Cooking Tips

7 Tips To Save Time For Thanksgiving Cooking Make-Ahead Tasks That Will Improve Your Thanksgiving Day Experience

7 tips to save time with Thanksgiving cooking

Trying to do all of your Thanksgiving cooking the day of your feast just leads to frustration, possible irritation, and a lot of wasted time not visiting with your guests.

It’s no fun to be tied to your kitchen while friends and family visit, enjoy appetizers and drinks, and relax for their day off.

In our family, we’ve adjusted our schedule of things. We used to shop Wednesday (NO FUN) and cook on Thursday morning. My mom used to get up at 6:00 a.m. to prep and start the turkey roasting because our extended family expected to eat at 1:00 or 2:00. Again, NO FUN!

I put up with this kind of schedule for years, trying to dodge the duty of being primary cook for the day. And one day, I put my foot down and changed the schedule.

Now, we shop over the weekend or a few small things on Monday or Tuesday. Then we prep and cook as much as possible on Wednesday so that Thursday is a relaxed day with family and friends.

What Can Be Cooked Ahead of Time

  1. Stuffing for the bird: Stuffing actually turns out better if you make it as much ahead of time as possible. By toasting the bread and sweating the aromatics, you can assemble it a day or two ahead of time. Tightly wrap it in plastic and stow it in the fridge where the flavors can settle together. Then when you bake it with the turkey the day of, it’s delicious.
  2. Pies and Other Desserts: Supposedly pies are better served warm, but if you try it, you’ll see that cooking and cooling them works better. Pumpkin and pecan pies especially need to fully cool in order for them to set. If you want to avoid a sloppy mess when serving, cook and cool these ahead. Apple pie, a favorite in our family, is best cooked, cooled, and reheated in the oven to serve with cheese, ice cream, or whipped cream. Once cooled, the juices thicken and reabsorb and allow you to cut tall, impressive slices.
  3. Gravy: The best gravy is made far ahead of time. Think weeks! If you make a huge batch of turkey broth with parts like wings and necks, add aromatics and cook in your Instant Pot or slow cooker, you reduce and turn a bunch into gravy to freeze and freeze the rest for a ready store of stock. No worries rushing around the day of trying to make gravy. And you can make much more gravy since you just never have enough.
  4. Mashed Potatoes: I’ve been in charge of mashed potatoes in my extended family gatherings for over 20 years. It’s my specialty and I hate the way anyone else in my family (except my mom who taught me) makes it. Making them is time-consuming, especially the peeling and cubing. We peel, cube, and cook the potatoes the day before. Then we mash them with a little milk and butter, and season them to taste. I line a container to store them with plastic wrap to make a tight inner seal and cover after placing them there. You can store them in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. Then the day of, reheat in a saucepan over low heat and mix in some warm milk and butter. They are extra tasty and flavorful that way.
  5. Vegetables: Not all vegetables will qualify for making ahead, but some do take considerable prep work and can be partially prepped ahead of time. My family is big on fresh green beans, and cleaning and cutting them down can take time. If you go that far, season them, and wrap them in plastic in a tight container, all you’ll have to do is get them out and saute or roast them to taste. This works great for carrots as well (another favorite).
  6. Appetizers: We have a few standards in our family that are easy to make ahead of time. Relish trays are perfect. Assemble the things you love, cover on a tray with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator. You can save space by individually wrapping the ones that need to go in the fridge and set the others aside. Then assemble the day of in a few minutes. Dips with vegetables or crackers are another specialty. Dips mixed ahead can blend while refrigerated and served cold or heated to warm them through.
  7. Setting Your Table: Count out flatware for your number of guests. I always count out one extra (or maybe two) in case of dropped flatware or an unexpected guest. Same for plates, serving dishes, and serving utensils. Set everything out on the counter and the table. I always cover the table with a second tablecloth just to keep everything in place and neat and clean.

Bonus – 3 Things You Should Not Prepare In Advance

Some things might seem to be an easy addition to your prepare-ahead list, but these three items are an absolute no-no.

