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One to Two weeks before... |
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No later than November 17, make your decisions as to what your Thanksgiving Day
Dinner Menu will be. Choose your recipes from
our Recipes Section or from your favorite Low
Carb Cookbooks. For your convenience, we've also put together a list of
our Recommended Thanksgiving Dishes to help! It's a
good idea to save them all to one place - either printed
from online, or the book name and page number jotted down. Go over each recipe
and make a list of any ingredients you don't have onhand. Make a note by each one
you know can be acquired at your local grocery or health food store. The others
may need to be ordered online. Our site is full of information on where to find
helpful products and ingredients for LC cooking. If you can't find something,
first check the merchants in our Shopping Guide,
and then check the F.A.Q.. If you still need help,
ask us. You don't want to wait till
the day you begin the dish to discover you don't have "Vital Wheat Gluten Flour",
or "Xanthan Gum", or "Vanilla Protein Powder", etc. Get your orders in as early
as possible.
Make lists; get organized. If you're not hosting, but only bringing a dish or two,
you'll still need to go through this process for the dishes you're donating! |
The day and night before... |
Now's the time to bake desserts and side dishes that can be refrigerated. Also
confirm deliveries from any food services and make
sure that all ingredients
necessary for the dishes you've chosen are in the house and available. Make a timetable
for cooking that has to be done on Thanksgiving Day so the dishes will be ready at
dinnertime. Depending on your "stuffing" decisions, you might also make your
stuffing and refrigerate until you're ready for it tomorrow. Also, though it
almost goes without saying, if you've purchased a frozen turkey, it will need to
be thawed. Thaw on tray in refrigerator, allowing 5 hours per lb. Or thaw in
cold water, in wrapper, for 1 hour per lb, changing water occasionally.
DO NOT ALLOW YOUR TURKEY TO THAW AT ROOM TEMPERATURE!
You'll also use today for non-cooking tasks like choosing your outfit, cleaning and decorating the house, choosing a centerpiece, etc. Tomorrow's the big day, so get plenty of rest tonight! |
The Big Day! |
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It's here! Thanksgiving! There's no way around the fact that most of the Thanksgiving meal is best done that day. This timetable takes into account the need to wash dishes as you go along, thereby keeping your kitchen neat with plenty of counterspace for working comfortably. At the end of each task, take a few minutes to wash the bowls and utensils you have just used and to clean the counter. You'll find the whole process much more pleasurable and easier to manage if you do. Mis en Place: This is a French term for preparing all the ingredients for a dish in advance, such as washing, trimming and chopping vegetables; setting out your spices and herbs, etc. Do it at the beginning of the day and the rest of the cooking will be a cinch. If you're planning to serve mid-late afternoon, be 
sure to rise early and get the
bird ready and in the oven. Family and guests will appreciate waking to the amazing
smell of a roasting turkey wafting through the house! Count backward from serving
time the number of hours your size bird (allowing for stuffed/non-stuffed) to cook.
Then allow another 1/2 hour for turkey "resting" time at the end of roasting, and
an extra hour or two for pre-prep depending on your menu. That's the time by which
you'll need to be awake, showered and dressed. Get ready for lots of compliments!
Searching for an interesting thanksgiving story to tell your guests? Tell them the Story of the Wishbone! (Then remember to save yours for the kids!) |
