My First Thanksgiving Dinner
Some thoughts from my first time hosting! 🌞
Yesterday, I hosted my very first Thanksgiving Feast. We had ours early because my dad is traveling on Thursday, so we enjoyed our dinner this weekend instead. That’s also good because I’ll be working on developing leftover recipes to be ready for you once your turkeys have been picked over, wrapped up, and packed away in the fridge.
For those of you celebrating a day of giving thanks this week, I know you’re already in preparation mode. Maybe you’ve already gone grocery shopping or developed your task list for the big day. Or maybe you’re someone who likes to wing it the night before.
This year was my first year hosting a true Thanksgiving dinner. If you listened to me on the Rouxde Cooking School podcast last week, I did make turkey once, but it was years ago, and it was such a disaster I decided not even to count that attempt.
The planning:
First, I started by selecting my side dish recipes.
Naturally, I went with most recipes I’d made on my site already.
Top Left: Caramelized Onion and Miso Stuffing
Top Right: Sweet Potato Casserole
Bottom Left: Green Bean Casserole
Bottom Right: Maple-Roasted Carrots
I also knew I’d want to make homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a roast duck in addition to the turkey.
I also decided on dessert, specifically, the pumpkin bars from my site as well. I did also want to try a recipe from an old cookbook, but it was macaroni custard, and everyone hated it so no need to dwell on that! One look at my TikTok, and you’ll see it was doomed from the start.
And then came the big boy checklist. I picked up groceries a few days before the big day, so I could have a solid two days to tackle all the food.
Two Nights Before:
After my appearance on the Rouxde Cooking School podcast, I decided to revise my approach to the turkey. Originally I was going to stuff the skin with butter a la Sam Sifton. After hearing about the success of dry brine, that’s what I went with for my cooking method. I loaded my bird up with tons of salt, pepper, and maple sugar. From there, I popped him in the fridge, uncovered, until the big day. You can dry brine a turkey for up to 72 hours or up to 96 hours for birds heavier than 20 pounds.
The night before:
More lists! I sat down and drafted everything I had to make in the order that made the most sense to me. My goal was to have all the desserts and casserole-based side dishes done the night before, so I could focus on the birds the next day without overloading my oven or worrying about whether I’d be able to get everything done in time.
I did manage to make it through everything except the stuffing the night before only because I ran out of room in my fridge, so I left the stuffing for the next day.
While it was exhausting, it wasn’t horrible, and I went to bed happy, knowing that so much was already done. The casseroles and desserts also make the dirtiest dishes, and I knew my dishwasher was going to be a busy bee the next day, so it was great going to bed knowing I wasn’t going to be in constant loading and unloading of the dishwasher.
The day of:
I woke up at 7 AM, took a shower, and then immediately got to work. First, I roasted my duck for about two hours and thirty minutes.
While the duck roasted, I added the roasted duck neck, turkey neck, and duck feet to a pot with water and brought it to a boil. I simmered that for a few hours.
After my duck finished roasting, I got my turkey out of the fridge. I stuffed it with fresh sage, thyme, and a rosemary sprig. I sprinkled more salt on top for good measure and then I drizzled oil all over and rubbed it until he was completely coated with oil. My dad suggested this to create a seal for the bird as it roasted.
The only thing I could NOT figure out was tucking the wings. The videos I watched online made this seem like it should be effortless. Just lift the bird up and tuck the wings under. Mine would NOT go no matter what I did. I don’t know if I got a little t-rex or what, but I ended up tying the wings tight to the body and then wrapping the tips in foil.
The turkey roasted for 4 hours on the dot and then I removed him, covered with foil, and let him rest for about 45 minutes.
At this point, my parents had arrived. I was hoping I wouldn’t have any frantic, last minute hurtles to the finish line, but unfortunately, time wasn’t on my side. Before they arrived, I had just finished putting together my charcuterie board.
Admittedly, I am not much of a charcuterie expert. I just grabbed some cheese at the grocery store and a pack of sliced meat. Beyond the prosciutto, I don’t even know what else came in the pack. I arranged everything around a few types of crackers and some big grapes! I filled in the gaps with olives, mustard, pomegranate wedges, and some sweet spreads, including a crunchy pistachio spread and crunchy almond spread and tomato and white sultana chutney. My dad brought some deer bologna that was gifted to him and we added that on top.
While we snacked, I added all my casseroles to the oven and let them heat through. For the green bean casserole, I assembled everything the night before except the crunchy shallots. I added the shallots right before baking. Similarly, for the sweet potato casserole, I made the filling and topped it with marshmallows and pecans right before baking.
From there, my dad made the gravy. I didn’t make quite enough stock, so we supplemented it with cream. I made the glaze for the duck and broiled the duck quickly before dinner to warm it back up right before serving.
And then we dug in! I never felt so much all-over body fatigue until I sat down in my chair! I basically was up and moving around for what seemed like 24 hours straight, so sitting down was the best relief ever.
What didn’t make the cut? Sadly, I ran out of time so I wasn’t able to make the carrots again or the salad. Maybe next year!
What’s your plan for Thanksgiving? I hope this post gives you some inspiration for the big day next day and I can’t wait to share my leftovers idea with you throughout the week!