Imagine this: You are standing in your kitchen dreaming of creating an immaculate Thanksgiving meal for friends and family. However as you stand staring at your minimal countertops, small fridge, and outdated oven you are not sure how you will manage this daunting task?! How do people create these lavish dinners and spreads?!
Many of us can only dream of having Joanna Gains’ farmhouse kitchen with double ovens, a butler’s pantry, waterfall countertops, the list goes on and on… If you are working with a little bit less space there’s no need to fear, your dream of a beautiful Thanksgiving spread is not lost. You will still be able to have your friends, family, and your mom’s best friends gardener over for Thanksgiving with no problem at all. These do’s and don’t of pulling off Turkey Day, Julia Childs’ style are the perfect recipe to create your dream Thanksgiving.
Plan the Menu to Your Advantage
Menu Prep should be the best part of your Thanksgiving Feast. Remember that prepping your meal will take away stress and have you absolutely prepared for when it comes time to have your friends and family over for an amazing meal. Try finding new meals as well as your traditional Thanksgiving dishes to make everyone feel at home. Here are few specific tips and tricks :
If you only have one oven, it’s not a good idea to do a turkey, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and pie all at once. Instead, try some unique meals that don’t require time in the oven. A cheeseboard, or charcuterie board, is an awesome first course that requires no cooking, not to mention finger food means fewer dishes to wash. With this show stopping grazing opportunity, your friends and family will be able to parooze the cheese, sliced meats, crackers, nuts, and sweet nibbles all while not hovering over your shoulder and drooling over the main course!
Using your stove is another game changer. Go ahead and cook your collard greens low and slow while you’re prepping and tending to the other dishes, they’ll take care of themselves! What more could you ask for?
Don’t forget about tools other than your oven that can create mouth watering sides for your guest. Pressure Cooking is a great option that can also be utilized for those sweet potatoes, squash or any other vegetable that you had in mind. There will be more tips on this later in this list so keep reading!
Store Smartly
Purchasing items without bulky containers or packaging and condensing other foods in your fridge pre-Thanksgiving prep is a great place to start. Once you have begun your prep, storing food like pre-chopped veggies in baggies is a smart way to create more space for your turkey. Bonus points if you have the space saver bags to remove air!
Just for Thanksgiving prep, it might be a good idea to use a deli drawer in your fridge to store your meal prep items. This is a great way to keep these items separated and put away.
Pro Tip: Always store raw turkey on the bottom shelf, so juices don’t drip and contaminate other foods.
Use Alternate Appliances to take care of your side dishes
The southern kitchen staple: the crock pot.
Fix it and forget it! The motto of many moms during any week day, but don’t be fooled, you can whip up some mean Thanksgiving sides with this trusty appliance! Normally Mac & Cheese would dirty quite a few dishes, add more clean up, and take up room in your already limited space , but Crockpot Mac & Cheese may just be the game changer you didn’t know you needed.
If you don’t have a crockpot, an Instant pot or Air Fryer may be what you need! You can easily crisp up some apple slices for snacking! Interested try our favorite cinnamon sugar apple chips! We can guarantee they’ll be gobbled up in no time.
Short on time?
Spatchcock Your Turkey! Large turkeys take a long time to cook thoroughly, not to mention they leave little room for anything else in the oven. Flattening your turkey not only frees up space for another oven rack, but spatchcocked birds cook in a significantly shorter amount of time. #winning
If cooking the turkey is completely off the table due to lack of time, there are many restaurants who will have them cooked and ready for you to pick up. We promise we won’t tell your family!
Want to upgrade your kitchen pre-Thanksgiving?
Is your kitchen set up not the ideal space? Find yourself worrying about making your meal in your tiny kitchen? Contact us at Cutstone Co. today and let us help you design your dream kitchen countertops in Birmingham, AL. Adding an island or an area for countertop height seats might be just what you need to have the perfect feast, we look forward to working with you! (205) 624-3538
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