  1. Salads: You might think that cutting everything up, making dressing, and dressing your salad makes sense, but NO. Just NO! You can wash and cut vegetables, but dry and wrap them in plastic individually like you did with the vegetables and relish tray items. You can make your salad dressing and again store in the refrigerator, but do not dress that salad until it is time to serve. If you do, you’ll have limp, soggy, and unappetizing salad and nobody likes that.
  2. Breads and Rolls: Breads and dinner rolls smell heavily while baking, but if you’ve ever tried a next-day dinner roll, they are dried out, hard, and totally tasteless. I’ve tried it a few times and they never come out great by reheating the next day. I’ve even tried freezing them a few days ahead and rewarming and they just aren’t as good as fresh-from-the-oven rolls.
  3. Turkey: I honestly can’t believe anyone would deliberately cook the turkey the day before. No matter how you store it, reheating a roasted turkey pretty much absolutely dries it out. Yuck! You can season and prep it and have it ready to go in the oven right away on Thanksgiving morning, but save yourself the agony and don’t do it before that.

So even if you consider one or two of these items to save time cooking on Thanksgiving or Christmas feasts, you’ll appreciate the additional time with family and friends.

Cooking Articles, Cooking Tips, Cooking Tutorials

Dangers of Washing a Raw Turkey or Other Meats Safety Tips For Handling Raw Meats To Prevent Cross-Contamination

dangers of washing raw turkey or meat

This warning applies to most raw meats and poultry. Everyone worries about foodborne illness and cross-contamination. Depending on the cooking tips you received when you learned to cook, you may have had this drilled into your head to some degree.

Well, when is it safe to rinse or wash a turkey?

And why would you want to wash any raw meats?

You think that washing the meat removes the bacteria and makes your cooking safer.

Well, no.

You aren’t just washing bad bacteria down the drain when you rinse or wash raw meats. You’re really spreading bad bacteria around your kitchen. Water can splash that nasty bacteria up to 3 feet away from your sink even when you’re careful. And you are touching that meat too.

Worse yet, no matter how careful you are at washing your hands after touching your turkey or other meats, you can still spread the bacteria by accidentally touching many other items in your kitchen. Like cross-contaminating a:

  1. Refrigerator door handle,
  2. Counter,
  3. Cooktop range,
  4. Dishes, pots, and pans,
  5. Cooking utensils or silverware,
  6. Table tops,
  7. Towels,
  8. Your cell phone, tablet, or even your laptop cover or keyboard!

And if you’re putting together a big holiday feast, that’s a lot of possible foodborne contamination.

How Should You Handle Raw Meats?

Just move your meats from package to roasting pan. You avoid any messes and the heat of the oven or even your crock pot will kill bacteria.

And What Is the Exception To The Rule? Brining

After brining is the only time you are safe from foodborne illness when washing raw meats like turkeys. This is necessary because you have to rinse off the brine before cooking or roasting. But ONLY then.

Safety Tips If You Are Brining Your Meat

Because this is still a lot of food handling, take these precautions to reduce the risk of cross-contamination or foodborne illness.

Do your bird or other meats last. When you handle meats sooner, the USDA has even reported that 26 percent of people transferred the bacteria to their lettuce!

Take These Safety Measures During Washing

Once you’ve finished other food tasks, also take care of those dirty dishes you’ve left in the sink or on the counter. Wash them and get them off the counter and out of the sink.

Then clean the sink. Use hot soapy water and rinse well. Starting the rinsing process with a pristine and clean workspace increases safety.

And that should include clearing the counter of other, more permanent, items that you might not think of as a source of cross-contamination. Items like dish towels and sponges, knife blocks or knife holders, vases or containers you use to hold spatulas or cooking utensils, and anything you might handle should be cleared away.

Just you, the roasting pan, and the bird or other roasts.

Best Process To Follow For Safe Handling of Raw Meat

  1. Lay down a bed of paper towels to catch splatters from bacteria-laden water.
  2. Put the roasting pan close so you don’t drip a bunch of water around.
  3. Rinse with cold water. Not hot. Put a few inches of cold water in the sink and place the meat there. Gently (to avoid splashes) run the water to clean out the cavity and on the surface.
  4. When you’re done, hold it up and let it drain. Place it carefully on the roasting rack. Do not plop it down.
  5. Don’t forget to clean up your mess. Paper towels need to go into the trash right away.
  6. Then before you touch or do anything else, wash your hands, the sink, and countertop again with hot soapy water.
  7. For an added touch of safety, use sanitizer to finish off your cleaning job.

These safety tips for handling raw meat will help you even if you aren’t roasting a turkey, chicken, pork, or beef. Think of that bacteria as a serious enemy and take precautions so you win the battle.

