Scott and I have been having Thanksgiving dinner together for over a decade by this point.

2012 marks, what I believe, is our 13th (I think, I’m bad at keeping track) year of dining together on the big day.

I’ve been making Thanksgiving dinner for us this entire time and over the years I’ve learned a lot.

Not only about cooking for the big day but also what we like and prefer.

One big thing I learned is to keep things simple.  While Thanksgiving is a big day full of eats, there doesn’t need to be 16 courses for the meal.  I find that can get over whelming, not just for the cook, but also for those eating.  I fully want to get my grub on but not quite that much.

We have a turkey, and a few staple side dishes.  Plenty of food to keep us satisfied and the fridge stocked with leftovers for the next few days.

Comprise is also a large part of Thanksgiving.  Everyone has different traditions and different things they are used to eating on the big day.  Scott was used to having sweet potatoes with his dinner.  I didn’t care for sweet potatoes (that has changed and now I love them).  So instead of tossing another side dish on the table, I make sweet potato pie for dessert instead of pumpkin.  Homemade crust and homemade whipped cream to go with it!   He’s happy and I’m happy.  Comprise, it helps keep things simple.

Over the years we’ve realized that we prefer to eat the big dinner as a late lunch, around 1 or 2pm.  This means that the kitchen is cleaned up shortly after and the rest of the day can be spent doing whatever we feel like.  Having an evening meal meant that we were doing dishes at 8 o’clock in the evening.  Yuck.

I was worn out by then and grumpy at having to still be doing more work.  An afternoon meal gets rid of all of that!  And if we get hungry again, then it’s easy to pull out some leftovers and heat.  Simple!

We like having a nice crisp pinot grigio with dinner.  It makes the dinner feel more fancy and goes perfectly with the turkey and sides.  No fussing with special cocktails and making sure things are mixed properly.  A simple wine, easy to take care of and no stress.

While making dinner is a lot of work and I’m prepping for days before hand, it’s low stress.  Now we’re in a groove and every year Thanksgiving turns out awesome.

What is your approach to Thanksgiving?  Is it a high maintenence affair or simple and casual?

Are you going to be brining your turkey this year for Thanksgiving?

Is this your first time brining a turkey?  If you know anything at all about this blog then you know that we are all about the brine here!

If you’re brining a turkey for the first time then this post on Brining A Whole Turkey is for you!

Here are two additional articles that provide tips for brining:

• Brining Tips Part 1
• Brining Tips Part 2

Last year for Thanksgiving we had a Bourbon Brined Turkey and this year we’re having that again!  I’m going to up the bourbon to 1C and add a little more jalapeno peppers in for some kick.

If there’s one thing I hope you know about me, it’s going to have to be my obsession love for brining pork and poultry.  Each year I talk with you and stress the importance of brining your turkey for the big Thanksgiving meal.

Yet I realized that I haven’t really talked with you about the equipment you’ll need or how to go about brining a whole turkey.

Because even a “small”, 12-14lb turkey is still a big thing to brine.

Do you need special equipment?

Yes.

Is it expensive and can only be purchased at a speciality cooking store?

No.

All you need is a hardware store and you’re good.  No really, I’m serious.

You need a bucket, a large one.  You can purchase a large bucket at your local Home Improvement store for super cheap.

In that picture is a 5 Gallon bucket.

When brining a whole turkey, you need to have a bucket or pot large enough that the whole turkey will easily be able to be submerged in brining liquids.  No part of the turkey should be out of the liquid and exposed to air.

The turkey also needs to be in a vertical position when brining.  It should not be lying flat.

A vertical turkey will ensure that the brining liquid is able to penetrate the entire turkey all the way around.  It also results in an even brine and that the cavity of the turkey also gets filled with brining liquids.

If the turkey is lying flat, then the brine isn’t encompassing the entire turkey. Resulting in a brine that doesn’t fully penetrate the turkey and therefore doesn’t fully work.

A 5 Gallon bucket has worked well for me over the years and has been big enough to handle up to a 14lb turkey.

You need to make sure that you purchase brand new bucket that is clean and has not been used.  You cannot use a bucket that already has seen time doing household chores.

Clean and brand spanking new is what you want.

Also make sure to label it so that you know the bucket is to be used for brining purposes only and not for anything else.  Store in an area where it won’t be confused with garage supplies.

Of course you can purchase a large stainless steel pot or a tall mixing bowl for brining.  The choice is yours.

A 5 gallon stainless steel pot runs you just over $20, while a 5 gallon bucket is under $5.  Personally, if for some reason I need to replace something, I’d rather be out $5 than $20.

You will be able to fit this bucket in your fridge, I promise.  You just have to finagle stuff around a bit to make room.  If you live in a cold area where temps are going to be in the 20s, you can stick the brine out on your porch or deck.  Just make sure measures have been taken to properly cover and secure the brine because you don’t want to risk something getting into your turkey!

