Thanksgiving Timeline -- When to make what for Thanksgiving

Granini's Thanksgiving TimelineWhen to make what for Thanksgiving Dinnerand when to put it in the oven
Several years ago I started to prepare a Thanksgiving Timeline. I wanted to make as much stuff as I could ahead of time, so that on Thanksgiving Day, I could whirl around the kitchen like a crazy person, but not feel quite as frantic.

And THEN I had this brilliant idea.

Why not create a fancy spreadsheet, so that I could simply refer to it every year, rather than try to recreate the same list year after year after year??

And so I did.

 I make a LOT of food for Thanksgiving. AND, I make a lot of pies.
So I made spreadsheets.

I also have spreadsheets for grocery lists.

It sounds insane, but it has helped me immensely with preparing an entire feast by myself two separate times in one week. Yes, that's right. I make Thanksgiving twice, each year. Once on Thursday, and once again on Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year, I made Thanksgiving a third time (last Saturday). Yes, I'm that crazy.

I do not give myself a lot of extra time for each item, as I have made every recipe hundreds of times, and I know how long it takes me to make everything. You may wish to add more time to each item if you are a beginner cook, or if you're not as adept at cutting, dicing, and mixing. But for me, these timelines are divine. And they even allow me a quick nap, a good rest period to watch a bit of football and put my feet up, as well as time to eat breakfast and an hors d'oeuvre filled lunch. This year my goal is to add in Drinkies to the list -- Holiday inspired Cocktails. Delish!!

So, for those of you who would like to see them, here they are.

I hope that they help you immensely on the BIG DAY OF DAYS.


The day before Thanksgiving

Breakfast: Buttermilk pancakes with blueberry sauce
Lunch: Veggies, fruits & cheeses
Dinner: Texas Chili with cornbread
Dessert: Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate Mint Pie

Make buttermilk pancakes
Make blueberry gravy
Make Granini’s Crab Artichoke Dip, but do not bake
Cranberry Sauce
Caramelized Onions
Mini pie crusts for hors d’ouvres
Dice onions and celery
Slice veggies for ratatouille
Chop veggies for green beans
Slice veggies for lunch on Thursday
Make homemade ranch dressing
Make caramel sauce
Make lemon meringue pie
Make chocolate mint pie
Make rum sauce for minced meat pie
Cut and toast pecans
Slice apples for Dutch Apple Pie
Make Apple Crumble topping
Make Texas Chili for dinner
Make triple batch of cornbread
Make the yams/sweet potatoes


Thanksgiving Day

Menu:
Breakfast: Eggs, Sausage and Toast
Lunch: Veggies, fruits & cheeses & Hors D’oeuvres
Dinner: Turkey, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, homemade rolls, baked yams with marshmallows, ratatouille, glazed carrots and salad
Dessert: Chocolate Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Dutch Apple Pie, Mincemeat Pie with rum sauce, leftover Lemon Meringue Pie, and Leftover Chocolate Mint Pie.


7:00
Wake up
8:00
Make eggs, sausage & toast
8:30
Eat breakfast


9:00
Pie Crusts x 4
9:30
Make Apple Crumble if you didn’t do it already
9:45
Cut and toast pecans
10:00
Make chocolate pecan pie innerds
10:20
Bake chocolate pecan pie
10:25
Peel, slice and steam carrots for 7 minutes. Set aside.

Watch Macy’s Day Parade or Football


11:10
Make pumpkin pie
11:20
Take chocolate pecan pie out of the oven
11:30
Bake pumpkin pie
11:30
Put together hors d’oeuvres
11:35
Put out cheeses, crackers, grapes, salami, veggies and ranch
11:45
Bake hors d’oeurvres
12:00
Eat lunch
12:15
Prepare Turkey
12:30
Put turkey in oven (325º 15 min per lb)
12:35
Refrigerate pies

Put your feet up for a few minutes 
1:05
Sautée veggies for stuffing
1:20
Make stuffing
1:25
Put water on to boil for potatoes
1:28
Slice potatoes for ratatouille
1:35
Parboil potatoes for ratatouille
1:40
Make béchamel sauce for ratatouille
1:45
Put together the ratatouille (½ hour)
2:15
Make the rolls
2:30
Lay down for a mini nap


3:45
Put rolls in muffin tins
4:05
Slice apples for pie if you didn’t do it yesterday
4:25
Put apple pie innards together
4:30
Make the salad
4.40
Put water on to boil for potatoes
4:45
Peel potatoes
4:55
Cut potatoes for mashed potatoes
5:00
Put ratatouille in the oven (1 hour)
5:04
Peel garlic
5:08
Put potatoes and garlic in boiling water
5:25
Take the potatoes out and dry them
5:28
Pull the turkey out
5:29
Put the stuffing in the oven
5:30
Make the gravy
5:42
Ask someone else to slice the turkey
5:42
Sautée veggies for green beans
5:43
Cook green beans
5:43
Cook corn
5:44
Mash the potatoes
5:50
Make the glaze for the carrots
5:55
Slice pears for salad, and put salad together
6:00
Put the rolls in the oven
6:02
Soften the butter for the rolls
6:10
Take rolls out of oven

Serve Dinner
6:13
While everyone is going through the buffet line, roll out pie crust for apple pie and mincemeat pie
6:15
Pour apples into pie crust and sprinkle with crumble
6:18
Put the apple pie in the oven

Sit down and eat dinner. Enjoy!
6:40
Put together the Mincemeat Pie and pop it in the oven
7:00
Warm up caramel sauce
7:15
Pull apple pie and mincemeat pie out of oven
7:20
Make whipped cream
7:25
Make / heat up rum sauce
7:30
Serve Pies
8:00
Sit back and watch everyone else pack away the leftovers and do the dishes.


