Thanksgiving is this Thursday. If you are hosting the meal, you should have the turkey out of the freezer by now and having it thaw in the refrigerator. The thawing takes 1 day for every four pounds, so if you have a 10 pound turkey, it will take 2 and a half days in the fridge and 3 days for a 12 pound bird. Mary Alice Coffey from the Butterball Turkey Talk Line says start the thaw in the fridge.
On Wednesday, you can begin preparing some of the food for the meal. If you are making dressing of stuffing, you can prep your onions and celery, cube your bread and if you use the giblets, cook them in a little broth with some celery and onion to give them a good flavor. When done, let everything cool and save the cooking liquid for the when you make the dressing.
Do not make your dressing until you are ready to cook it. If you are stuffing the turkey, make it just before you are ready to roast the turkey, then stuff the bird just before it goes in the oven.
Get you side dishes ready to cook, if you are doing potatoes, they can be peeled and chunked and kept in water until ready to cook.
Check your other recipes for make ahead directions.
For cooking times, call the Butterball Turkey talk line page (www.butterball.com/about-us/turkey-talk-line) or call 800-288-8372 or check my page, Tom’s Turkey Tidbits, on the KCHI web page. The link can be found on the News menu at www.KCHI.com.
