Thanksgiving Meal Tips

I can't even tell you how excited I am about our Thanksgiving meal. Epic it shall be, because I'm taking all the recipes from this fabulous cookbook.

What my thanksgiving table will look like minus the sweet decorations. (We're moving 1500 miles the day after Thanksgiving. Simplicity is the way to go decor-wise.)

What recipes am I making, you ask? Oh my goodness. So glad you asked. Have a seat, and I shall tell you.

My menu: blanched green beans with butter sauce, mashed potatoes (made with a new food mill that now brings my random kitchen gadget count to about three gazillion and one), scrumptious gravy, sweet cranberry sauce, cornbread-sausage stuffing, herb-roasted turkey, and a pumpkin spice cheesecake.

This will be the first thanksgiving meal I've ever made, the first thanksgiving meal I've ever made for extended family, and the only large meal I've made in my teacup-sized kitchen. Planning makes my world go round.

Here are a few things I've learned as I've strategized the heck out of this whole Thanksgiving thing:

Entertaining Tip #1: If you're making a huge meal (for the first time), make the main dishes extra special, and keep the rest simple.

Entertaining Tip #2: You will have so much less stress if you make some of your dishes ahead of time. I made the cranberry sauce, the gravy, and the cheesecake all ahead of time. By the end of today, the cornbread-sausage stuffing will also be done, leaving only the beans, potatoes and turkey for tomorrow. Totally doable.

(Also. Minor note on That Cheesecake: it came out perfectly. No cracks. I've never made cheesecake before. I'm telling you, that cookbook is awesome.)

Entertaining Tip #3: Missing a roasting rack, a carving set, or a 15x10 cookie sheet? (My stuffing recipe required one. I didn't even know cookie sheets came that big. I will now be able to bake more chocolate chip cookies in half the time. Brilliant.)  Ross's (Ross'? Rosses?) may very well have everything you need at a fraction of the regular price. Case in point: I got an Oneida roasting rack for $17. I was prepared to spend more than twice that, so to reward myself, I bought an adorable tablecloth. Ross's makes my world go round, too.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!