|
What to Buy and When
What to buy and when? One thing I can't stress enough is not to wait to the last minute. The stores run out of stuff and you don’t want to be cut short at the last minute. Starting now as you shop for your weekly groceries, pick up a few things that you can keep without them spoiling.
Things to pick up now:
If you use croutons for your stuffing pick those up.
Chicken Broth
Pork Sausage (put it in the freezer)
Butter (you can put this in the freezer too)
Spices i.e. sage, salt, pepper, parsley etc.
Canned Pumpkin
Jars or packages of gravy
Canned cranberry if you use that
Canned Yams or Sweet Potatoes
Aluminum Pans for cooking turkey and things in
Look for the decorative and my personal favorite the turkey shaped butter for your table.
Start thinking about the things you would like to decorate the table with.
If you order pies from somewhere make sure you do that in enough time as well.
For me one of the most important things you can have on hand and plenty of it is BUTTER!!!!!!!! This is my secrete ingredient, nothing fancy but I swear that is what makes the turkey and certainly the mashed potatoes a big hit!
OK so now that we have some of that done other things you need to remember are:
If you buy a frozen turkey make sure you allow enough time for it to thaw! You DO NOT want to be running hot water over it all night the day before!! This is putting your guests lives in your hands. You do not want the turkey to be growing bacteria and germs so the best method for defrosting is to let your turkey defrost in the refrigerator. This can take up to 4 days depending on the size of your turkey so plan for that. Another thing to think about is if you would like for the turkey to be prepared the night before make sure you allow enough time for it to be thawed by then.
Then the weekend before don’t forget to pick up the more perishable items. Things I usually get are:
Celery
Carrots
Onions
Heavy Cream or whipped cream
Eggs
More butter
Potatoes
If you use fresh sweet potatoes or Yams pick them up
Apples
Bread for stuffing
Fresh Spices
Or whatever else you may need get it!
Now you are all set and ready to begin. It’s not a hard thing at all to do so for those of you who have never done this before don’t panic, it actually is one of the easier meals you can put together. So just relax it will be OK!
What to buy and When
Things you can make ahead of time
Preparing the Turkey
The Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
The Table and Beverages
Left-Overs
Favorite Recipes
|
