Thanksgiving Prep Pt Three: Planning

[brigid]

Crabgrass by Tauhid Bondia for 11-15-2022

There's two big issues with planning things for Thanksgiving:
1) How to get everything so it's hot and ready to be put on the table at the same time
2) How to plan out what needs to be IN the oven, what needs to be ON the stove, and what can go in a slow cooker.

I'm doing a ham, 325* for 10-15 minutes per pound, which will probably take up an entire oven rack.

I also need to juggle in the oven:

Reheated Lasagna (oven, 375*, 30 minutes, until filling is 165*)
Reheated Broccoli Casserole (oven, 375*, 30 minutes, until filling is 165*)
Mashed Potatoes (stove top)
Gravy (stove top)
Stuffing, Slow Cooker, High, 3-4 hours
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Slow Cooker, High, 5 Hours

I can fully make, including bake, the lasagna and broccoli casserole ahead of time. Then I can pull them out of the fridge an hour ahead of time and heat them up for 30-40 minutes. The broccoli casserole? I'd put the crunchy cracker stuff on top of the casserole only before heating it up - not at the original bake.

One of the big questions will be if I want to cook red sauce from scratch or not. It's something I can do ahead of time. Even ahead of time, though, it's still time consuming. It tastes so much better though.

Monday:
Double Check All Bakeware and Serveware
Pick Up Grocery Order

Tuesday:
Make Red Sauce?
Cut and Steam Broccoli
Dice Onion, Celery, etc. and store in water
Slice and Dry Bread

Wednesday:
Assemble & Bake Lasagna
Assemble & Bake Broccoli Casserole (NO crumb topping)
Make Stuffing
Peel and Cut Raw Potatoes and store in water
Set the Dining Room Table
Buy Bolillo Rolls

Thursday:

The sweet potatoes need to go in around 10:30.

The stuffing needs to go in at noon.

Appetizers Go Out, Guests Arrive

Casseroles need to come out at 2:00 to come to room temperature.

If I want to eat at 4:00 then I want the ham out around 3:15. It needs to rest before being served, under a tinfoil hat. The time it goes IN will depend on the SIZE of the ham, which I don't know yet because I haven't bought it yet.

If the ham is out at 3:15 then the two casseroles can go in at that point. Just bump the heat, stick them in. Check the temperature after 20 minutes.

The potatoes, peeled and cut previously, needs to go in boiling water immediately when the casseroles go in.

The roux for the gravy needs to be started immediately after that.

Another option, though, is to make half pan lasagna and broccoli casseroles and put them in earlier with the ham so they come out at the same time and rest at the same time. They can all cook at 350*. Since it's all cooked ahead of time we can have more set aside in the fridge as leftovers/for people to take home.

If I had a third slow cooker I'd cook the broccoli casserole in that. I might get a third slow cooker, which I've been meaning to use for a while.

Either way I'm going to have to disappear into the kitchen around 3:00 and the room is so small and poorly laid out that nobody will really be able to come in and help me. I'll have to really make sure I have room to put things, and to work.

It's only going to be 4 adults and 1 picky teenager at most so I'm just going to use our regular plates and cups and things. It's not a big crowd.