Cooking Articles

The Hungry Raccoon, A Birdbath, and My Poor Herb Garden Another Way A Location Choice Can Ruin Your Herb Garden

Most people will say that location is a big part of siting your herb garden — or any garden, for that matter.

But while you are thinking of sun, soil, and an out of the way location as major factors for siting your herb garden, there are other catastrophes waiting to happen that you’ll probably never think of.

We planted our first herb garden this year near the 6-foot fence in our backyard. It was out of the way of the lawn mower and fit nicely into the fence line next to our birdbath in the corner of the fence.

There was just one problem that we never considered — the top of the fence. You see, all of the fences in the neighborhood were linked together due to the HOA restrictions. The squirrels loved to use the top of the fence as a “Squirrel Highway” because it was safe from predators and a fast way to get around.

So last week, we were happily watching the squirrels scamper around like usual when we saw the predator in wait. A hungry raccoon wanted squirrel stew and had found a way to climb up on top of the fence to pounce on a squirrel. But it was out-matched. Getting onto the fence top wasn’t too hard, but the raccoon was too big and klutzy to balance on the skinny fence top.

As we watched in dismay, the raccoon tumbled off of the fence into our yard. Right onto the birdbath — the edge of the birdbath. It couldn’t have aimed any better if it had tried.

So the stupid raccoon hits the birdbath in full free-fall and smashes the top of the bird’s precious bath right off of the base.

And of course both the birdbath and the raccoon land directly on top of the herb garden plantings and smash all of my precious herbs into smithereens!

So the motto of this story is that the next time you are thinking about where to plant your garden, consider the dangers of animals and their antics. I sure will be.

Buyer's Guides, Cooking Articles

Which Bosch To Buy – Universal Plus Kitchen Machine or Compact Mixer? How to Focus on Big Stand Mixers Differences for Your Needs

KitchenAid stand mixers are pretty much of a type, with larger bowls and more tools on the larger mixers. But other than that, a KitchenAid stand mixer doesn’t vary much.

Bosch stand mixers vary more between the two main models, and I’m going to go through some of the differences here to help you take a look at the best one for you without having to read our long reviews.

Details coming soon.

Cooking Tips, Cooking Tutorials

Our Family’s Recipe for Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

slow cooker mashed potatoes

Mashed potatoes might seem like such a simple dish. But this family favorite is actually customizable to quite a lot of degrees. With the addition of many favorite ingredients, you can create a variety of dishes.

Required Ingredients – Serves 8

  1. 5 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5″ chunks
  2. 1 cup chicken broth or stock
  3. 4 Garlic cloves, crushed
  4. 1/3 cup butter, diced
  5. Pinch of salt

Optional Additional Ingredients, to taste

  • 1/3-1/2 cup milk, warmed
  • 2/3 cup Sour Cream
  • 1/2 cup cheese – parmesan, cheddar, feta, blue
  • 3 Tbsp Prepared horseradish
  • Onion or Green onion to taste
  • Bacon to taste, and should be chopped to desired consistency
  • Pepper to taste

The optional additional ingredients can be added to your preference based on personal choice and/or dietary needs.

Directions

  1. Set the slow cooker temperature. Use High for 4 hours or Low for 7-8 hours or until cooked through and fork-tender.
  2. Put the first 5 required ingredients into your slow cooker. We recommend a 6-Quart size like our Crockpot, especially if you are using a larger amount of potatoes for a big batch.
  3. Mash the potatoes with either an electric beater or potato masher. Then stir in the milk and/or sour cream (if used). Finally add any of the other optional ingredients to add pizzazz.
  4. Once mashed, the potatoes can be left in the slow cooker covered with its lid, on its lowest setting until ready to serve.

For potatoes, we use either Russets or Yukon Gold, most often Yukon Golds for our batches.

This recipe can be scaled up or down depending on the number of servings desired. This recipe serves 8 people with the listed ingredients.

Potatoes can have their skins left on, if that is your preference. We normally peel ours because we don’t really like skin-on mashed potatoes. When the potatoes are mashed they can be left as chunky or as smooth as you prefer.

The reason the sour cream and milk are optional is that either one can be left out according to your preferences. However, one of the two should be used in your recipe, if not both. Its amount is dictated by the desired consistency (e.g. how thick or thin) of the final result. For example, if you leave the sour cream out then the milk should be at least 1/2 cup and maybe a little more, depending on the desired consistency.

Special Note: If the potatoes are left in the slow cooker too long in step 3, just add a little additional milk.

We based our personal recipe on this one.