Thanksgiving
I’m really into holidays. My favorite time of year spans from September through December and it wasn’t until recently that I stopped experiencing a total sadness from the loss of the holidays ranging from January 2 to January 16 or so.
Usually I start getting pretty into Halloween with lots of pumpkin spiced foods, candles and pumpkins themselves. The big thing during that phase is Halloween movies. I’m very un-brave when it comes to anything scary so it’s usually a pretty mild array of titles like Beetlejuice and Practical Magic.
Come Thanksgiving, I’ll be honest. I love cooking and a group coming together but I also love that its an opportunity to segway into Christmas!
My usual Thanksgiving week routine starts with a trip to the Flower Market on Wednesday morning, I then refrigerate the flowers to create arrangements the morning of Thanksgiving once the turkey is on. I really love the Flower Market and its fun to get up early and grab a cup of coffee and a bunch of beautiful flowers!
On Thursday morning I get up early and get the turkey on and the side dishes prepped and basically cook until its ready and in spare moments arrange flowers and set table, often forgetting to eat anything and by the time dinner is out I’m happy but also falling asleep.
So THIS year because I’m cooking for what appears to be a growing number, I decided to plan ahead a little bit!
My basic overall outline is as follows:
Sunday:
Ordered all the groceries - cleared allergies and preferences with everyone and finally checked out on Amazon Fresh which is a gaaame-changer from previous years.
Fridge clean out. Trying to fit all those groceries in our fridge before cleaning it out would probably end in some sort of injury. So I’m taking advantage of a little more time today to get ready for the delivery of said groceries tomorrow
Pull out baking supplies/table settings. This way I can make sure we have everything needed from aprons to a rolling pin to enough napkins and glasses!
Speaking of rolling pins, I’m cooking quite a few grain free pies this Thanksgiving that have slightly temperamental crusts. So I bought this roller which I think will be a little easier to maneuver to keep the crust intact form Amazon:
Click for link
Wednesday AM:
Trip to the Flower Market. I have some inspo photos of arrangements and colors I’d like to follow on my Pinterest page but this year I plan to go a little more minimal in design. With a lot of people coming, the biggest problem becomes room on the table. So while I love elaborate tables with lots of pretty flowers and pumpkins, I’m going to go smaller on the arrangements and larger on food.
sources via Pinterest
Wednesday PM:
Move tables into living room. Nick had the great suggestion of bringing two large wooden tables into the living room where there is a lovely fireplace. So I will be employing some muscle in moving those over but at least we won’t be trying to do it day of Thanksgiving which I have done before.
Table Setting & Dressing. Something I also usually do on the day and starts as such a fun creative endeavor that goes to exhausting very quickly as I keep running back and forth from the kitchen. This year with simplicity playing a larger role I ordered a big roll of kraft paper which I’m going to handwrite every guests name on to sort of spruce it up and not have to worry about mess or 20 placemats. Here’s a very early attempt without the correct supplies but I think still came out pretty cute!
Baking the pies! I’m baking 1 Paleo Apple Pie, 1 Regular Apple Pie, 1 Paleo Pumpkin Pie and 1 Regular Pumpkin Pie. The pies are one of my favorite parts but always give me trouble day of as well! Which is funny because a lot of people I know have made the pies the day before for years however I’m apparently just figuring it out!
Baking quiches! Everyone always seems to be hungrier Thanksgiving morning and I find quite a few scavengers in the kitchen creating eclectic snacks and little messes. At the same time, I love having everyone around hanging at home Thanksgiving Day. I really don’t mind doing all the cooking but love to have everyone hanging out and around instead of cooking alone! So in order to keep them nearby but out of the pots and pans, I’m cooking some quiches to put out in the morning and a charcuterie plate to put out around midday.
Thanksgiving Day!:
The first order of business is getting the turkey on. Based off our turkey size I’m planning for about 5 hours. I’d like to have it on by around 9:00 am because I’d like to eat by 4:00 and this gives a little time give or take.
In the meantime I will also heat the quiches to feed the scavengers
9:00 am Turkey is on
Prep side dishes. The entire menu is as follows:
Turkey with gluten free stuffing and gravy
Traditional organic cranberry sauce
Rosemary Roasted Root Vegetables
Organic Buttery Mashed Potatoes
Slow Cooked Beef Brisket with Onion
Green Bean Casserole
Pumpkin dinner rolls - which I am SOO excited to try
Apple and Pumpkin Pies
Top right image original, rest of images from Pinterest
The ideal set up is that most of the people coming for dinner get to hang out starting around noon and everyone arrives by 3:00pm for dinner at 4:00pm
After dinner I’ll stick the pies in the oven to heat up and we’ll play games and enjoy pie and fresh cream
Then I save the turkey bones and leftover meat for Turkey Rice soup the next day!
Hopefully this outline helps to organize things a bit. Either way I find it always comes together and I’m so looking forward to this year’s! I’ve really become aware of the effect that grains have on me and how they seem to affect a lot of others the same way so this year while keeping a lot of the schedule and decor simple, I’m really trying to go a little healthier in terms of the menu.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Love,
Claire