52 Days of Thanksgiving
52 Days of Thanksgiving
Top-notch recipes, expert tips, and all the tools to pull off the year’s most memorable feast.
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6 Comments
cpc
November 8, 2016
Can anyone recommend an app that works well for organizing holiday menus and shopping lists?
AntoniaJames
November 8, 2016
I've never seen one that appealed to me, in large part because (a) I find that one of the most important steps in planning/execution is actually to look at all the recipes on the menu at the same time, to figure out how to combine similar tasks, organize the best order of operations for advance prep etc.; and (b) shopping list apps tend to create so much "noise" by showing ingredients you don't need to buy (you have them already)., etc.
I put both my November dinner plan - more about that here https://food52.com/recipes/64818-recipe-for-peace-of-mind-thanksgiving-week -- and all of my prep activities in separate calendars (Word documents) that I fiddle with to size the cells as necessary: http://tinyurl.com/AJTDayPlan You can find monthly calendar templates easily online. I like to start the week with Monday so I can see the weekend days side by side.
After I do that, I look at the calendar, and the recipes, and create a number of grocery lists, with shopping dates assigned to each, in a Note (Notes app on my iPhone which is synched with my Mac laptop). I have to do a lot of holiday baking prep over Thanksgiving weekend due to my deal flow in Q4, so I include ingredients for those things to the extent practical, as well.
I hope you find this (very long answer to a very short question) helpful. ;o) P.S. I asked a similar question on the Hotline about 6 months ago https://food52.com/hotline/13923-what-s-the-best-synchronizable-ipad-iphone-app-for-grocery-list-cooking-notes-management and ended up not getting a special purpose app - just using Notes, and loading relevant Word documents to my Google Drive. I put all the recipes into Word documents, and also print them out in landscape format, and put those hard copies in a pocket divider in a binder.
I put both my November dinner plan - more about that here https://food52.com/recipes/64818-recipe-for-peace-of-mind-thanksgiving-week -- and all of my prep activities in separate calendars (Word documents) that I fiddle with to size the cells as necessary: http://tinyurl.com/AJTDayPlan You can find monthly calendar templates easily online. I like to start the week with Monday so I can see the weekend days side by side.
After I do that, I look at the calendar, and the recipes, and create a number of grocery lists, with shopping dates assigned to each, in a Note (Notes app on my iPhone which is synched with my Mac laptop). I have to do a lot of holiday baking prep over Thanksgiving weekend due to my deal flow in Q4, so I include ingredients for those things to the extent practical, as well.
I hope you find this (very long answer to a very short question) helpful. ;o) P.S. I asked a similar question on the Hotline about 6 months ago https://food52.com/hotline/13923-what-s-the-best-synchronizable-ipad-iphone-app-for-grocery-list-cooking-notes-management and ended up not getting a special purpose app - just using Notes, and loading relevant Word documents to my Google Drive. I put all the recipes into Word documents, and also print them out in landscape format, and put those hard copies in a pocket divider in a binder.
bittersweet
November 13, 2015
I keep all my favorite recipes in a Word document folder, with many sub folders. Every year I go to the Thanksgiving folder and review past menus. For each year I include the menu, my daily timetable beginning the week before (stock earlier), and shopping lists. This way I remind myself to iron those napkins the week before, gather everything I need, and print lists and recipes. I've always written notes the day after about what worked and what needs to be improved, which I find very helpful since those memories tend to blur. And that means I include new recipe testing at least the week before so new additions are happy ones. I try to have everything I need before Wednesday so I don't come home exhausted from the market and then have to begin some very important day-ahead cooking projects.
AntoniaJames
November 12, 2015
Okay, I'm not a pro, but I do tend to think things through and try to improve processes from year to year (the engineer in me). You've covered this really well. My tips:
No later than the second weekend of November (this weekend for those of you reading this on November 12), make your project plan for the Thanksgiving meal AND for all of the meals you'll be serving starting the Friday or Saturday before Thanksgiving. Make your grocery lists now, divided as follows:
Things to buy this weekend (or ASAP): All non-perishable ingredients, supplies (garbage bags, aluminum foil, parchment, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent, hand soaps, paper towels, any other cleaners you don't want to have to worry about), candles, wine, sparkling water, and an extra pound of butter.
