It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving Day is only a few days away. I feel like I just put away my turkey platter last month! No need to say that in spite of my plans to "be prepared", I look like a deer-in-the-headlights when the holidays roll around - again - and always sooner than I anticipate.

Fortunately I have come across several different articles that can help us all to plan ahead so that this day of Thanks-Giving, will remain just that; a day to Give Thanks. There is only one thing that should be running around like a turkey with its head cut off, and that is not the cook. Well, actually, it shouldn't be the turkey either, but you get what I'm saying.

Below are some ideas that will help you to begin planning your dinner now, so that you won't have to spend Thanksgiving Day in the kitchen, in panic mode.

1. Plan Ahead
You will need to ask yourself some basic questions before starting, such as:

•  How many people are you going to have?
•  Are any of them vegetarian? Do any have food allergies? If the answer is yes, plan some dishes around their specific needs. This is what a great hostess does.
•  Do you have room for everyone to sit around a table? If not, where are you going to put everyone?
•  Do you have enough chairs? If not, where can you get some? Family? Neighbors?
•  Do you have enough plates, glasses, silverware? Take inventory.
•  Are you going to have anyone staying with you the night before? If so, Thanksgiving Day will begin with breakfast, which may take time away from your preparation. Figure that in to your calculations.

2. Food /Home Preparation

•  Write out your menu and figure out what can be done in advance and put into the refrigerator or freezer.
•  Delegate. If you have family or friends coming many will ask if they can "bring something". Let them. Do you want to have a relish tray that will take up a lot of room in your frig? Delegate it and save the refrigerator space for other things. A great casserole that is time consuming to make? Delegate it.
•  Do you have enough pots and pans for what you want to do? It would be a good idea to assign a pot/pan to each dish you are planning on making to ensure that you will have all the appliances you will need.
•  How big is your oven? Do you have 1 oven? Two? One of the biggest headaches cooks face is the realization that everything needs to be baking or heating at the same time. Figure out how you are going to make this work. Remember that once a turkey is out of the oven it will need to "rest" for 30 minutes before carving. This additional 30 minutes will give you time to warm up rolls or casseroles. One year I asked a next-door neighbor if I could use her ovens while she was out of town. She was delighted, and I had 2 extra ovens to work with!

3. Shop Early

•  Last year I waited too long to get my frozen potatoes and everywhere I went, the freezer shelves were empty. I finally found some, but it was stressful.
•  Go through every ingredient on your menu. Do you have the spices you will need? Will you need a garlic press? Extra pot-holders? Something heavy to lift the turkey out of the roaster? Think about it. Thanksgiving morning is not the time to find out that you are missing 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric.

4. The Day/Night Before

•  Set your table early. This simple ritual is more time consuming than you may realize. I had a friend who had hers set and ready to go by Monday night! She figured that if anything was missing, she had plenty of time to get what was needed.
•  Pull things out of the freezer that may need to be defrosted during the night.
•  You are ready. Get a good night's sleep.

5. The Bird (Quoted from Eating Well)

Undercooking
Nobody wants to sit down to bloody-looking Thanksgiving turkey. So have patience and let your bird cook until it's done! Now the only real secret here is that you must, and I mean must, invest in a meat thermometer. They are inexpensive and you can find them at the supermarket. Forget jiggling the leg around or piercing with a fork until the juices run clear. Just get the thermometer! To properly use it, insert it into the deepest part of several areas of the bird. I temp both the breasts and thighs. And make sure not to let the thermometer touch bone. Leave it in the bird for about 20 seconds, and voila. If you want to get fancy, try a remote digital thermometer. You can put the sensor in the bird and then read the temp from outside the oven. These thermometer's are high-tech, convenient and nice to have, but not necessary.

Overcooking
All that worry about dry meat on Thanksgiving is just about overcooking it. If it's done right, which is to 165 degrees F (considered safe by the USDA), then it should stay juicy and moist. Keep in mind if you want your meat to end up at 165, then you'll need to pull the bird out of the oven when it hits between 155 and 160. The temperature will continue to rise 5 to 10 degrees as the bird rests (that's called "carryover cooking.") The complicating factor here is that the breast tends to cook faster than the thighs and legs, and also will naturally dry out more because it's leaner. I like this recipe, which uses the technique of protecting the breast meat with a foil deflector; the foil slows down how fast the breast cooks, so that it reaches the proper temp at the same time that the thigh meat does.

6. Thanksgiving Day

•  Gather
•  Embrace
•  Enjoy
•  Laugh
•  Love
•  Give Thanks
•  It's never really been about the food, anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our DVO Family.