Thanksgiving... Yup Another Tg Thread...

[Rowena]

Okay, so I know what I want to do for Thanksgiving. The problem is implementing said plan. I know that I want to try making my own Thanksgiving dinner beforehand, and then just bring leftovers to my family dinner. The problem is the days I have off work are TG day and the day after, not the day before. My family usually likes to eat at 2. (Though we dont ACTUALLY eat till four.) But then again, I don't like turkey, so I wouldn't be making that. I'd probably just make myself chicken or something. I found a good gluten-free recipe for stuffed cornish hens though that I am wanting to try.

So anyway, I have to leave my house around 1:20 to arrive at my parents house by two. If I got up at 6 or so in the am, would that be enough time to prepare dinner?

Ideally I wanted to prepare the meal ahead of time and try it out and then take leftovers, but seeing as to how I don't have enough time to do that with my chaotic work schedule...What do you guys think I should do?

[Jestgar]

Tell us everything you want to make and we'll see if we can help with the timing.

[jerseyangel]

Also, I have had luck with making the meal enough ahead of time to be convenient and so I don't end up eating the same stuff 2 or 3 days in a row. I like to freeze the leftovers in meal sized plastic containers--then all you need to do is microwave when it's time for dinner.

[Rowena]

I know I want to make the stuffed cornish hens.--> I am thinking this would be the longest part

I also want mashed potatoes/gravy

Stuffing, yes extra stuff because this is my favorite part of the meal.

Pie-- Not sure what kind yet though. prolly pumpkin.

Beans with fresh tarragon

A curry carrot soup...

Cranberry sauce... (I know not really any turkey to go with it...but I love cranberry sauce, and it would probably go well with the chicken I think.)

I know I am missing something....

OH NOTE! I have one oven and one rack and its the worlds smallest oven. (And a two inch kitchen... Okay maybe a little more but not much... I don't have room to chop on my counter even. Table is my cutting board/cookspace. And I often use an electric cooker or crockpot so I can have them on the floor and out of the way.

[SGWhiskers]

I know I want to make the stuffed cornish hens.--> I am thinking this would be the longest part

I also want mashed potatoes/gravy

Stuffing, yes extra stuff because this is my favorite part of the meal.

Pie-- Not sure what kind yet though. prolly pumpkin.

Beans with fresh tarragon

A curry carrot soup...

Cranberry sauce... (I know not really any turkey to go with it...but I love cranberry sauce, and it would probably go well with the chicken I think.)

I know I am missing something....

OH NOTE! I have one oven and one rack and its the worlds smallest oven. (And a two inch kitchen... Okay maybe a little more but not much... I don't have room to chop on my counter even. Table is my cutting board/cookspace. And I often use an electric cooker or crockpot so I can have them on the floor and out of the way.

Start by prepping this weekend. That will make your morning less stressful. I've cooked those little cornish game hens for Thanksgiving for several years and while they don't taste like turkey, they are a little different than plain chicken. They are terribly fun to eat a tiny turkey.

Make the curry carrot soup this weekend and freeze it. Thaw it Wednesday night and microwave it at your parent's house. I've made cranberry sauce ahead of time and frozen it with no problems. It's yummy with generous amounts of orange in it.

Get your pie crust and pie mix made ahead of time this weekend if you can. Assemble them Thanksgiving morning and bake first so there is time to cool. You could even assemble and throw in the oven Wednesday night after work if they are all ready to go.

Make sure the game hen is thawed on Wednesday night. I've purchased them and thought they were refrigerated only to discover they were icy inside. Fortunately, they thaw quickly.

Stuffing the game hen is easy enough. Removing the stuffing is a bit trickier than with a turkey given the small size. Start your stuffing as soon as the pie is in the oven. Stuff the bird and make an extra pan for leftovers. Add the bird/birds when the pie is out (or sooner if there is room). Refrigerate the pie. Don't wait for the bird's timers to pop up. You will have toasted chicken if you do. Clear juices or a meat thermometer at 165-170 will be enough (The temp will rise to 180 ish while it stands after removing from the oven). Don't cut it until at least 20 minutes. The juices will stay in the meat that way for a moister bird.

Throw the potatoes in the microwave or on a pot to boil while the turkey is in the oven. Start assembeling the beans. Mix the mashed potatoes up while the turkey is cooking after the beans are assembeled. When the bird comes out of the oven, the beans go in. Microwave the soup and cranberries if you plan to eat at your house first then eat again at your parents. Oh, as an alternative, you could have that crock pot going with the thawed soup all morning.

OK, now that the bird has cooled a little, take it out of the pan and set it on a covered serving plate. Use the juice to make your gravy while the beans are cooking and the cranberries are in the microwave.

I think unless I forgot something, you will have everything ready for a first meal around 12:00. Then you can pack up leftovers to take to your parents.

