With Thanksgiving approaching, this home cook is researching recipes for the big feast, making personalized place cards, decorating the dinner table and tweaking the oven schedule spreadsheet. I do quirky things through out the year to prepare for a meal of this stature and always save everything pertaining to this meal in a manilla folder. And let me tell you, the seams on that bad boy are close to bursting!

My inspiration comes from, but is not limited to;
- Recipes from my fave magazines like Southern Living, Food Network, InStyle, Bon Appetit, and Better Homes & Gardens
- Sam Sifton of the NYT Cooking
- Food bloggers like Jessica Merchant of How Sweet Eats, Fork In The Kitchen, Downshiftology, Ambitious Kitchen and Skinnytaste.
- Food Network chefs like the Barefoot Contessa, Nigella and Bobby Flay
Like a true dork, I commit my action plan to a spreadsheet. See my first draft below.
Dish | Category | Date | Time | Acknowledgements |
Nuts, olives, figs & prosciutto | appetizer | Thu, Nov 28, 2019 | Barefoot | |
Turkey | Main | Thu, Nov 28, 2019 | 9:30 AM | |
Rolls | Side | Thu, Nov 28, 2019 | ||
Gravy | Side | Thu, Nov 21, 2019 | Barefoot | |
Brussel Sprouts | Vegetable | Wed, Nov 27, 2019 | Bon Appetit | |
Carrots | Vegetable | Tue, Nov 26, 2019 | ||
Green Beans | Vegetable | delegated | ||
Cranberry Sauce | Side | delegated | ||
Sweet Potatoes & Marshmallows | Starch | Wed, Nov 27, 2019 | Sunny Anderson | |
Dressing | Side | Tue, Nov 26, 2019 | Barefoot | |
Apple Pie | Dessert | delegated | ||
Macaroni Alfredo w/ pumpkin | Side | Wed, Nov 27, 2019 | Better H&G | |
Perfect mashed potatoes | Starch | delegated | Bon Appetit | |
Mini Pumpkin Pies | Dessert | Thu, Nov 28, 2019 | ambitious kitchen | |
salad | side | Thu, Nov 28, 2019 | ||
Thanksgiving Feast | Thu, Nov 28, 2019 | 1:00 PM |
The table is set days in advance, so I can get ahead of as many fussy tasks as humanly possible. Yes, I’m talking place cards, fancy napkins, candles, chargers, plates, dinner glasses, etc. Do as much in advance as you can. #PreparationAndPresentation