Smart Eating

By Stan

October 17, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this

Timing and organization!! If I’m trying to put together the bird and even a few of the sides it is a lot harder than a normal meal because I’m used to cooking for 2-4 people at most. Scalling it up and staying organized and keeping timing in mind for that many additional dishes wears me out.

Stan

By connie diamond

October 17, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

just make small dishes of each item,like i fixturkey,stuffings,gravy,sweet potatoes green beans corn pudding rolls mashed potatoes,pies cakes,and i am used to cooking for 10=20 people but now only cook for four,so it is a big difference,for instance i use one box of stove top for the amount they will eat instead of the big bags of stuffing that gets thrown away,then use my onions,celery sager butter turkey broth just as i make itr homemade

By connie diamond

October 17, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

just make small dishes of each item,like i fixturkey,stuffings,gravy,sweet potatoes green beans corn pudding rolls mashed potatoes,pies cakes,and i am used to cooking for 10=20 people but now only cook for four,so it is a big difference,for instance i use one box of stove top for the amount they will eat instead of the big bags of stuffing that gets thrown away,then use my onions,celery sager butter turkey broth just as i make itr homemade

By Geri

October 17, 2008 9:51 PM | Link to this

I can have most of the meal cooked ahead and everything on schedule except for the have to do at the last minute things. Then, when everyone shows up and they all hang in the kitchen asking questions of me and making conversation, it throws my whole game plan off. I can’t focus on the meal and the company both it seems. Yet, I can’t shoo them out of the kitchen as that would be rude, so what do I do? I have burned the bread and forgotten to serve the cranberry sauce. Oops!

By pam in roswell

October 21, 2008 10:52 PM | Link to this

Getting everything to the table while it is still hot is my biggest problem. While I am making the gravy and browning the rolls I have guests fill water glasses and take the side dishes to the table. Then my husband has to cut the turkey. It just seems the minutes right before we eat are so frantic that I end up rushing to the table having just thrown off my apron and put the last dish on the table. I make as much ahead as I can, but nothing seems to help the last minute rush and some dishes sit getting cold on the table.

By court_fanatic

November 3, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this

I just can’t find a stuffing recipe that I like. I don’t like cornbread stuffing, so last year I made a recipe using day-old bread. It was just ok. I’d really like to find a good recipe that includes chestnuts or mushrooms, one that stays moist but doesn’t get mushy. And I don’t stuff the bird - I bake the stuffing in a casserole dish.

By bonny

November 4, 2008 7:21 AM | Link to this

My thing is the timing too! I love to cook and the more people I have to host and cook for the better and I WILL shoo people out of the kitchen, that’s MY shop and if you get in the way then you are the one that washes the dishes, serves, and helps clean up during preparation!

By angel

November 4, 2008 7:54 AM | Link to this

My concern this year? What to prepare as a “main dish” for my “sometimes vegetarian” sister-in-law. Yes, she occasionally eats fish and chicken (I’ve seen her do it in restaurants), but come the holidays at our house, she’s strictly vegetarian. Last time, rather than eat any of the main holiday meal I’d prepared (including vegetable side-items with no meat)she asked that I open and heat a jar of homemade vegetable soup for her because “didn’t I know she was a vegetarian?”. Any suggestions? I want them to come because they’re all the family my husband has in the US, but I’m always stressed with preparing the traditional holiday meal (which my husband and his brother love!) and providing suitable holiday vegetarian fare for my sister-in-law.

By Becky

November 4, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

angel, maybe open bag of vegall for her? lol..How about an eggplant casserole, baked cheese grits, garlic potatoes, tomato salad..Try foodnetwork.com for some other great suggestions..

By Mad mommy

November 4, 2008 3:29 PM | Link to this

The hardest thing about the holidays is getting to my house on time. What is with people who think that it is ok to show up an hour late or even later? Yes, it has happend. I manage to run a half marathon that morning, cook a large family meal and be on time and all you have to do is show up? Give me a break, please. How do you handle guest with no regard to time and effort put into the whole “family dinner” process? I can’t be the only one with this issue, so how did or would you handle this?

By Mad mommy

November 4, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this

One other thing I do is to pre-make as much as I can in the week leading up to the dinner and freeze it so all I have to do is set it out on the counter and bake. Also, I use the microwave for a few things like cooking frozen corn. The toaster oven is great for heating up smaller dishes. One of the best things to do is pick up sleve of take home boxes from Costco so you can send extra’s home with your guests. Everyone gets a late night snack or lunch for the next day and you don’t have to come up with turkey leftovers for a week :-)

By jess

November 4, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this

Thanksgiving dinner for 30 adults and 27 youngsters is very easy at our home. We have The Varsity cater the measl. Everyone loves the wieners and the chili burgers. Indigestion is less severe than with turkey and the mess is simple to clear. Try it. Smaller gatherings should just drive to The Varsity and not attempt the catering route. NO, I’M NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE VARSITY. I JUST KNOW WHAT WORKS.

By JJ

November 5, 2008 2:35 PM | Link to this

court_fanatic - What you make is called “dressing”. stuffing actually goes inside the bird. The two are basically the same ingredients. One is cooked in a pan, like a “loaf”.

This is something I learned about the South. I came from Colorado, and we never had “dressing”. I was rather floored when my brother’s mother in law (born and raised here in Georgia) brought this huge pan of “dressing” one year to Thanksgiving. We had no clue what it was. It looked like stuffing, but that’s not what they called it. We couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t inside the bird. Apparently some Southerners don’t like “stuffing”.

Now my mother has my sister in law hooked on “stuffing”.

By Judy

November 6, 2008 7:16 AM | Link to this

Angel, I have a friend who’s child has a severe food allergy. I try very hard to work around it when they come for dinner but most of the time she will say let me bring something for him. He is still young and barely eats so she hates to have someone else work so hard for a few bites. I think it is wonderful you want to do for her but I think it is also her place, if she chooses not to eat fowl at that time, to bring some of her own dinner. As for heating up the soup - invite her into the kitchen - point out a bowl and the microwave and she can take it from there. Goodness, first thing my mom taught us - work together and help out.

By Judy

November 6, 2008 7:18 AM | Link to this

I invite people over about an hour before we are going to eat and clearly say we are going to eat at …this time.

If they aren’t there, we go ahead and eat. My sister is always late. I grew weary of constantly waiting for her, getting angry with her about it, etc. So I just eat when we are scheduled to and they can put a plate in the microwave if they are late.

By Nixon

November 6, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this

About two days before T-day, my mom makes a list of what she needs to do. She does make a few things ahead of time, but somethings just don’t work out like that.

Then she assigns tasks. The kids always set the table. They love it, they get to pick which pattern china and silverware to use.

By Noelle

November 6, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this

Timing is always the biggest issue. Second is balancing out the amounts of everything, so we have leftovers to enjoy for a few days but aren’t overrun with them for weeks!

This year, my parents are coming to celebrate Thanksgiving with my sister and me. We’re getting a premade meal of some kind and will just add a couple of extras (like cornbread dressing). I love cooking a full Thanksgiving meal, but none of us want to deal with it this year.