I love Thanksgiving. I wish I could have it at my house to make everything gluten-free. It would be so wonderful to share. Mmmm. Cranberries.

[SGWhiskers]

As an alternative, if you want to eat for the first time at your parents around 4, stuff that hen ahead of time and cook her in a loaf pan covered in foil at your parents house. I've used the disposable loaf pans and they smoosh nicely into a corner in the back of the oven. I wrote DO NOT OPEN in permanant marker on the foil and no helpful relatives accidentally basted my chicken. It will take around an hour to cook your birdie. That will be plenty of time to say hi, put the bird in the oven, cook it, let it stand and serve it up by 4:00. It will mean more commotion in Mom's kitchen if that is a crowded place.

Also, I'm going to suggest to my mom that she make the flour paste for her gravy ahead of time so that I don't have to breathe the airborne flour while I'm there. Last year, I had to sit outside after Grandma sent plumes into the air. The year before little sis made cornbread and I managed to sit in the down draft while it flowed out the open windows in the next room.

I make a mean mock apple pie out of apple slices (freezer aisle), corn starch, brown suger, spices and topped with sugar cookie mix cut in with butter for a crumb topping. Use lots of cookie mix. Cook until the top is toasted how you like. No bottom crust. It's definate comfort food, but I'm allergic to almost everything in a pumpkin pie.

[cyberprof]

Rowena, get yourself over to Stephanie's Blog - a Year of Slow Cooking! Open Original Shared Link This woman is a marvel at make-ahead with a crock pot - and every recipe is gluten-free because her daughter is a celiac. True, I wouldn't make everthing in a crock pot but some of her recipes are wonderful. I'm going to make her gluten-free stuffing Open Original Shared Link2008/11/perfect-homemade-stuffing-crockpot.html for T-Day: You said you wanted extra stuffing and you said that you have a crock pot, so you're set. You can use her step-by-step recipe and substitute what you like in your stuffing in terms of spices and add-ins (like chesnuts or sausage). She also has a cornbread stuffing recipe and a cranberry recipe or two.

Gluten free girl www.glutenfreegirl.com and Gluten Free Goddess Open Original Shared Link also have excellent tasty T-day recipes too.

[Jestgar]

I'm sure the soup could be done in the crock pot, and possibly the potatoes (the cooking part anyway).

I'm not sure the crockpot stuffing would work for me since I like mine crispy.

[wheeleezdryver]

Hi rowena!! I know you had a cold... how are you feeling today?

Great suggestions given already!

just wanted to add one more...if you're not able to do everything this weekend, you can maybe do one or two things each weeknight, or at least any pie you want to make . And of course, maybe your husband could help w/ some of the prep as well. (notice i said maybe!)

[Rowena]

So in an odd sort of way I am taking everyone's ideas. I've started making all the dinner preparations already (Like the soup is mostly made, though I lost about a third of it by not paying attention and let it boil over. Ending up transfering it to the crockpot after that.) Tonight comes veggie chopping and making cranberry sauce (and a cranberry jelly to go on my carrots.) Its a good thing I have a lot of chili dethawing for dinner... Quick and easy and absolutely wonderful on a cold day like today. Oh I was also going to make cornbread tonight.

tommorrow dethaw hens, and make the stuffing. I actually will be making two types of stuffing. A rice stuffing and a cornbread dressing.

then on saturday, all that is left is cooking the hens/stuffings, and the beans and the potatoes. Oh and I remembered the thing I forgot, cranberry covered carrots. But I will have that sauce ready so its a matter of throwing it together. Oh and my pie.

(I swear this looked better planned out in my planbook.)

And then on Saturday I have invited my parents and inlaws over for a gluten free thanksgiving. Leftovers will be used for my meal on thursday....

[kareng]

So in an odd sort of way I am taking everyone's ideas. I've started making all the dinner preparations already (Like the soup is mostly made, though I lost about a third of it by not paying attention and let it boil over. Ending up transfering it to the crockpot after that.) Tonight comes veggie chopping and making cranberry sauce (and a cranberry jelly to go on my carrots.) Its a good thing I have a lot of chili dethawing for dinner... Quick and easy and absolutely wonderful on a cold day like today. Oh I was also going to make cornbread tonight.

tommorrow dethaw hens, and make the stuffing. I actually will be making two types of stuffing. A rice stuffing and a cornbread dressing.

then on saturday, all that is left is cooking the hens/stuffings, and the beans and the potatoes. Oh and I remembered the thing I forgot, cranberry covered carrots. But I will have that sauce ready so its a matter of throwing it together. Oh and my pie.

(I swear this looked better planned out in my planbook.)

And then on Saturday I have invited my parents and inlaws over for a gluten free thanksgiving. Leftovers will be used for my meal on thursday....

That sounds great! What time shall I be over Saturday, Cousin Ro?

