How's your Cooking Schedule Going?

[NYCgrrl]

Only cooking for a small amt of people this year but it's just as much work as if for more .Probably due to the complexity of one of the meals so all my fault.

The man and I are having a duck dinner and a younger sister is in the hospital and milking it for all it's worth as well she should ; she's having a turkey dinner.

All the meats are now seasoned and resting in the fridge. Actually remembered to take the puff pastry out of the freezer so it'll defrost on time (yeahhhh!)
All the side dishes are made as is the soup.
Finally, decided on the appetizer plate(s) one for us and the other for the "sicky" and still need to make green mayonnaise, and hummus.
Need to mushroom chop and saute for the duck. Foie gras needs to be sauteed.
Need to make stock and gravy for turkey.
One dessert is made and I've one or two more to go; could get lazy and only make one more.

How's by you?

 

[disneychrista]

I've bought everything (I hope) that I need to make my contributions.

Won't actually make anything until tomorrow.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Only cooking for a small amt of people this year but it's just as much work as if for more .Probably due to the complexity of one of the meals so all my fault.

The man and I are having a duck dinner and a younger sister is in the hospital and milking it for all it's worth as well she should ; she's having a turkey dinner.

All the meats are now seasoned and resting in the fridge. Actually remembered to take the puff pastry out of the freezer so it'll defrost on time (yeahhhh!)
All the side dishes are made as is the soup.
Finally, decided on the appetizer plate(s) one for us and the other for the "sicky" and still need to make green mayonnaise, and hummus.
Need to mushroom chop and saute for the duck. Foie gras needs to be sauteed.
Need to make stock and gravy for turkey.
One dessert is made and I've one or two more to go; could get lazy and only make one more.

How's by you?

Turkey is stuffed and roasting in oven. When done, will carve and put in fridge for reheating tomorrow as sweet potatoes & mashed potatoes are cooked.

Making Jell-o later.

Already have rolls, pumpkin pie and topping.

I'm good.

 

[yeahdisney]

Ham done. Potatoes (diced with dill) done. Deviled eggs cooking now. Hmmmm maybe I’ll do the turkey later today

 

[Meriweather]

Made the caramel cheesecake yesterday.
Pumpkin bread today
DGD is here so working on her apple cookie project.....slow going.
Made her pancakes and green eggs for lunch and set up her tent and made it camp ready.
Tomorrow i just havd to do the mashed potatoes and lasagna. I have the rolls and cheese and crackers.
That's my part

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I'll call the restaurant and ask them how it's going!

 

[Miffy]

Going great . . . I do nothing!

 

[Skippy918]

I’m picking up my smoked turkey later.

 

[Kitty 34]

Turkey is stuffed and roasting in oven. When done, will carve and put in fridge for reheating tomorrow as sweet potatoes & mashed potatoes are cooked.

Making Jell-o later.

Already have rolls, pumpkin pie and topping.

I'm good.

I'm toying with cooking our 20 lb bird this afternoon and carving it. Never have done that before the big day. What is your best suggestion for warming up the carved meat?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm toying with cooking our 20 lb bird this afternoon and carving it. Never have done that before the big day. What is your best suggestion for warming up the carved meat?

I got this on the internet about 3 years ago. It's what I use:
Step 1. Roast the turkey.

Step 2. When done, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 30-45 minutes. This allows the juices to settle into the meat before it is cut. If you cut it too soon the juices will run out, resulting in a dry turkey.

Step 3. Carve the turkey.

• Cut the turkey breast in 3/4" thick slices. If you slice it too thinly, the turkey won't hold in the juices as well and remain as moist.

Step 4. Place the sliced turkey in a baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator. Keep the sliced pieces pressed together.

Step 5. Cover the sliced turkey with plastic wrap, pressing it down to close any air pockets. This also helps retain moisture in the turkey.

Step 6. Cover the pan with a lid or piece of aluminum foil and refrigerate.



Here's how to reheat and serve the turkey.

Step 7. Remove turkey from fridge and rest on counter for 30-45 minutes to allow it to return to room temperature

Step 8. Remove the plastic wrap and spread out the turkey slices in an even layer. For quick, even heating, it's best to spread the slices in a single layer, overlapping them slightly--don't stack them if you can avoid it.

Step 9. Drizzle chicken or turkey broth evenly over all of the sliced meat. You can use canned broth or make your own. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.



Step 10. Reheat the turkey without overcooking it.

If you've taken care to roast your turkey properly so that it has remained moist, you don't want to undo that by overcooking it and drying it out during the reheating process. There are two methods; choose the one that works best for you. With both methods, the turkey should be in an even shallow layer in a baking pan. If it's piled too high, the outside layers will overcook before the center layers are hot.

• FLASH REHEATING at a high temperature is a method often used by restaurants chefs. The concept is simple. Put room temperature food in shallow, covered pans, and put it in a 450 degree oven for approx. 7-15 minutes. It heats the food fast (in a FLASH) without cooking it further. This is the method I recommend if you don't need the oven set to a lower temperature for cooking other dishes at the same time.
• STANDARD REHEATING in a 350 degree oven is another option that normally will take 25-30 minutes for room temperature turkey to be heated through. This method is the best option if you have other dishes that need to cook in the oven at the same time at that temperature.

