Thanksgiving Eve preparations

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Nov 22nd 2006 @ 9:19PM

thanksgiving dinner If you were here with us here at Slashfood a year ago, you might remember that we paid some close attention to turktastrophes. Perhaps we find comfort in reading about other people's misfrotunes to feel better about ourselves, or perhaps the stories truly are funny. If you recall, I had a turkey tragedy myself this time last year. Let's just say that never again will I try to speed defy nature when speed-defrosting a completely frozen turkey the night before Thanksgiving. I swear I am the most anal-retentive person when it comes to preparing something like Thanksgiving dinner (which happens to be my favorite holiday of the year), but I just, kinda, well, didn't see that part on my spreadsheet.

Anyway, given that lesson, our turkey happily thawed its way to defrosted and it is now soaking in a lovely aromatherapy bath, aka brining solution. We have also prepared cranberry sauce, pumpkin bread pudding, and washed and chopped/sliced/diced/cut our vegetables. Potatoes are sitting underwater in the pot in which they will be cooked tomorrow, too. I almost feel like we're going to have nothing to do tomorrow except watch movies while the turkey roasts.

What kinds of things is everyone else doing tonight to prepare for tomorrow?

Filed Under: Fall Flavors, Ingredients, How To, Methods
Tags: america, comfort food, dinner, fall flavors, poultry, roasting, spices, sugar

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-23-2006 @1:13AM Hawk said... I made eggnog. Amazingly, it worked this time - last year it curdled, and I over-bourboned it. However, my plunge mixer's 'whisk' did such a good job of whisking the egg+sugar while I added boiled milk that I found myself with an enormous mountain of meringue-like foam which I ultimately had to discard.

I also made a mess of the kitchen. Oops.
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11-23-2006 @1:13AM sarah said... eggnog...hm.

bourbon?

i'll be right over!
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11-23-2006 @1:47AM Heather said... I season and butter the turkey and chop up the lemon and herbs to put i the cavity, the night before. Then the turkey just needs the seasoning put in it and into the over. I also peel all carrots and if i am using fresh corn ...I peel it and de-silk it
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11-23-2006 @5:00PM Jim said... Is brine really necessary?

I ask this because it's my first turkey and I live in the Netherlands where everything is way-small. The turkey won't even fit in the sink - it's that small.

It's fresh, not frozen, and it's occupying my little fridge until cooking day on Saturday morning (it's clearly a weekend thing here) - if I follow all the precautions of cooking it upside down and basting repeatedly, I shouldn't need brinening, would I?
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11-23-2006 @11:28AM calamari said... Jim -- For kitchen purposes, a turkey is essentially a big chicken. Any cooking technique that works on a roast chicken should work on a turkey.

If your turkey is more the heirloom variety, it can handle much stronger seasonings, more like a pheasant or a duck. But it'll still cook like a large chicken.

One handy substitute for brining is to leave your turkey rightside-up and drape slices of bacon over the top. The bacon provides automatic basting.
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