[Rowena]

7:30 MST *Grin* And feel free to bring something if you want. *chuckle* (Maybe a few larabars. I am obsessed with those) And if you come early you can see my 2 inch kitchen...

[Loey]

So in an odd sort of way I am taking everyone's ideas. I've started making all the dinner preparations already (Like the soup is mostly made, though I lost about a third of it by not paying attention and let it boil over. Ending up transfering it to the crockpot after that.) Tonight comes veggie chopping and making cranberry sauce (and a cranberry jelly to go on my carrots.) Its a good thing I have a lot of chili dethawing for dinner... Quick and easy and absolutely wonderful on a cold day like today. Oh I was also going to make cornbread tonight.

tommorrow dethaw hens, and make the stuffing. I actually will be making two types of stuffing. A rice stuffing and a cornbread dressing.

then on saturday, all that is left is cooking the hens/stuffings, and the beans and the potatoes. Oh and I remembered the thing I forgot, cranberry covered carrots. But I will have that sauce ready so its a matter of throwing it together. Oh and my pie.

(I swear this looked better planned out in my planbook.)

And then on Saturday I have invited my parents and inlaws over for a gluten free thanksgiving. Leftovers will be used for my meal on thursday....

And what time should I show up for dinner?

Loey

P.S. hope your cold is better. I'm actually making two ducks for Thanksgiving dinner. We never eat the norm in my household.

[sb2178]

For future reference, I've split* cornish hens and baked those babies in less than an hour on a bed of diced veg. Quick run under the broiler yields golden birds cook through.

Stuffing could go in separately, and then your total baking is pretty quick.

*Cut out backbone and smash flat.

[Rowena]

Loey~ Oh yes my cold is a lot better, thanks! And 7:30 MST. Feel free to bring something too! *chuckle*

sb~Ooh excellent idea. I may have to do that at the rate my birds are dethawing.... (Apparently my freezer is really good at freezing things... I think I may have to have that checked into)

[SGWhiskers]

Thaw the birds in a bowl or sink of cool water. Change the water frequently. Water conducts heat/cold faster than air, so this process is faster. Don't leave it in the sink all day while you are at work. That's a recipe for food poisoning. Just do it in the evening when you get home. Once the birds thaw enough to pull the giblets out, you can run more cool water over them inside and out.

[wheeleezdryver]

So in an odd sort of way I am taking everyone's ideas. I've started making all the dinner preparations already (Like the soup is mostly made, though I lost about a third of it by not paying attention and let it boil over. Ending up transfering it to the crockpot after that.) Tonight comes veggie chopping and making cranberry sauce (and a cranberry jelly to go on my carrots.) Its a good thing I have a lot of chili dethawing for dinner... Quick and easy and absolutely wonderful on a cold day like today. Oh I was also going to make cornbread tonight.

tommorrow dethaw hens, and make the stuffing. I actually will be making two types of stuffing. A rice stuffing and a cornbread dressing.

then on saturday, all that is left is cooking the hens/stuffings, and the beans and the potatoes. Oh and I remembered the thing I forgot, cranberry covered carrots. But I will have that sauce ready so its a matter of throwing it together. Oh and my pie.

(I swear this looked better planned out in my planbook.)

And then on Saturday I have invited my parents and inlaws over for a gluten free thanksgiving. Leftovers will be used for my meal on thursday....

glad to hear your cold is getting better!

i made chili & cornbread tonight, too!! (good for local college football game watching .

you're dairy- free, right? how do you make your cornbread? I used Gluten- Free Pantry Yankee Cornbread & muffin mix, & subbed homemade brown rice milk for the buttermilk it called for. DH liked it (& so did I), so I'm happy. (Today, i had popcorn, cornbread, & chili w/ corn in it... now, if only i had some gluten-free candy corn! my Dh may think i'm corny... to which I would say, 1) it takes one to know one, and 2) not my fault you didn't want any of the popcorn today...hhh

mmmm.... your dinner Saturday night sounds yumm... I would gladly come, but i have this thing about avoiding the snowy roads of S Idaho & N Utah if at all possible. plus, then my family would want me to stay down there until Thanksgiving (not that i don't like them, I just couldn't stay that long...)...

I'm trying to imagine one's family showing up to a dinner & there being a whole bunch of gluten intolerant/ celiac people there... that could be interesting...

Have a good night

[Loey]

Thaw the birds in a bowl or sink of cool water. Change the water frequently. Water conducts heat/cold faster than air, so this process is faster. Don't leave it in the sink all day while you are at work. That's a recipe for food poisoning. Just do it in the evening when you get home. Once the birds thaw enough to pull the giblets out, you can run more cool water over them inside and out.

Thanks for the great tips. I'm making two ducks and will defrost them in the refrigerator as much as possible (picking them up on Monday). I don't know what my problem is today. I just can't get moving. Had trouble sleeping last night (even had an anxiety attack and don't know what triggered it). Perhaps holiday stress.

