Time Management & The Turkey

First, in order to remind yourself to do this step, be sure to set an alarm on your phone other device reminding you in the morning the day before that you need to prepare the desserts and appetizers later. I actually set two alarms one also around the time the girls go to bed, just as a quick reminder of what I still need to accomplish. After the girls are off to bed I began cooking. I started with the Apple Cobbler and then began the Pumpkin Pie. While the pumpkin pie was baking and cooling, I began to prepare some of the appetizers. I started by preparing the Deviled Eggs. Then I grabbed a medium serving tray and placed an entire 160z. can of drained black olives into a pile to begin the Appetizer Platter. Next, I prepared the celery and cream cheese by simply cleaning and cutting the celery into third length strips. Then I spread fresh cream cheese onto the celery sticks and placed them on the tray in a neat pile next to the olives and covered with aluminum to store in the fridge. Once the Apple Cobbler and Pumpkin Pie have cooled, cover and place in the fridge for the next day. This step is key in helping alleviate stress and will cut nearly 3 hours of prep and cook time off of your already busy day.  

The Turkey is the first thing that will go in the oven, and typically, is the last thing to come out. As you begin preparing and cooking other dishes in this meal you will notice that the base temperature that your turkey will cook at will fluctuate so making sure it stays moist the entire time is very important. Since turkey recipes vary so much, we decided to mention the way we do ours in this post instead of listing a full recipe because again, the variations of this can be very vast. We begin by preheating our oven to 325 degrees. We then cut 8 cloves of garlic in half and make small ½” thick cuts in the turkey and place the garlic halves into them. In a medium bowl we make an egg and butter mixture to spread all over our turkey. In a separate bowl we mix a variety of herbs including; cumin, Italian seasoning, garlic salt, parsley, basil, thyme, oregano, black pepper, old bay, and ground ginger. We then put the egg and butter mixture on the turkey and topped it with the herb mix, spreading the herbs evenly covering the entire bird. Then we put the bird in the oven. The total length of time it will take to cook your turkey will vary based upon how many pounds it weighs. We typically use the model that for every 1 lb. of turkey you will cook for 15 minutes (00 pounds x 15 minutes). So, for example if you have 16.92 lbs. of turkey you will cook it for 4 hours and 23 minutes. 

This is where the temperature of your oven will begin to fluctuate beginning with the start of the first recipe to cook for the side dishes, Green Bean Casserole. Once your Green Bean Casserole is complete continue on to your Honey Maple Carrots and Garlic Knots. Lastly, we prepare the Cranberry Sauce as well as Mashed Potatoes and gravy. In addition, we typically will get a bag of seasoned croutons or breadcrumbs to place inside of the turkey to make a delicious Stuffing. 

At the end of the day, this meal plan and the recipes inside of it will not disappoint and I know at least for us it led to a day filled with laughs and an outstanding meal.