Either way, the important thing is to remove the turkey from the oven as soon as it's heated through completely without letting it overcook. Ovens and cooking times can vary, so I recommend checking on it about half way into the reheating process to help you gauge when to remove it from the oven.

Step 11. Transfer the hot turkey to a serving platter. I like to use a fish spatula for this--it's nice and long, so I can neatly transfer a whole row of turkey slices at once.

Step 12. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of hot broth over the turkey just before serving. There should be some hot broth in the bottom of the reheating pan that can be used for this.

 

[soccerdad72]

Haven't started yet - we'll prep some things tonight, but everything else we'll do tomorrow.

 

[Klayfish]

We've got our paper plates, pre-cooked turkey, pre-made mashed potatoes. All we need to do tomorrow is make boxed stuffing, crescent rolls and eat. Going precisely as planned.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Only cooking for a small amt of people this year but it's just as much work as if for more .Probably due to the complexity of one of the meals so all my fault.

The man and I are having a duck dinner and a younger sister is in the hospital and milking it for all it's worth as well she should ; she's having a turkey dinner.

All the meats are now seasoned and resting in the fridge. Actually remembered to take the puff pastry out of the freezer so it'll defrost on time (yeahhhh!)
All the side dishes are made as is the soup.
Finally, decided on the appetizer plate(s) one for us and the other for the "sicky" and still need to make green mayonnaise, and hummus.
Need to mushroom chop and saute for the duck. Foie gras needs to be sauteed.
Need to make stock and gravy for turkey.
One dessert is made and I've one or two more to go; could get lazy and only make one more.

How's by you?

I just finished putting together my dressing and sweet potato casserole for tomorrow. All I have to worry about in the morning is putting the turkey in the oven.

Ran to costco for a pumpkin pie and apples. I’m going to attempt to make Jacque Pepin’s tarte tatin. It’s his older recipe that includes currants and apricots along with the apples. It’s really delicious.

Keeping it simple because we will be heading up to Boston on Saturday for a family function.

 

[lovesmurfs]

It's only 6 of us. Pies made today (triple berry, pumpkin, apple) and cranberry sauce done. Will do the stuffing and sweet potatoes tonight. Tomorrow is the turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

I've been dealing with kidney issues since early October (with a 3rd procedure yesterday), so what they get is what they get. The good thing is we're eating early (around 1 or earlier), so I'll be able to rest the remainder of the day.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I just finished putting together my dressing and sweet potato casserole for tomorrow. All I have to worry about in the morning is putting the turkey in the oven.

Ran to costco for a pumpkin pie and apples. I’m going to attempt to make Jacque Pepin’s tarte tatin. It’s his older recipe that includes currants and apricots along with the apples. It’s really delicious.

Keeping it simple because we will be heading up to Boston on Saturday for a family function.

GMTA! I was considering one of JP's tarte tatin recipes but decided on a 6" apple galette instead. I've a backup sour cherry pie from a local bakery just in case; I'm not a good baker by anyone's stretch of the imagination.

Here's hoping I'm where you are by tomorrow morning.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We've got our paper plates, pre-cooked turkey, pre-made mashed potatoes. All we need to do tomorrow is make boxed stuffing, crescent rolls and eat. Going precisely as planned.

What is boxed stuffing?

 

[TwoHeartsBeat]

We're going to someone else's house this year. Normally I would still cook Thanksgiving dinner at our house, but we're going to Disney next week. I'll skip the cooking and the cleanup, and work on packing our bags instead!

 

[Cheetie]

Made desserts and cranberry sauce yesterday, and the turkey just came out of the oven and is waiting to be carved. I’ll make the mashed potatoes and stuffing tonight, sweet potatoes and appetizers in the AM and I’ll be good to go

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What is boxed stuffing?

 

[luvnwdwgal]

I roasted off some chicken thighs a couple weeks ago, pulled all the meat off, shredded it, then froze it. It goes in the dressing along with diced potatoes, and sautéed celery and onion. Toasted off a loaf of bread Monday and left it in the oven to continue to dry out so I could make the dressing yesterday. It’s my mother-in-law’s homemade dressing that takes at least 2 days to make, or more if you don’t have much time like myself. I grew up eating Stove Top so this stuff is a PITA, but it’s what my husband likes and his mother doesn’t make it anymore. She’s 90 so I’ll let her slide. I also made homemade ice cream on Monday mostly for the kids. Along with the dressing yesterday I made a ginger snap crust pumpkin pie. My husband will be in charge of the turkey, and gravy if he decides to make it. I don’t do gravy so I bought a jar just in case. Other than that I just need to make some pasta for the grandkids because they won’t all eat the traditional meal. We’ll also have peas, carrot sticks, cranberry jelly, a cheese plate, applesauce and crescent rolls.