Day 2~Last Minute Thanksgiving Preparations
This is it folks! The final few days to get your preparations complete before the big turkey day! Are you ready? Here are some great tips for you for the final days of Thanksgiving.
November 25: The Day Before
• Check your last list.
• Buy last-minute perishables.
• Pick up food ordered ahead of time.
• If using giblets in the gravy, simmer them with the neck until well cooked; cool and
refrigerate.
• Consult your food preparation schedule.
• If brining the turkey, prepare brine and soak turkey in refrigerator overnight. (If you don’t have room in your refrigerator, use a cooler and a bag of ice. Works just the same!)
• Bake pies or other desserts.
• Set the table and lay out all linens and serving dishes.
November 26: The Big Day
• Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Wash turkey inside and out; dry thoroughly. Do not let it set at room temperature
for more than one hour before cooking.
• If stuffing the turkey, do so just before putting it in the oven. (Check to make sure
you removed the giblets!) Place the turkey in the oven and start your timer. Put
any remaining stuffing in a buttered casserole or baking dish; cover and
refrigerate.
• Consult your food preparation schedule. Cook any recipes that can be done
completely or partially ahead, such as potatoes (mash when ready to serve, not
beforehand) and other vegetables that can be reheated for serving.
• Put the extra stuffing in the oven during the turkey’s last hour of cooking.
• Prepare any other foods that need last-minute attention.
• When the turkey reaches 180°F, remove it from the oven, let it rest and get ready
for the most hectic 20 minutes of a cook’s year!
I hope that our Thanksgiving countdown has been a blessing to you! On Wednesday, we will share some of the great Black Friday deals going around. I *think* we might just have a great deal for you as well!
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Day 4~Tiny Turkey Dinners
Here’s a fun project to put together this weekend and surprise your guests with on Thanksgiving, or even share with friends in the days before.
Family Fun has great instructions for making this Tiny Turkey Dinner.
Photo courtesy of Family Fun
When I originally saw these I thought they were adorable but was sure they’d take way too long to make. However, a friend of mine made a batch and said they only took about 15 minutes to decorate. That’s not bad at all. And you know the kids will have a blast sharing them with friends and neighbors!
Here are my friends’ cupcakes. Did she do a great job or what?
If you decide to make a batch, I’d love if you took a picture and shared a link to it here.
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Day 5~Table Manners and More
Quick, do you know which direction to pass the food at a family-style sit-down dinner? It’s FROM the left TO the right, which is counterclockwise.
Where does your drink go, and what about the bread plate? Here’s a tip I learned when I was a child. Put both your hands in front of you and make the OK sign (thumb and pointer making a circle, and the other three fingers sticking up in the air.) Look at your hands – the right hand will be making a “d” shape. D for drink will remind you that the drink goes on your right. Your left hand will be making a “b” shape. B for bread means the bread plate is on the left.
Do the kids need a little brushing up on table manners before visiting Great Aunt Jane? Here’s a link to a list of basic table manners from the Holiday Cook.
Are YOU a guest this year? While you may be bringing part of the meal, a small gift for the hostess is always a sweet gesture as well. A loaf of quick bread wrapped in a $store tea towel, a box of tea wrapped in plain paper with a spoon tied on top, a jar of jelly or relish presented simply in a brown paper bag tied with twine or raffia . . . It doesn’t take more than two or three dollars to show your appreciation. A basket of apples, a bag of grapes or nuts, or a small crate of clementines make for great snacking later in the evening, and a welcome gift. Bonus points if you bring them in a thrifted bowl or stand ready to display!
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Day 11~Fall Family Fun
Fall is a great time for family fun and togetherness, and you don’t need to spend money to enjoy being productive. Below are a few ideas you might try.
-Have a family bake day. Include Dad and the kids and make pies, cookies, muffins and more. You’ll have fun and get a jump on the holiday baking as well.
-Work together to create an autumn centerpiece or vignettes around your home. Take a trip to the grocery store for gourds, apples, pumkins and scour the neighborhood for sticks, leaves and other pretties. You could even assign each family member their own spot to decorate. Have fun decorating as a family.
-Do a fun fall craft like making cornhusk dolls (you can use them for decorations!), foliage friends, gorgeous gourds, or technicolor acorns.
-Make an apple pie and homemade ice cream and enjoy them during a family movie night.
Enjoying these activities together are sure to make wonderful Fall memories.
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From Econobusters.
Day 10~Showing Thankfulness For Our Guests
During this next week, as you are doing your preparations for your Thanksgiving dinner, join me in thanking the Lord for each of your guests ahead of time. Starting today, make a prayer list that includes the names of all those who will be your guests, and commit them to prayer. I’ll be including specific needs I know of for each person, as well as for a joyous time of fellowship while they are in my home. I pray a prayer of thankfulness for the blessing of each person in my life. I will also pray that relationships will be strengthened, and hearts will be filled with the love of Christ while we celebrate together.
A Scripture I like to remember during this time of prayer is, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2). It is important to me that I treat my guests as if they were Christ Himself, for Jesus Himself said, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). This is the heart of hospitality I want reflected in my home. By focusing on these things ahead of time, I hope that whoever enters my home this holiday season will know the love of Christ as soon as they enter my door.
