I realize there’s nearly a week before Thanksgiving, but this is the first one that I am hosting. Usually Zach and I go to visit our parents for the holidays. This year, my sister, his sister, and his sister’s roommate are coming here. It’s a small crowd, but that’s nice because there won’t be so much pressure on me. So to make the day a little easier and not be rushing around wondering, “What am I forgetting? Did I do this? Is it going to be ready in time?” I made a time sheet for myself.
It’s a rough draft I did fairly quickly and it will probably get revised before Thanksgiving comes. But once I made it, I felt a little better. Look at all those black spaces! Look at all that stuff I don’t have to do (or can do ahead of time)! Yeah, I feel a lot better now.
A lot of these things, I don’t normally make, because I don’t normally eat them. Like gravy. They are special occasion dishes that are more for everyone else (because even though it’s Thanksgiving, I still really need to watch what I eat, which is why I’m trying to make as many veggies as possible–I bought a lot of fresh ones to snack on while I cook). So I’m looking up recipes. I found this gravy recipe that looks nice. I think I’m going to use this method for collecting the drippings, though.
To keep the fat content down, I decide to stay away from casseroles (despite my on-going love affair with green bean and broccoli casseroles…yum) since they’re so loaded with things like butter and those little french onion fries. I’m going to miss them, but it will be healthier (and easier) to just have the vegetable. Since the majority of those at the table are fairly health-conscious (I think it’s 3 against 2…and since one is the cook and the cook is always right, the other two can suck it =P) this is a good decision. But I’m not completely denying them. You see my menu. =P