came into posession of an orange that I can use up.

Wednesday night I will prep the veggies for the stuffing and make the cheesecake or pumpkin bread pudding. I think I will make Dad peel the potatoes this year.

Mom and I had a tradition of doing a girls day of shoppign on the day before and prepping that night. I have kept that going, but I sure miss her.

BTW, I saw 7 pound turkey yesterday at the store. I never knew they came that small.

My vegetable stock simmered away today, all I need to do now is add in the cider and additional water to it and the 2 1/2 gallons of brine will be ready.

Tomorrow I'll quick-wash the floors, make the Gyyki Kolokithopita and get some pie crusts finished. I'll do a Fudge Pie and Pecan pie Tuesday sometime, and will also make the cranberry sauce.

It rained all day today so I had to postpone washing the floors until tomorrow when things dry off. All the rest of the cleaning is done......(I hope)!

I've never used the crockpot liners before. I always thought it was rather wasteful to use them simply to avoid having to clean the pot. But......if I can cook ahead and freeze right in them, then have a block that fits back in the pot perfectly, it may be worth it to me. We'll see...

Tonight I'll salt the turkey. I've decided to pre-salt instead of brine it based on several recommendations from all of you!! I'll cook the giblets for the dressing and maybe prep the veggies.
One store stop tonight for some basics and the last fresh groceries will be picked up tomorrow evening.

Deanna

The turkey is thawing, and I will chop all the veggies I need for the stuffing ahead of time.

Went to the grocery store at 7 a.m. yesterday morning so we would beat the shopping madness.

Turkey day will be me and DH going to visit my Dad who's in a nursing home 3 hours away....he wants a cheeseburger! LOL!

Saturday will be a small dinner for the two of us and I'm going to make a stuffed turkey breast roulade (recipe from Ina Garten).

I'm in Cent Fla too and WANT the cold weather! There's nothing worse than putting up Christmas lights and beating off the mosquitos at the same time! :-)

Reservations !!!!

DH are in Florida for the week and I'm looking for a prime rib dinner that night,
so as soon as I find it I'll reserve us a spot.

I'm enjoying reading about all of you preparing for your family gatherings !!!

I'll make desserts Wednesday night after work, and I have to make a grocery list tomorrow so I can shop on Tuesday. I'll mix the dinner rolls on Wednesday night too so they can be baked Thursday morning and I'll put together the sweet potato casserole and the green beans maybe Tuesday, to be baked on Thursday. The turkey gets stuffed and roasted on Thursday, gravy gets made, potatoes get mashed, salad gets prepared.

Tonight I'm baking bread for a bake sale at work, one of the clerks in another office has a husband with terminal cancer in Hospice. The only income the family has is hers, so the employees here are all getting together and having a bake sale with all the proceeds going to her family.

Tomorrow night after work I need to deliver some items for baskets to a local charity, they put together baskets containing all the components for a holiday meal.

So, the Grandkids might miss out on something like turkey shaped cookies, but they'll cope. We'll see, maybe I'll have time to make something special Tuesday night.....

Anyway, I haven't even made up a menu or written a grocery list. It'll happen anyway and I think there will only be 9 of us this year.

Annie

Will do pie pastry tomorrow and finish cleaning the kitchen. And Wednesday will make the pie, scalloped potatoes, and green beans and have them ready to go in the oven first thing Thanksgiving day. Then to my DB's.

DH has surgery scheduled Wednesday, so we don't know if we'll do dinner Thursday or Friday. It's just the 4 of us, so we can be flexible. I hope that we'll be home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, and I hope to make the pumpkin squares then. Everything else will be done either Thursday or Friday.

I've read about cooking the mashed potatoes early and keeping them warm in a slow cooker. How long can they live in a slow cooker?

Mandie

52 hours 'til the bird hits the oven!

Deanna

Also making some sushi for an appetizer.

I remember those days of huge family gatherings very fondly, but they're long gone, unfortunately.

Tonight I will be making a caponato which is best if it sits for a day or so. Already made and froze the spanikopita. Tomorrow, well I'll just have to post that tomorrow!

Sue

Our farmers' market had special hours this week so I went over around 2 P.M. after the morning crowds thinned out to pick up pepper cabbage and sweet potatoes with a maple-ginger glaze for Thursday's dinner from two prepared food vendors I like.

Wednesday, I will be chopping the veggies for the stuffing and the roasting pan (makes hellaciously good gravy when you roast the turkey on a bed of celery, onions, rosemary, thyme, etc) And probably roasting one turkey. Although, I may hold off and roast it Thursday morning since we dont have to be at my friends house until 1..... still trying to decide on that.

This has been a great thread to read - thanks for all the contributions!

Alexa

I am battling my irresistible, compulsive urges to make JUST ONE MORE dessert. I'm pretty sure I'm losing.

And now......you've reminded me about washing the wine glasses. Thank you very much indeed!