I’m curous: What are you doing to let your guests know how important and loved they are? Please comment below and let me know so that I can glean further ideas of how to show my guests how thankful I am for them this year.
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From Econobusters.
Day 11~ Fall Family Fun
Fall is a great time for family fun and togetherness, and you don’t need to spend money to enjoy being productive. Below are a few ideas you might try.
-Have a family bake day. Include Dad and the kids and make pies, cookies, muffins and more. You’ll have fun and get a jump on the holiday baking as well.
-Work together to create an autumn centerpiece or vignettes around your home. Take a trip to the grocery store for gourds, apples, pumkins and scour the neighborhood for sticks, leaves and other pretties. You could even assign each family member their own spot to decorate. Have fun decorating as a family.
-Do a fun fall craft like making cornhusk dolls (you can use them for decorations!), foliage friends, gorgeous gourds, or technicolor acorns.
-Make an apple pie and homemade ice cream and enjoy them during a family movie night.
Enjoying these activities together are sure to make wonderful Fall memories.
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From Econobusters.
Day 13~Tepee Treats
I love talking to my kids about the pilgrims and indians that first Thanksgiving. What they had to eat is not at all what we eat today, however, their own “thankful” feast was more than enough for that day and time.
You can read all about that first Thanksgiving from The History Channel. While you are learning about the indians, the kids can make these adorable tepee treats I found at the Family Fun website.
- Photo courtesy of Family Fun
These are so fun to make and they taste yummy too!. The directions can be found HERE.
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Day 15~Hot Bacon Cheese Dip
So, you have the kitchen all cleaned up after that big turkey dinner, and folks are settling in to watch football or play board games. Maybe they’re heading out for a brisk walk–a tradition with my family, which some refer to as the “annual forced march!”
Take five minutes to assemble these ingredients in the slow cooker, and have a warm, tasty snack ready for later in the evening. Serve this dip with slices of crusty bread, cutting each slice in half to make a more manageable size.
Look for bacon on sale (this week my local grocer has a BOGO on bacon.) Cook, crumble and freeze ahead of time to make this a quick and easy prep on Thanksgiving day. Cream cheese is also on sale coming up to the holidays. Don’t freeze cream cheese as it affects the texture, but it lasts a long time in the fridge!
2 8-ounce bricks of cream cheese, cut in cubes
4 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
15 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled.
Put all ingredients except bacon into a slow cooker. Cover and cook for 2 hours, or until cheeses are melted. Stir. Add bacon and stir in just before serving. It will be a hit with your guests–guaranteed!
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Day 18 ~ Frugal Fall Family Outing/Craft
How about getting the whole family involved in creating some extra special Fall table decor? Grab a friend to take pictures (or use a tripod and timer) and head to the park, or other leafy destination, and take some shots of the family. Be creative and have fun! Even the dog may want to join in. (You might even pose for a Christmas Card photo, while you’re at it.)
Once you have your pictures, gather up some of the prettiest, most colorful leaves you can find before you head home. While you’re looking for leaves, serve up some hot chocolate from a thermos and graham crackers or a homemade treat. Yum!
Once home, print out the best photos. If you don’t have a good printer, stop at a one hour print shop on the way home. Walmart, Rite-Aid and many other stores can print quickly, directly from your cameras SD card.
If you have guests coming for Thanksgiving dinner, you might consider making these placements and having them serve as place cards. Use or draw a picture of each guest and put the placement in their place. Just think how surprised they’ll be to find a place with their very own picture waiting for them. Make it extra special by writing a few special phrases or words describing that person on the placemat.
What an enjoyable way to spend a family afternoon!
Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/danzen/ / CC BY 2.0
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Day 20~An Edible Craft For Kids
This has got to be the cutest thing I have ever seen! The other day, I was visiting the Disney Family Fun Website and they had this adorable video on making Pilgrim Hats. I was intrigued so I watched the video. I was hooked instantly! The reason I got so excited is because I am always looking for things the kids can make without my supervision. . .you know, things that do not involve the stove or oven. Well I found it!
Look how adorable these little hats turned out! 
And to top it off, they were very frugal to make! I went to Aldi’s and purchased a bag of large marshmallows for .79, one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips for $1.29, and a bag of chocolate striped cookies for .99. The icing I made from scratch. So, for a total of $3.07, my kids were able to make this very adorable craft. And the best part is, after making them, we get to eat them! Our batch wound up making 24 cookies. That comes out to around .13 a cookie! Now where in the world are you going to find that deal anywhere else??
Here are the directions for making your own pilgrim hats!
Take the cookies from the package and turn them upside down on a baking sheet so that the stripes are face down. Take the chocolate chips mentioned above and melt them. Once melted, take a toothpick and stick in the marshmallow and dip them in the chocolate. You can use another toothpick to push the marshmallow off onto the top of the cookie.
Once you have done that for all the cookies, stick the baking sheet in the refrigerator so that the chocolate can harden. Make your icing and tint it yellow. Spoon into a small ziplock bag and snip off the corner to make a piping bag. Make your buckles for the hats.
If you prefer, you can watch the video on how easy these come together.
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