Turkey for five. Please help. How do I prepare a nice Thanksgiving dinner?

Question

My husband and I come from divorced parents and every Thanksgivings we have both grown up missing our birth father on this holiday. This year I want to have dinner at my apt. I have never cooked a turkey before. What can I do? Its gonna be my dad, my husband, his dad, me and our little son. I need all the advice I can get.

Answer 1

Have you considered cooking a pre-stuffed frozen turkey? I have worked in a meat dept. of a large grocery for years. We started selling the Butterball pre-stuffed ones a few years ago and now they're so popular we can't keep them in stock at Xmas or Thanksgiving. I personally haven't tried one. ( Always go to my mom's and she makes and stuffs turkey from scratch ) but the customers rave about them. They say they're as good as homemade. That could be a good compromise - the convenience of something pre-done but you'd still be serving your family something you've cooked yourself. You'd also still get that yummy turkey roasting smell in your kitchen to make everyone's mouth water! If you do cook a frozen pre-stuffed turkey read the instructions on the back of the bird very carefully. You MUST cook it frozen. Never thaw it out, bacteria can grow in the stuffing if you do.
Also check some recipe sites for a couple of make ahead veg recipes. I do my mashed potatoes ahead. (Cream cheese, sour cream & butter) and bake them in a casserole dish in the oven, along with a green veg casserole. When the turkey comes out the veggies go in. By the time the gravy's made, the turkey's rested a while and been carved, everything will be ready without too much stress. don't knock yourself out trying to make a huge spread of food for only 5 people. Keep it simple, serve just a few really tasty dishes and enjoy the time with your family. That's how you'll have a nice, memorable dinner.
Also, there's nothing wrong with going to a bakery and buying a nice pie!

Answer 2

I suggest letting them know they can come in jeans etc. People want to feel comfy, though you want them to know they are special by setting a proper table and by having all the fixings. You can get details about the turkey anywhere. But be sure you have vegetables, real butter, not margerine, a pumpkin pie (even though many don't like them, daddies often do), cresent rolls, a table cloth (you can borrow one from a girlfriend or coworker), real mashed potaotes, gravy, maybe a funky jello mold. Set the table with a smaller salad fork, then dinner fork, the plate, then on the right side of the plate, closest to the plate the spoon, and then a butter knife. You can put the napkin under the forks, or is it the spoon and knife, and the glass above the plate, on the knife/spoon side. Just having set a proper table shows your man clan you wanted to show them a special Thanksgiving. It doesn't matter if your utencils are mix matched hand me downs and your stuff isn't nice. It only matters that you wanted to do something proper for them. They don't know what is totally proper anyhow, so don't sweat mistakes, or small stuff. I've rolled into Thanksgiving dinner, with my rents, and brothers, wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt, wiped out in my Juicy sweats, on three hours sleep. We act like animals but always appreciate mom's efforts to have a civilized meal, above all of the laughter. Oh, have their fav drinks, be it Coke, beer, iced tea, wine, etc. Most of all, don't be a chicken with your head cut off. It's better to leave the kitchen messy, after you eat, than not spend the after noon with them. They are there for your cute smile after all.
Good luck little mama.

Answer 3

If you buy a turkey at the grocery store, it will tell you on it how long to cook it per pound. My suggestion on how to prepare it and cook it would be to buy those plastic bags that the whole bird fits inside of (Roaster bags?).

You'll need to thaw the turkey out for a few days in your fridge until it isn't frozen (if you buy frozen!)

I rub my turkey down with butter, remove the stuff from the neck and inside (there's a couple bags of innerds and such, you can make gravy with them or just toss it out). I fill those holes with cut up onions and apples for flavor. (You can fill with stuffing, but sometimes the stuffing gets too soggy inside the bird, or not done enough.) Salt and pepper the whole thing, put it in the bag and close the bag with the zip tie that is provided. Put the whole thing in a roaster pan (if you don't have one, the big foil pans they sell at the grocery store will work - just don't cut the turkey from the pan, because you can easily cut through the foil pan and have a mess!) and bake it at the suggested temperature and time (Allow extra cooking time incase you need it, so if the package says 3 hours, start your bird 4- 4 1/2 hours before guests arrive).

Once the turkey is cooked, and you remove it from the oven, you can use the drippings that are inside the bag to make gravy.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Well, if you're concerned on how well everything is going to turn out, then you can opt for a place that can prepare the meal for you. Maybe you can make the dessert your self. This way, you won't feel stressed about on how well everything is and enjoy your evening.

There's also ready made turkeys you can buy at the supermarket and all you have to do is put it in the oven and reheat.

Best of luck.

Answer 5

Get advice from the experts...

Butterball Turkey Talk Line: 800-BUTTERBALL
(http://www.butterball.com)
Reynolds Turkey Tips Hotline: [phone]
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline: [phone]

Q&A - www.landolakes.com

Answer 6

Check out this page for ALL of the advice you will ever need:

http://www.gourmet-food-revolution.com/thanksgiving-dinner-menu.html

I hope that you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Answer 7

Go to the food network website and they will help. Or you can buy an already prepared turkey from Popeye's if you don't fel like cooking.

Answer 8

Well at least u were conscious of puking on it and rinsed it. Because after u cooked it, the bacteria in ur puke and stuff should have gone away and stuff. Just don't worry about it because u are considerate for rinsing it. =]

Answer 9

Check out www.butterball.com

Answer 10

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Menu/TurkeyDinner.htm