I'm guessing that a fair number of you friends are either on the road to family or busy getting Thanksgiving preparations underway. I'm busy getting things done to host Thanksgiving at our house.
Last week I made up a list of work to be done with a calendar for when to do each task, beginning with tasks for Saturday. On Saturday I finalized the menu, went grocery shopping for everything we'd need, and made sure everyone knew how they would participate in the preparations.
Sunday was a day of rest.
Today, Monday, I finalized the menu again in the morning, then went shopping for the other items we'd need for our meal. Both daughters were home in the afternoon, so we made a lot of progress on our work list. We got the guest bathroom cleaned, all of the downstairs vacuumed, the dining room table set, the Christmas tree out and set up (we decorate after Thanksgiving dinner), the trunks of ornaments brought downstairs, the meat out of the freezer, a loaf of French bread baked for the stuffing, and a batch of no-milk condensed cream of mushroom soup made for a casserole. Oh, and I finalized the menu again later in the day. I also made beef stew for dinner and a batch of coconut-almond bar cookies so I could lick the bowl as my appetizer for lunch.
So far, this is the "final" menu
Roast chicken with tangerine-sage glaze
Smoked pork roast
Bread, sage, onion, celery, and sausage dressing/stuffing
Mashed root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, turnips, browned onion and garlic)
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato casserole
Carrot, celery, olive tray
Garden greens (kale, radish greens) and dried plum salad in sweet and tangy dressing
Gravy
Cranberry relish
Pumpkin Pie
Cherry Pie
Whipped Cream
Sparkling cider and sparkling water
It sounds like a lot, I know. I do like to send our guests home with leftovers. And I like to have variety. We have folks with very different dietary preferences, and I aim to please if I can.
Tomorrow is another day of preparations. I'll be up early getting work underway. Wishing you well as you travel or prepare for your holiday.
As usual, you are very organized, Lili. Your menu sounds similar to ours. There's more on it than I would usually do, but I am also trying to accommodate different dietary needs as well as Thanksgiving traditions for the guests. For example, the region where one person comes from always has sauerkraut and apples at Thanksgiving, so I've added that. And we're having two different kinds of stuffing because the family recipes are quite different. Today is the final house clean and tomorrow will be filled with cooking. Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your guests.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteIt sounds like you'll be very busy the next day and a half. good luck getting everything you want finished. Apples and sauerkraut sound like a tasty addition to traditional turkey and side dishes. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Ooo, yummy, Lili! Sounds like you're on-track. We don't expect to be hosting anyone extra, but we put out some open invitations for a local widow friend and a couple of others. So, we don't have as much cleaning/home prep to do. And I don't decorate a lot for Thanksgiving -- just a few little things, seasonal table linens, and my trusty Pilgrim boy and girl candles. :) I spent yesterday finalizing our menu, and starting to peruse recipes for the rest of the seasonal dinners. We also make a lot of dishes (literally AND figuratively, come to think of it, LOL), even just for two or three of us, because we like the variety, the leftovers, and the mix of traditional must-haves and a new thing or two. With energy (health) problems these days, I'm preplanning even more carefully the order/timing of preparations, so I can enjoy my meal, not collapse in a heap just as it's served. But this is a meal I've made a lot of times since I was a teenager, so there's a rhythm to it now, and also if I skip a dish at the last minute, we're low-key and no one will be crushed. Oh, and thank you. Something you and L and L said about stuffing/dressing reminded me that I don't have any mushrooms for ours, yet! Good thing DH is always running around town, and always takes my shopping list with him. (wink) Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!!!! Sara
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
DeleteI hope you can put your Thanksgiving meal together with minimal residual fatigue. I'm trying to watch my energy expenditure each day and modifying what I make for dinner at the end of cooking and cleaning for Thanksgiving, to make a simpler evening meal yesterday and today.
Yum, mushrooms in stuffing are so good. My sister-in-law does that.
I love the sound of your little Pilgrim candles. I was just saying the other day how I haven't seen very many Pilgrim decorations around Thanksgiving in recent years. I'm glad to hear someone has Pilgrims in their decorations.