FOUR DAYS BEFORE THANKSGIVING Start defrosting the frozen turkey in the back of the refrigerator, where it is coldest. Compose a shopping list, and purchase all non-perishables. Wait until the day before Thanksgiving to buy salad greens, fresh bread, or seafood. If you're baking pies for dessert, make the dough for the crust, roll it out, lay it into pie plates, and freeze.

bimp

Thank you for this! Appreciated. Happy Holidays.

If you get a chance, please check out yesterday's thread, it is full of fabulous recipes.

Recipe Exchange

G'morning HLL. Lots to do this week,,, your list seems sort of short. I wish it was that easy.

Take your turkey out of the freezer and follow these steps for perfect tasting turkey every time.

1. Place turkey in a pair of old panty hose and tie a knot at the open end. (Small holes and snags are Ok don't worry)
2. Tie the feet together (Panty hose feet not turkey feet) at the ankle.
3. Hang Turkey in tree or from rafter until day before Thanksgiving. (I know this should have been done days ago) Usually this taked a full week but if the weather is warm then there should be enough time.
4. on the evening before Thanksgiving remove turkey from bag and place in the oven at 250 degrees. No need to baste this year.
5. By morning the smell should be overwhelming. I know you'll be ready to present your bird long before noon.

Your family will remember this Thanksgiving for years to come.

This is why my family does this dinner as a pitch-in. My brother does the turkey, dressing and gravy. I am in charge of mashed potatoes and apple salad. One sister does persimmon pudding another pies, and the last does vegetables. Our children are in charge of rolls and drinks.

With 25 people, one person cannot do all the cooking unless you have a commercial kitchen. This works for us and makes less tension over meal preparation.

hey, thanks for this list. Good 'ol Martha!
btw, have you actually tried that peeled potato idea in the cold water? I'm a bit nervous about that one. Does it really work? I can just see me stuck with a bowl of mushy cold potatoes.

Yeeaaaaa! The beginning of my favorite week! Like you, I'll buy all my ingredients today. Hadn't thought of freezing the pie crust...good idea.

If any of you have time, here's an excellent article from this morning's Wall St Journal. Robert Bartley is one of my very favorite writers. In this article he declares: Good Riddance to yellow ribbons! (.."too often a symbol of self-pity and maudlin sentimentality"). This time we brought out the flags, not the yellow ribbons, and he beautifully illustrates why that's significant. He talks about the Pilgrims' unique charter for self government and how it informs what's happening in the world today. It's a lovely piece. Y'all have a nice day!

Patriotism, Pilgrims and Shaping the Future

A recipe for the certain gall-bladder attack for some folks:

half and half mix of distilled water (or tap water) and apple juice to make a glass full (8-12 oz)
5 tablespoons of olive oil--organic is best but not necessary.
1 inch peeled piece of ginger root- optional but helps with nausea.
Put all of this in a blender and blend until ginger root is broken up.
Drink it down quickly. You will be pain free in 10 minutes.

Take digestive enzymes just before eating. This will helps lots and lots!! (find in a health food store or good grocery store)

Helpful tip for the flakiest and moistest pie crust ever. Use SOUR CREAM instead of water. No kidding.

What is the cold water method? I just use a peeler while running water over my tater and then I pressure cook them.

I'm going to be daydreaming about persimmon pudding all day, not that I've ever had it, but it sure sounds tasty!

The link to Martha Stewart tells us to peel the potatoes the night before and put them in a bowl of cold water then cook them the next day. I never heard of that before. I love your garlic potato recipe and will try it. Last night I roasted garlic and then put them in my potatoes but it was tough sledding getting the garlic out of the peels--HOT. Plus, I couldn't taste the garlic anyway. (didn't use enough I suppose)

Here's a fantastic recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake that I got from a co-worker. It's the best I've ever had:

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Crust:
1 ½ Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
¼ Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Butter, melted

Cheesecake:
3 Packs 8oz. Cream Cheese
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 Can 15oz. Pumpkin
2 Tbls. Corn Starch
1 ¼ Teas. Cinnamon
½ Teas. Nutmeg
1 Can Pet Evaporated Milk (Standard Size)
2 Eggs

Topping:
2 Cups (16oz.) Sour Cream
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 ½ Teas. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Mix Crust ingredients in small bowl. Press into 11" Spring load pan. Bring crumbs up the side about ¼ inch. Bake at 350 Degrees for 5 – 7 Minutes. (I used 7 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Mix all cheesecake ingredients, except for Evaporated Milk and Eggs. Once all ingredients are mixed well add eggs and slowly add Evaporated Milk. Mix well. This will be very watery. Pour into Baking pan. Place Baking Pan on a Baking Sheet into the oven at 350 Degrees for about 1 Hour. Check center with tester. If it comes out clean remove from oven otherwise let bake for about another 20 minutes. Retest until tester comes out clean.

Cool for about 10 minutes. Mix all Topping ingredients together with blender until smooth. Put topping on cheesecake and spread evenly.

Place cheesecake back into oven for 10 more minutes.

When cake is removed from oven for the last time let stand about 10 minutes then run a butter knife around the edge and let stand another hour before covering and putting into the fridge overnight.

Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Hey buster, I am single cooking for one and I do the entire meal. Don't WOE IS ME,,,, get to the store, buy all the stuff, and have a great Thanksgiving. You will have wonderful leftovers.

Hang Turkey in tree or from rafter until day before Thanksgiving.

Sal, meet Khepera. Khepera, I'd like you to meet an old acquaintance of mine, Salmonella.

OK...here you go. Persimmons are found growing wild all through souhern Indiana. This is my grandmother's recipe. It takes a long time and you need a BIG crock to bake it in. Well worth the effort, but as you read the recipe, you can see why one person is in charge of this dish by itself.

PERSIMMON PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

1 pint persimmon pulp
3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 quarts milk
3 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp soda (dissolved)

PREPARATION

Stir together salt, sugar, and eggs until well-blended. Add soda to part of the milk and stir into mixture. Add remaining flour and milk alternately.

When blended, pour into a well-greased crock. (We use a large stoneware bowl which is oven-proof.) Bake at 300 degrees for 3-3 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes for the first hour.

Baking time will vary slightly according to the shape of the bowl. You can divide this into two smaller baking dishes if you wish. You need to make sure you have enough room in the baking dish because it will overflow as it bakes if you have it filled too full.

Serve with whipped cream. This is very rich, with the texture of a gooey plum pudding.