Speaking of which, you should make this weekend or in the evenings next week your pie crusts and all breakfast pastries, rolls and breads, etc. that can be frozen. Make sure you have all ingredients for those this weekend, too. Buy an extra pound of butter.
If you haven't made your turkey stock, do that this weekend. Many butchers have necks as well as backs. Call ahead. The guys at my local Whole Foods put them aside for me last Friday. You can roast them in the evening, cool them down quickly in chilly water and store overnight (I do it in the stock pot!), and then simmer your stock the next day. I like Paul Virant's method: roast the backs at 425 for 15 minutes, add 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery and 2 onions, all chopped up, to the pan and roast for another 15 minutes. Remove, scrape brown bits into the stock pot, add herbs, simmer 3 hours. So simple.
Make your grocery / shopping lists for both Thanksgiving and your meals the week before at the same time. Add to the list an extra pound of butter. Plan meals for those pre-T-Day dinners to coordinate and combine efforts on your advance prep.
Check on store opening and closing times during Thanksgiving week. My favorite grocery store (Piedmont Grocery) opens an hour early on Tuesday and Wednesday, which makes it possible for me to pick up my turkey before work on Tuesday. It's much, much nicer being the first person there on Tuesday, than joining the throngs of the distraught, hungry, slightly-panicking post-commute shoppers on Monday evening. When you pick up your turkey, don't forget an extra pound of butter.
You'll find some other tips here: https://food52.com/blog/8826-how-to-hike-a-mountain-and-serve-thanksgiving-dinner-on-the-same-day (I'm raising my game this year with a tough hike on the weekend before as well as our usual one onThanksgiving Day.) ;o)
No later than the second weekend of November (this weekend for those of you reading this on November 12), make your project plan for the Thanksgiving meal AND for all of the meals you'll be serving starting the Friday or Saturday before Thanksgiving. Make your grocery lists now, divided as follows:
Things to buy this weekend (or ASAP): All non-perishable ingredients, supplies (garbage bags, aluminum foil, parchment, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent, hand soaps, paper towels, any other cleaners you don't want to have to worry about), candles, wine, sparkling water, and an extra pound of butter.
Speaking of which, you should make this weekend or in the evenings next week your pie crusts and all breakfast pastries, rolls and breads, etc. that can be frozen. Make sure you have all ingredients for those this weekend, too. Buy an extra pound of butter.
If you haven't made your turkey stock, do that this weekend. Many butchers have necks as well as backs. Call ahead. The guys at my local Whole Foods put them aside for me last Friday. You can roast them in the evening, cool them down quickly in chilly water and store overnight (I do it in the stock pot!), and then simmer your stock the next day. I like Paul Virant's method: roast the backs at 425 for 15 minutes, add 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery and 2 onions, all chopped up, to the pan and roast for another 15 minutes. Remove, scrape brown bits into the stock pot, add herbs, simmer 3 hours. So simple.
Make your grocery / shopping lists for both Thanksgiving and your meals the week before at the same time. Add to the list an extra pound of butter. Plan meals for those pre-T-Day dinners to coordinate and combine efforts on your advance prep.
Check on store opening and closing times during Thanksgiving week. My favorite grocery store (Piedmont Grocery) opens an hour early on Tuesday and Wednesday, which makes it possible for me to pick up my turkey before work on Tuesday. It's much, much nicer being the first person there on Tuesday, than joining the throngs of the distraught, hungry, slightly-panicking post-commute shoppers on Monday evening. When you pick up your turkey, don't forget an extra pound of butter.
You'll find some other tips here: https://food52.com/blog/8826-how-to-hike-a-mountain-and-serve-thanksgiving-dinner-on-the-same-day (I'm raising my game this year with a tough hike on the weekend before as well as our usual one onThanksgiving Day.) ;o)
CookOnTheFly
November 12, 2015
Buy your mushrooms EARLY. Like the Friday before Thanksgiving, early. If you are using a variety of mushrooms in your T-Day dishes you will need to stock up as they tend to go fast and stores can't keep up. I'm going to buy what I can a week before the big day. Also, if your T-Day crowd likes tried and true items like canned cranberries, the standard Green Bean Casserole, Libby's pumpkin pie, etc., take advantage of the sales going on NOW. I lived in Hawaii for 15 years and learned to shop early, and to stock up as there were only so many boats of products were headed my way from the Mainland and air-flown items were prohibitively expensive.
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