Teresa

Alexa

I am still at work too. I was hoping to cut out early.

Sue

Mom will be there when I get home tonight (5:45 PST).
The Beef-veggie soup is in the crockpot, the breads are thawing for tonight's dinner. Quick & easy so I can work on prep!

Uncover the turkey to let it air dry overnight.
Make stuffing.
Boil the eggs.
Finish the jello salad.
Prep and/or cook white and sweet potatoes.

23 hours and counting..........til the bird hits the oven.

Deanna

(Our local radio station keeps playing this montage of Thanksgiving audio clips that is so funny. One of them says "Why am I standing here stuffing stale bread up a dead bird's butt?" Cracks me up every time!!.......

....just thought you'd want to know that......LOL)

I am doing some prep work today. I'd decided for once, to make a simple bread stuffing for the turkey. Well, then I noticed the chestnuts I bought to go in the yams, there really are too many so I might as well put some in the stuffing. Browsing in the pantry, I noticed my millet and thought I might like a bit of that in the stuffing as well, which led to chana dal as I really like the texture it adds to dishes. Wild rice is so pretty in stuffing, don't you think?

Well, I'm writing it all down as I go, so if it turns out delicious, at least I'll know how to make it again.

I decided on a grapefruit, avocado and shrimp salad for appetizer, so I'm defrosting shrimp. Then I'll prep the vegetables and spices for the yam and chestnut poriyal I woke up thinking about this morning.

We bought a pumpkin roll from the church ladies so I don't need to make dessert...maybe I'll start some dough for rolls. It always seems like so much starch with the potatoes, stuffing and rolls, but I really like having the rolls around for sandwiches afterward.

I've got some nice leeks, so I think I'll make some sort of soup.

I'm funny, I don't really plan out my meal in detail ahead of time, even for Thanksgiving. I start making things off and on the day before and it just sort of evolves on it's own. I mean, I buy a turkey, but generally speaking everything else I want is in my fridge or pantry by the time I really start thinking about it. I buy some things during the week or two before, rather absently thinking, "I might do something with that for Thanksgiving," but don't decide WHAT until I get to it. It always seems to come together.

Also made the caponata today cause I lazed out yesterday. I've never been a fan of the stuff and am not liking the vinegar in it, but I think the flavor is good - if that makes any sense. Bon Appetit August 2005.

Made LindaC's Blue Cheese Cocktail cookie dough - they are a-chillin in the fridge - will bake them tomorrow.

Last but not least, will be putting the lump crab spread together in the morning, having done all my prep work today.

Enjoy,
Sue

I need to stop at the store on the way home and buy milk, bread and Diet Coke.

Tomorrow I'll make the stuffing, stuff the bird, make mashed potatoes and gravy, put together the salad, set the table. It'll all happen, it always does.

Annie

Around 2:30 this morning she got sick very suddenly, and I didn't like where it was going, so I called an ambulance.

She's still there on an observational basis, but they're thinking it was a combination of dehydration and one of her medications.

Certainly NOT traditional Thanksgiving holiday preparations.

So, what am I doing in prep for T-giving? Thinking.... wondering, dreading ...... how on earth am I gonna choke down Stove Top Stuffing tomorrow? Lots of gravy I guess.......and there I go assuming there'll be gravy.

Help me Rhonda.........

Kframe, I'm sorry to hear about your mom and hope she's better quickly.

No food prep this morning. All I have to do is gather up my contributions to Thanksgiving dinner and my DH and we're off to my aunt and uncle's house. I'm sitting here gathering up some photos of Thanksgivings past to take along, like this one with my aunt and DD:

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Ruthanna, what a great photo!

I just finished making AnnT's Brandy Cherry Balls (aka Yeti Balls) and they are ready to go as well as the roasted turkey, stuffing and gravy. I still have to mash potatoes, assemble the green bean casserole and inject the turkey that is going to be deep fried.

Feels like everything is under control!

Alexa

My Thanksgiving responsibilities were very limited. Bring beer. So I went out early this morning and bought a couple cases and some ice. Done.

But I did decide to make something, too. Linda C's Cranberry Jezebel sounded too good to pass up. Made a batch yesterday using "hot" horseradish, and it does have a decent kick. I love it. Against Linda's advice I poured it over some cream cheese to serve as a snack rather than alone as a side.

Right now I've got a hot shower to look forward to and Long Island / Staten Island (or Manhattan) traffic to not look forward to on my way to two Thanksgivings in NJ. Have a good one everyone!

She was released with no restrictions other than to discontinue her diuretics and maintain her fluid intake (gotta go force a glass of water on her now, in fact).

Her heart monitoring came back just fine; the doctors are certain it was the diuretic and dehydration.

This truly was a Thanksgiving for me; thanks for having my Mom for another year.

I hope everyone had an equally good Thanksgiving. For those of you with sadness in your lives right now, you all are in my prayers.