Friendsgiving (smaller Thanksgiving dinner)


Menu:
Breakfast: French Toast and Bacon
Lunch: Veggies, fruits & cheeses
Dinner: Turkey, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, homemade rolls, baked yams with marshmallows, roasted veggies (potatoes, red onions, carrots, Brussels sprouts, peppers, zucchini), salad
Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, leftover Dutch Apple Pie, leftover Chocolate Pecan Pie, leftover Lemon Meringue Pie, leftover Chocolate Mint Pie, and leftover Mincemeat Pie with rum sauce and maybe a Chocolate Cream Pie if we’re all out of other pies


7:00
Wake up
8:00
Make french toast & bacon
8:30
Eat breakfast


9:00
Dice onions and celery
9:10
Sautée veggies for stuffing
9:30
Chop veggies for green beans
9:45
Slice veggies for roast veggies
10:00
Make stuffing
10:20
Prepare baked yams
10:45
Make and bake pumpkin pie


11:10
Prepare salad
11:20
Pull pumpkin pie out of oven
11:30
Put together hors d’oeuvres
11:40
Put out cheeses, crackers, grapes, salami, veggies and ranch
11:45
Bake hors d’oeurvres
11:55
Eat lunch


1:10
Prepare turkey
1:20
Put turkey in oven (325º 15 min per lb)
1:35
Put butter on the tables
2:00
Make the rolls
2:20
Lay down for a mini nap
3:30
Prepare roasted veggies
3:45
Put rolls in muffin tins
4:05
Peel garlic


4:13
Put water on to boil for potatoes
4:15
Peel and cut potatoes
5:08
Put potatoes in boiling water
5:25
Take the potatoes out and dry them
5:28
Pull the turkey out
5:29
Put the stuffing in the oven

Put the roasted veggies in

Put the yams in
5:30
Make the gravy
5:42
Slice the turkey
5:42
Sautée veggies for green beans
5:43
Cook green beans
5:43
Cook corn
5:44
Mash the potatoes


6:00
Put the rolls in the oven


6:10
Take rolls out of oven
6:15
Serve



I'll gather up my grocery lists and post those too if you're interested!!
Links to my Thanksgiving Recipes: Appetizers and Other Tasty Savory TreatsSpinach Artichoke Dip
Granini's Stuffed Mushrooms
Cream Cheese Red Pepper Dip

Turkey

Roasted Turkey
(or what I like to call bathing a turkey in butter in a toasty oven)

Side DishesCornbread Stuffing / Cornbread Dressing
Bacon Beer Cheese Dressing (recipe to follow shortly)Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes with MarshmallowsGravyDinner Rolls (aka Parker House Rolls)Ratatouille (for the vegetarians!)Cranberry Orange Relish
Glazed CarrotsCreamed Corn Casserole
Cheesy Creamed Corn Casserole (recipe to follow shortly)Sautéd Green Beans with peppers and onions
Sinful Macaroni & Cheese



Additional Recipes you may want to peruse:
Cornbread
Spaghetti Sauce (for the Ratatouille)
Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pie for the days after Thanksgiving





Pies!The week of Pie 
(all of my pie recipes in one place)


Pie Crust recipe & instructions
Traditional Apple Pie
Dutch Apple Pie with caramel drizzle
Blueberry Pie (with 3 crusts!)
Cherry Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate Eclair Pie
Coconut Cream Pie
French Silk Pie
(it's a fancy chocolate cream pie with chocolate crumb crust)
Grasshopper Pie
La Tarte aux Sauterelles Chocolate
(chocolate mint pie)
Lemon Meringue Pie
Minced Meat Pie with rum sauce
Pumpkin PieSnickerdoodles(What to make with the leftover pie crust)
OR, if you prefer to drool over recipes with pictures, see below:










Dutch Apple Pie with homemade caramel sauce










Appetizers and Other Tasty Savory TreatsSpinach Artichoke Dip
Granini's Stuffed Mushrooms


Links to all Granini's Desserts and Sweet Treats
Pie Crust
Traditional Apple Pie
Dutch Apple Pie
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Blueberry Pie
Cherry Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cupcakes
Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
Cinnamon Rolls and Caramel Sticky Buns
Coconut Cream Pie
Coffee Cake
Danish Pastry Dough
French Silk Pie
Grasshopper Pie
Lemon Almond Cake
Lemon Breakfast Cake
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Pound Cake
Oreo Cheesecake
Oreo Truffles
Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats with chocolate on top
Pecan Tassies (Mini Pecan Pies)
Pumpkin Pie
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Snickerdoodles (Cookies made from leftover Pie Crust)
Thin Mint Truffles




* * * * *
Find other tasty Thanksgiving Dinner dishes here:


And tasty pie recipes here:


* * * * *
I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!
Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)