Thanksgiving To-Do's

This year, we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house! This is the first holiday we've had at our home. It'll be a very small gathering, but you have no idea how excited I am!!! I've been wanting to host ANYTHING for a long time; I usually just let others (with more space at their homes) host events/holidays.

My mother-in-law is baking the ham. My brother-in-law's girlfriend is working on the green bean casserole and a small turkey. I am preparing the carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and pies (Pumpkin and Apple, of course!).

While there's a lot that goes into Thanksgiving meal preparations, there is a good amount that can be done ahead of time. I am making and freezing the rolls this week. They are brown and serve (yep, they're the ones I sell), so I can pull out however many we'll need and bake them from frozen in under 20 minutes! The pie crusts can be made and frozen as well. You can freeze pie crust dough for up to a month.

The carrots I am slicing up the day before and storing in water in the fridge, so they don't dry out. I will just cook them before the meal on Thursday. Potatoes can be peeled and cut in advance as well. Just cover them with water in a bowl with a lid, so they don't turn brown. If you aren't using them within 3 days, replace the water with fresh water. I have heard of folks keeping peeled/sliced potatoes for a whole week's worth of dishes. They just keep the water fresh and the lid on when not in use. I haven't personally tried it, but I am considering slicing mine up on Tuesday to be used on Thursday.

The pies I will make on Wednesday; that's close enough to the meal that they'll still be fresh.

Thursday morning will be a busy one for us; my husband is running a 5 mile race and 2 of my daughters are running a kid's 100 yard dash. I want to make sure we have enough time to prepare everything before guests arrive in the afternoon, so I will do as much in advance next week as possible.

Tomorrow is grocery day, and I plan to get EVERYTHING needed for next week's big meal...I refuse to fight the last-minute Thanksgiving food shoppers next week! :)

If you're in need of last minute rolls or breads, please let me know. I still have some open time between now and Wednesday to fill orders.

Happy Thanksgiving!