Your yearly family feast can seem undaunting...but the owner of Frank's Americana Revival Restaurant Mike Shine has cooked at least 40 Thanksgiving dinners and his experience and expertise say some simple organization should calm your anxiety.
Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve
"It's really very simple if you preplan and get all your preparations ready to go. Write down your menu. Write down everything you need to get done. Check off items as you go. Start preparing everything as early as you can." Shine says make sure your turkey is completely thawed by tomorrow morning - it should probably take all day today in your refrigerator. "You'll have a lot of things to do in a very short period of time. Start cutting that celery, dicing those onions, making that cranberry sauce." He says if you stick to your plan, you'll have a more thankful day tomorrow!"
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day
Shine says this is the worst Turkey Mistake people make: "You can carve it too early. You want everything to be served hot at the same time that every cold thing is cold. If you start carving too soon, everyone's going to be eating a cold Thanksgiving dinner."
Shine continues to say to "keep warm foods holding in the oven, cold foods in the fridge. If you run out of refrigerator room - put an ice chest on the floor and use it. Keep prepared food covered. The last thing you want to do before hugging Grandma when she gets there is to carve that turkey and put it on the platter."
Ed. Note: Don't forget the wine!
Photo;Getty
What a feast!Photo: Getty Images