Brine for at least a full 24 hours before pulling out the turkey, rinsing it off, and patting it dry.  Season as you normally would and cook as you normally would.

By following this method you’ll have a great brined turkey every time!

It’s Thanksgiving week! We’re getting down to the wire and now is when all the big prep starts to take place. Today is my last “free” day, starting tomorrow I’ll be cooking each day all the way until Thanksgiving day.

After that I’m not cooking again until at least Saturday!

Maybe. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

This year I’m making my own stock.  I use a lot of chicken stock here at the HQ, however we do not eat enough meat for us to keep ourselves supplied with our own stock.  I’ve been saving up bones in my freezer so that I would eventually have enough to make stock.

I finally have enough! Whoo!

Here’s a run down of how I’m spending the week:

Monday:

• Work
• School work

Tuesday:

• Pick up turkey
• Make stock
• Chop veggies
• Get wine in fridge
• Prep dinner for today and Wednesday
• Make rolls

Wednesday:

• Make cranberry sauce
• Make pie
• Make stuffing
• Peel and cube potatoes, get them soaking in salted water bath
• Make coffee cake for breakfast on Thursday
• Brine Turkey

Thursday:

• Run
• Cook turkey
• Make mashed potatoes
• Make Collards
• Heat up stuffing
• Make gravy

Thanksgiving Dinner

OHC loves Thanksgiving!  It means that I can spend all week cooking and Scott can spend all weekend eating good food.  I realize that spending a week cooking can be most people’s worst nightmare but when you love cooking as much as I do, then Thanksgiving is a dream come true.

The reason I spend all week cooking is because I plan out Thanksgiving.

If you know anything about me, then you know I love Google web-products.  GCal and Google Docs have saved my life time and time again.  Google can be your best friend during the holidays.

With GCal I plan out the week before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving week.  Then I print this out and stick it to my fridge so I have in front of me and can stay on task.

The week before I plan out my grocery list.  I have my menu in front of me and I write down every ingredient I need for that recipe.  Off of that I make a master list of things I’ll need from the grocery store.  Then I do a walk-through, looking over each of my fridges (I have two) and my pantry to see what I already have on hand.

Once that’s done, I have my grocery list ready to go.  I keep it on the fridge as well because if I use up something during the week, I make sure to note that I’ll have to pick up more at the store.

Friday before Thanksgiving (yes this means the weekend before Thanksgiving) I go to the grocery store and do my BIG shopping.  Sales typically have already started by this point and the stores stay relatively empty.  A lot of people wait till the last minute to buy stuff but not me!

If you think about it, the staples will stay fresh and you will still be able to use them the following week.  Carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes will all be fine the following week.  Herbs, if treated properly will be fine too!

The week of Thanksgiving is when I start all the prep work.

Monday I check over my menu and double check that I have all the necessary ingredients.

Tuesday of that week is when I pick up my turkey from the butcher.  I place the order for my turkey at the beginning of the month and then all I have to do is pick it up the week of Thanksgiving! This saves time and I’m not fighting people in the grocery store over turkeys.

You can chop the veggies for stuffing, brining, and for the turkey ahead of time.  I do veggie prep either on Tuesday or on Wednesday.

Despite what the experts say, you CAN make pumpkin pie ahead of time.  You CAN also freeze it and then thaw it out the day of.  Yes it might pull away from the crust a bit but who cares?  Slap some whipped cream over the edge and no one can see anything.  Besides, most people just want  eat, they aren’t really focusing on if your pie is perfect looking.  I make my pies either on Tuesday or Wednesday.

I also make the cranberry sauce and try to keep Scott away from it till Thursday.

Wednesday I prep the brine for the turkey.  You know how I love brining!  If I am doing a whole turkey, it goes in the brine Wednesday evening.  If I’m doing just a breast, I put it in a brine super early in the morning.

Sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole get made and assembled on Wednesday.  This means on Thursday all I have to do is heat them up.

Those can be heating up while I make the stuffing.  I make mashed potatoes ahead of time on Thursday because they can be kept warm on the stove.  You can use Ina’s method of a double boiler to keep them warm or you can just keep them on the stove with a very low heat.  Stirring occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom.  I start the potatoes when the turkey is about halfway through cooking.

The gravy is the very last thing I make while the turkey is resting and the stuffing is finishing off in the oven.  I use some of the roasting juices and some boxed stock that I jazzed up for the gravy.

Once the gravy is done then it’s time to eat!  Scott slices the turkey and dishes it up on our plates.  Then we get to down eating a fab meal that I didn’t stress over because it was all planned out.

Sticking to a plan makes life easier and makes the idea of a huge Thanksgiving dinner seem approachable and not intimidating.

What’s Thanksgiving like at your place? Do you cook or do you travel?