God bless this forum!!!

Loey

[Rowena]

Loey~ Only mostly dairy free... but everythin I ave made for Thanksgivin is dairy free... As for my corn bread, I did te same as you but I kind of mixed two recipes... For te milk I used rice milk mixed wit a little cider vinegar which is the liquid another recipe called for. Beyond that I followed the box. (Cornbread turned out well too.) I cant wait to try makin cornbread not from a box though... Its yummy

And yea my family might be a little startled by the sudden appearance of celiac and gluten intolerant people... But it would be funny, thats for certain.

And yea I know what you mean about the snow... That is one thing I hate about where I live...

(And as for anxiety attack, I ad one on thursday when my soup boiled over the pot.... oops. I am blaming that on it being a certain time of the month though... HAHA. But I think its saturday, who wants to move on a Saturday?)

[Loey]

Loey~ Only mostly dairy free... but everythin I ave made for Thanksgivin is dairy free... As for my corn bread, I did te same as you but I kind of mixed two recipes... For te milk I used rice milk mixed wit a little cider vinegar which is the liquid another recipe called for. Beyond that I followed the box. (Cornbread turned out well too.) I cant wait to try makin cornbread not from a box though... Its yummy

And yea my family might be a little startled by the sudden appearance of celiac and gluten intolerant people... But it would be funny, thats for certain.

And yea I know what you mean about the snow... That is one thing I hate about where I live...

(And as for anxiety attack, I ad one on thursday when my soup boiled over the pot.... oops. I am blaming that on it being a certain time of the month though... HAHA. But I think its saturday, who wants to move on a Saturday?)

I'm totally dairy free but do use it for my husband. I drink Almond Breeze and use it for baking. I am still trying to decide if I'm going to the market today. I don't like to buy meat too far in advance. My son is sick so I think I'll make him "Jewish Penicillin" for the day he gets home. I'm cooking rabbit stew right now (my husband spent much of his childhood growing up in Spain and it was a common meal). I just need to keep my cupboards stocked to feed a ravenous college freshman (that could be the anxiety).

Thanks for the tips!

Loey

[Rowena]

Oh dear ravenous college freshmen boys... Good luck keepin your pantry full indeed. What is this Jewish Penicillin you speak of though?

As for my gluten-free dinner last night, it was a big success... Except I undercooked the pie... oops. But everyone raved about EVERYTHING! And the cornbread dressing (something my family has never had) was the biggest hit. And my mom insists on me bringing my homemade cranberry sauce (made completely from scratch, no cans...) to the family party. (Along with more cornbread dressing) I am so glad everyone enjoyed it... And my mom thought the cornish hens were perfect for TG...

[wheeleezdryver]

Loey~ Only mostly dairy free... but everythin I ave made for Thanksgivin is dairy free... As for my corn bread, I did te same as you but I kind of mixed two recipes... For te milk I used rice milk mixed wit a little cider vinegar which is the liquid another recipe called for. Beyond that I followed the box. (Cornbread turned out well too.) I cant wait to try makin cornbread not from a box though... Its yummy

And yea my family might be a little startled by the sudden appearance of celiac and gluten intolerant people... But it would be funny, thats for certain.

And yea I know what you mean about the snow... That is one thing I hate about where I live...

(And as for anxiety attack, I ad one on thursday when my soup boiled over the pot.... oops. I am blaming that on it being a certain time of the month though... HAHA. But I think its saturday, who wants to move on a Saturday?)

That's pretty much how i made my cornbread a couple days ago, too . I have a funny feeling i might be making some more before T-day... my husband keeps asking for 2 pieces of it each night at dinner!

Glad to hear the meal went well!! That's awesome that your parents liked all the stuff

[Loey]

Oh dear ravenous college freshmen boys... Good luck keepin your pantry full indeed. What is this Jewish Penicillin you speak of though?

As for my gluten-free dinner last night, it was a big success... Except I undercooked the pie... oops. But everyone raved about EVERYTHING! And the cornbread dressing (something my family has never had) was the biggest hit. And my mom insists on me bringing my homemade cranberry sauce (made completely from scratch, no cans...) to the family party. (Along with more cornbread dressing) I am so glad everyone enjoyed it... And my mom thought the cornish hens were perfect for TG...

Jewish Penicillin is chicken soup. The ingredients are an old Jewish remedy for curing a cold (or whatever else ails you). It's basically the regular way you make chicken soup and it supposedly helps to cure you faster. That and being made with love (#1 ingredient). Keeping him fed in my gluten-free restricted house will be the trick.

Your dinner last night sounds delicious. I'm glad it was such a success. It doesn't surprise me.

Happy early Thanksgiving to you and everyone on the forum!!!!!!!!!!

((((HUGS))))

Lois