Thanksgiving Dinner Planner
November, 2020
Welcome to the Thanksgiving Dinner Planner. A resource
that I created specifically for myself to enjoy and use as an easy reference when planning and
preparing my Thanksgiving Dinner. Each year I modify my resources just a bit so that I can easily
organize the ingredients and dishes and so that everything is accessible when they need to be. This
time, I decided to take advantage of my new coding skills and make a nice website to dress it up.
Maybe I can continue to use it in the future!
Activities
In addition to an amazing feast, two other important staples of my Thanksgiving are the song
and hand turkeys. These were both crucial to my childhood memories of Thanksgiving, and the
hand turkeys are a common experience for many kids across the States.
Song
This is just the chorus of the song:
Happy Thanksgiving,
Hooray!
Hooray!
Hooray!
Aren't you glad you're not a turkey,
On this Thanksgiving Day?
Hey!
Hand Turkeys
The hand turkey is a fun craft to demonstrate our gratitude for different things in
life. Start with the hand and trace around it. Then decorate the turkey and add 4 things
you are thankful for inside of each of the fingers!
Food
A list of the dishes, main ingredients, and a few select recipes.
Ingredient/Shopping List
Ingredient |
Quantity |
Dish |
Turkey |
Smallest, 6-7kg |
Turkey, Gravy |
Butter |
4 sticks |
Turkey, Mashed potatoes, Sweet potato casserole, Biscuits, Carrots |
Meat stock |
2 cartons |
Turkey, Stuffing, Gravy
|
Potatoes |
8 large |
Mashed potatoes |
Sweet potatoes |
7 large |
Sweet potato casserole |
Milk |
1 carton |
Mashed potatoes, Green bean
casserole, Cornbread, Biscuits,
Gravy
|
Corn |
1 package of 3 cans |
Corn |
Onion |
3 |
Turkey, Stuffing |
Carrots |
1 bag |
Turkey, Stuffing, Carrots |
Celery |
1 stalk |
Turkey, Stuffing |
Apple |
1 |
Stuffing |
Garlic |
1 knob |
Turkey, Stuffing |
Walnuts |
2 cups (1 bag) |
Turkey, Stuffing |
Green beans |
1 package |
Green bean casserole |
Cranberries |
1 box |
Cranberry sauce |
Mushroom soup |
1 package |
Green bean casserole |
Bread |
1 small roll |
Stuffing |
Crispy fried onions |
One package |
Green bean casserole |
Marshmallows |
2 bags |
Sweet potato casserole |
Marshmallow fluff |
1 jar |
Sweet potato casserole (halal) |
Brown sugar |
1 bag |
Sweet potato casserole |
White Sugar |
1 bag |
Sweet potato casserole, Pumpkin
pie, Cranberry sauce |
Flour |
1 bag |
Gravy |
Cornbread mix |
1 box |
Cornbread |
Biscuit mix |
1 box |
Biscuits |
Pumpkin puree |
1 can |
Pumpkin pie |
Condensed milk |
1 can |
Pumpkin pie |
Pumpkin pie crust |
1 |
Pumpkin pie |
Whipped cream |
1 can |
Pumpkin pie |
Stuffing
Ingredients
- 9x9 inch baking pan/casserole dish
- Bread roll
- Olive oil
- Meat stock - 2 cups
- Onion - 1
- Carrots - 3
- Celery - 2
- Apple - 1
- Walnuts - 1 cup
- Garlic - 3 cloves
- Salt, pepper, herbs to taste
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Mince garlic, cube bread, and chop up vegetables/fruit
- Heat a giant pan on the oven with a medium-high flame
- Oil the pan and add the garlic and vegetables and seasoning. Sautee for a few minutes
- Add bread until all items are crispy on the outside
- Pour in meat stock and let simmer for a few more minutes
- Scoop 1-2 intoturkey and dump the rest into the baking pan/casserole dish
- Bake for about 30 minutes
Turkey
Ingredients
- Large turkey pan
- Meat baster
- Meat thermometer
- Turkey
- Butter - 1 stick
- Garlic - 6 cloves
- 1-2 cups of pre-madestuffing
- Celery - 2 sticks
- Carrots - 3
- Onion - 1.5
- Walnuts - 1 cup
- Meat stock - 4 cups
- Sage, pepper, salt to taste
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
- Mince garlic and combine with softened butter, pepper, and salt
- Lather butter mixture underneath and over turkey skin and place in turkey pan
- Scoop about 1-2 cups of the pre-made stuffing into the turkey cavity
- Cut up additional celery, carrot, and onion and garnish the outside of the turkey. Add walnuts
and sage.
