Mastering a Smooth Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. How did that happen? Even though I'm a food professional, I still get a little jittery when the time comes to get the meal started. I find Thanksgiving an easier holiday to plan for because it is a pretty set menu. With our family, the turkey, gravy, corn pudding and pumpkin swirl cheesecake are always there, so that makes things a little easier. We also have to have the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. When my kids were little, it was a great way to make eating sweet potatoes fun. Now that they're more grown up, they still like it!

At this point on the calendar, I think the most important thing to do it take a deep breath and do a little planning to make sure that "the day" goes smoothly. When you are preparing a big meal, the hardest thing is often getting everything ready for the same time.

First and foremost, is your turkey thawed yet? I fondly remember a turkey dinner in college when a friend tried to start cooking a 20 lb. frozen turkey at 3 p.m. for a 5:30 p.m. meal. Trust me, even the hottest oven couldn't save that situation! At this point in time, thawing a turkey in the refrigerator isn't going to work because that takes about a day for every 4 lb. of turkey. Your option today is submerging the turkey in cold water in the sink. This is what you do:

• Place your turkey, breast-side down and in its unopened wrapper, in enough cold water to completely cover the turkey.
• Change the water every 30 min. to keep it cold. This is important because this is the step that keeps the turkey at a cold enough temperature so that there is no bacterial growth. Bacterial growth could cause food poisoning, which no one wants!
• Plan a minimum thawing time of 30 min. per pound for a whole turkey.

My shopping is done, and today I am focusing on getting anything done ahead that I can. These are the things I like to do the day before the big meal that helps tomorrow go more smoothly:

Make Desserts: If pumpkin pie is a must a your house and you haven't made one yet, there is still time. Here's a recipe that always makes a perfect pie in a graham crust:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe/knet_recipe_display&u1=keyword&u2=pumpkin%20pie&u3=**19*45&wf=9&recipe_id=55065

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Pumpkin Pie

Prepare my side dishes. Besides the Herb-Roasted Vegetables that I suggested in my last post, I'll also be making:

Mallow-Topped Sweet Potato Bake

http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe/knet_recipe_display&u1=keyword&u2=mallow-topped&u3=**1*2&wf=9&recipe_id=55659

Set the Table. I like to have the table set the day before so that there is one less thing to do on Thanksgiving Day. My kids usually help with this task.

When the big day is here, it is tradition in our family that the turkey is carved at the table. Since my husband is a chef, he is pretty comfortable with the carving. But if you haven't had a lot of experience carving a turkey, here's a quick video to watch for some great tips:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=cookingschool&m=cookingschool/video_display&vid=363

Good luck with your own dinner preparations. Post a comment and let me know how it goes! While I'll be away from the blog during the holiday, come back on Friday for some recipe ideas for how to serve all of that leftover turkey.