Thanksgiving is less than 4 weeks away!

Happy Monday!  To remind, you can leave comments or questions on this thread.  Scroll to the bottom to see where. 

I am currently in Santa Barbara with Hubs for a post-birthday getaway.  I really needed a break and a change of scenery.  We are staying at The Craft House Inn, a lovely house that is a renovated bed and breakfast.  I want to come back with all my kids since there are several bedrooms.  If you’re into design, check out their website and Hearth Homes Interiors who did the decorating.

What is on my mind now?  Thanksgiving!  We are doing something different this year. We are renting a house in Santa Ynez with my husband’s family because it’s also my father-in-law’s 80th birthday. So I may simplify the menu a tad because I will have to travel there on Wednesday and I don’t know what I’m getting myself into with a kitchen in a rental house.  In the past, I used to post something on my website every Thursday before Thanksgiving, but I’m going to post those “what you can do now” ideas here instead!  

I will also re-release my 2022 Thanksgiving e-book as just The Thanksgiving E-book (no different from last year) if you need a guide/bible/manual with literally everything you need to know to have fun and execute a stress-free Thanksgiving! Stand by for that to be released this week!

Here’s what I am starting to do this week:

•  Guest list Now is a good time to invite family and friends for the holiday, even if they are regulars. I send an email out to all our guests with the schedule for the day, especially when we will sit down for dinner. We live on the West Coast, which means the second football game is over at 4:00 pm. Anyone that wants to come for the earlier game is welcome to do so. There's coffee cake, fruit and coffee in the morning. Soup and cornbread around noon; hors d’oeuvres at 3:00 pm and dinner is at 4:00 pm or whenever the game is over.

• Plan your menu Planning the Thanksgiving menu requires a bit of strategy and balance. Make sure you have a balance of cooked and raw food (one thing I have learned is no matter how big your kitchen or how many ovens you have, it’s never enough on Thanksgiving, so don't pick 15 recipes that require an oven); protein, starches and vegetables (I find most Thanksgiving menus to be too starchy); and ingredients (make sure not every recipe has dried fruit and nuts in it). Know what dishes need an oven and when because if you're making turkey and you have one oven, you won't be baking too much in the hours before dinner.

Also, know your audience. I love trying new recipes, but my family looks forward to the same traditional standbys every year. There was almost a revolution when I took Breaded Cauliflower off the menu in 2007 and then I started serving it as an hors d'oeuvre. Last year, I told everyone I couldn’t make it unless someone else did the frying. No one volunteered, so I made it for dinner earlier in the week!  I make the classics (traditional roast turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie), but I also try out a new salad and vegetable side dish every year.

Also, just because you're cooking overtime for Thanksgiving dinner, doesn't mean your household won't be needing dinner the night before and breakfast the morning of. Instead of ordering takeout pizza on Wednesday night, make and freeze a casserole in the weeks ahead or plan for your easiest 20-minute meal. The same goes for Thanksgiving day, especially if you have young children in the house. You might be able to save your appetite and get by on a piece of fruit for the day, but your four-year-old cannot. I always make a pot of butternut squash soup the day before and a pan of cornbread to be served around noon to tide anyone over until the big meal.

So funny to look back on my menu from 2010 with notes I wrote the next day! I keep all these documents on my computer.

Photocopy your recipes from books and magazines I remember my first Thanksgiving with a stack of cookbooks and magazines taking up valuable counter space and wasting so much time looking up each recipe multiple times. Ugh! Put your photocopied recipes in sheet protectors and create a dedicated Thanksgiving or holiday binder organized by category. 

Here’s what I want to add.  You do not need to make everything from scratch or by yourself.  If someone offers to bring something, take them up on it! But be specific as to what you need so you don't end up with 8 pumpkin pies! 

XxPamela