- Pour 3-4 cups of meat stock around the turkey
- Place the turkey into the oven and bake for 30 minutes
- Remove and baste the turkey, cover the breast and legs with foil to prevent skin from burning,
and rotate positioning when putting back in the oven. Lower the temperature to 178 degrees C.
- Continue to remove, baste, and change position every 30-45 minutes for the next 4-6 hours. Check
the temperature when the meat begins to look cooked. Turkey is done when the deepest part
(usually under the thigh) is 165 degrees F
Gravy
Ingredients
- Meat fat/grease/stock starter 4 Tbsp
- Flour - 4 Tbsp
- Milk/water/stock - 1 cup
- Salt and/or pepper to taste
- Set aside fat and heat in pot/pan
- Add in flour and mix quickly with whisk over heat
- Add liquid and continue to whisk quickly to avoid the flour and fat from solidifying
- Add seasoning to taste
Sweet potato casserole
Ingredients
- 9x9 inch baking pan/casserole dish
- Boiling pot
- Sweet potatoes - 4
- Marshmallows - 2 bags / Marshmallow fluff - 1 can (halal)
- Butter - 1 1/2 sticks
- Brown sugar - 1 1/4 cups
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender
- Remove peels from the sweet potatoes
- In the boiling pot over low flame, melt butter and mix in half of the marshmallows/fluff, add
the brown sugar, and seasonings until well combined.
- Then add the sweet potatoes and mash up loosely so that it is a mix of puree and small chunks
- Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes
- Remove and top with the other half of marshmallows/fluff and bake for 5-10 minutes until
marshmallow is poofy and slightly browned
Green bean casserole
Ingredients
- 9x9 inch baking pan/casserole dish
- Green beans - 1 pack
- Mushroom soup - 1 pack
- Crispy fried onions - 1 pack
- Milk - 1/2 cup
- Soy sauce 1 tsp
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Wash and chop green beans
- Combine green beans in bowl with the mushroom soup, half of the crispy fried onions, the milk,
soy sauce, and salt and pepper
- Pour mixture into casserole dish and bake in the oven for 25 minutes until bubbling
- Remove, stir, and top with the remaining crispy fried onions and bake for 5 more minutes, until
golden brown
COMING SOON!
Mashed potatoes
Ingredients
- Boiling pot
- Potatoes - 8
- Butter - 1/2 stick
- Milk - 1 cup
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Wash and peel potatoes. Chunk or cube for quicker cooking
- Boil in salted water until fork tender
- Dump water and mash with a fork
- Add butter until melted, then add milk, salt, and pepper to taste. Continue mashing with the
fork in the pot until desired creamy consistency and flavor
Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- Sugar - 1 cup
- Liquid - water/orange juice - 1 cup
- Cranberries (fresh or frozen) - 4 cups (125 g = 1 cup)
- Additional seasoning - Pecans, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice
- Boil water and sugar on high heat in a saucepan and stir sugar until it dissolves and is
sizzling
- Add the cranberries and cook until boiling, then reduce heat and let summer for 10 minutes -
until most of the cranberries have burst
- If you want, add in the extra seasoning items.
- Let cool completely before putting in the refrigerator. The cranberry sauce will continue to
thicken as it cools
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- Pie crust
- Pumpkin puree - 1 can
- Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can
- 2 eggs
- Pumpkin pie spice - 1 tsp
- Prepare pie crust and pre-bake, if necessary
- Preheat oven to 425-375°
- Mix and pour ingredients into crust
- Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 350° and continue baking until filling is set
- Total bake time will be 45-50 minutes - the outside should be set and the center still a bit
jiggly. Will set as it cools
Carrots
Ingredients
- Carrots - 2 pounds
- Water - 1/3 cup
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Salt, pepper, and herbs to taste
- Peel and cut the carrots in diagonal 1/4 slices
- Heat the carrots with the water and salt in a pot until boiling, and the lower heat and cook
through until tender (7-8 minutes)
- Add the butter and saute for an additional minute until the water evaporates.
- Remove from heat and toss with additional seasoning and serve