Posted 11/15/2007 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
Heyya everyone...
With Thanksgiving a week away I figured that I would post how I "cope" with Thanksgiving prep and such to give some of you ideas. I know last year there was a thread dealing with how you make it as easy as possible to survive cooking a meal and still being able to move at the end of the day.
Here is my "schedule"
2 weeks before: I start by cleaning the areas of the house that dont get any use.. dusting them, and closing them up so they dont get dirty again
1-2 weeks before: I clean the other areas of the house, normally 1/2 - 1 room a day that way all it needs (hopefully) is a quick dush and vacuum a few days before
1 week before: I scrub the bathrooms - again to make it where all it needs is a quick clean
6 days: make sure that all the non-perishable is bought and stored in a bag where all the stuff for Thanksgiving is going
5 days: double check recipes to make sure my perishable list is ready to go
4 days: Get turkey thawing, buy perishables, make sure I have disposable pans for all things I'm cooking
3 days: check schedule to make sure that everything will be ready,
confirm people coming over, if we dont have it already - or didn't think of it, we ask a guest to handle it, most of the time a guest brings the drinks, a guest brings ice, and
a guest brings a snack tray to munch on. People always offer to bring stuff, most feel better if they do, so we allow them
final house cleaning - if it happens in two days - company will deal
buy perishables
2 days: after making dinner and cleaning up I set the table for Thanksgiving, also I take a disposable pan for each item I'm cooking and set it on the counter
Then I put all the prebought ingredients in that pan, along with the recipe, and at what time in the day to start it, and put it in the oven
1 day: we eat dinner out - normally a fast food or denny's somewhere
I make the pumpkin pies and get them ready
I chop all the things that I need for the next day, storing in ziplock bags labeled with what they are for
Hubby makes his turkey rub
TDay: Cereal for breakfast if no company staying over
If we have company I've bought fruit and we have fruit for breakfast with bagles
I normally spend the first part of the day in my PJ's as they are comfortable
Dressing gets put together -
Turkey gets stuffed
Turkey gets put in oven
Following the schedule things get cooked and prepared
about an hour before company a last run through is done to make sure the house is okay
Thats it :)
Doing things this way it takes the major chore of entertaining and cooking a very large meal that people always have "pre-expectations" of, and makes it easy to handle. Nothing gets left until the last minute that doesn't have to be. I spend 2-3 weeks cleaning up the house rather than trying to get it all done the few days prior. I know it's not easy if you have kids, and there is always a new mess, but this is how I do it. :) We normally have 6-10 people over for dinner - and we have since hubby was in the military and we had most of his single friends over.
I only have 7 years experience dealing with Thanksgiving and my back problems - I'm sure there are people out there who have more and have better ideas!