Thanksgiving Prep – Day 1 (The Plan)

We’re hosting the family’s Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year and I have planned out quite a few things, so in order to ensure I’m not collapsing from exhaustion on Thursday night, I’m spreading out all my prep and cooking over the week.

On the menu for this year:

Main Dishes

Big Green Egg Roasted Turkey (handled by Mr. Pikko, last year’s pictured above)
Amazing gravy (handled by Mr. Pikko)
Pulled, smoked turkey
Baked ham (handled by Grandma J)

Starches

Rice
Mashed potatoes
Corn (if I can get at the corn sale at work tomorrow)
Dinner rolls (handled by sister in law)
Stuffing (Stovetop, my absolute fave!)
Potato skins

Vegetables & Other Sides

Fried noodles & crispy gau gee (handled by my mom)
Sashimi
Roasted veggies (carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, kabocha)
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Cranberry sauce
Pumpkin soup (making for Fictional Food)

Desserts

Pumpkin pie (recipe here)
Pumpkin cheesecake (recipe here)
Custard pie (handled by sister in law)
Cinnamon rolls (Pioneer woman style!)

Okay, I hadn’t realized it was quite so much food… Hahaha! Anyway, the plan is:

Sunday

Make cranberry sauce, refrigerate
Make cinnamon rolls, freeze half
Make cheesecake, freeze

Monday

Make pumpkin soup, refrigerate
Bake cheesecake and freeze

Tuesday

Wash and bake potato halves
Bag skins and refrigerate
Make mashed potatoes
Bake pumpkin pie

Wednesday

Peel and chop roots
Smoke turkey
Defrost cheesecake in fridge

Thursday

Bake roots
Cook rice on timer
Boil corn
Make stuffing
Roast brussels sprouts
Bake potato skins
Re-heat smoked turkey
Thaw and bake cinnamon rolls

Friday

Make turkey soup!

With this schedule, I should be able to have all of my dishes ready with very little stress. I just have to keep on schedule!