A different Thanksgiving This Year

earnie

earnie

Well-known member
This year, after my husband's death last January, I will drive 200 miles to be with family for Thanksgiving. I would like to have a list of food items I can make ahead/prep ahead to take, to ease the burden on my Sister, the hostess. Her husband is and has been ill this year and I would like to lighten her burden of having house guest. Suggestions for things I can make ahead, freeze,etc. and pack in the car would be appreciated.

 
Our Thanksgiving has been potluck fo years

Almost everything is made ahead. Most casseroles can be put in a plastic container, then poured in a baking dish onsite. Salads can go in big freezer bags until serving time. Bob Evans refrigerated mashed potatoes are very good & can be microwaved. mom cooks and slices turkey at home, then it is put in pan & sprinkled with broth, covered tightly in foil & reheated. She brought the broth in a big jar & made the gravy onsite. We do very informal buffet service from a bar in the kitchen, so if things come in tupperware bowls they stay in them. Chinet plates & disposable utensils.

you just need an ice chest or two.

Not fancy, but the food is very good & cleanup doesn't take hours.

 
If you can find Loupy's Party Spaghetti from the old Gails Recipe Swap, it is wonderful

makes a large amount for a crowd, travels well, can be made a few days ahead, and everyone raved about it when I took it to a family reunion two states away. It traveled in a cooler for a full day, and we ate it the second day of the reunion.

 
Found it, here it is

Loupy's TEXAS PARTY SPAGHETTI and it sounds great... recipe inside
Posted: Dec 6, 2001 6:51 AM

REC: TEXAS PARTY SPAGHETTI Men & kids love this - it can be made ahead and reheated beautifully - it feeds >>>> a crowd - it is delicious - it is good for a buffet - and all you need with it is a big salad and lots of crusty bread. Now this doesn't pretend to be an Italian-type dish -- 2 1/2 lb. ground round 4 or more to taste garlic cloves, minced 2-16 oz. cans of tomatoes 1-10 oz can of Rotel (tomatoes & peppers) 8 oz of sliced mushrooms 1/2 cup chopped green olives 1/2 cup chopped ripe olives 1 med. onion, chopped 2 lbs. American cheese, cubed 1 lb. package of spaghetti, cooked 1 lb. bacon, cooked crispy & crumbled salt & pepper to taste Brown the meat and toss in the garlic cloves at the end for a couple of minutes. Mix all the other ingredients together gently, and you need a huge bowl - I have a monster pottery bowl I use. Pour into a large baking dish, or use 2 smaller ones, and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with grated parmesan cheese. This is another recipe you can tinker with. I use a lot more onion that the recipe called for. The original recipe didn't call for garlic. If your local supermarket doesn't carry Rotel, throw in another can of tomatoes and chop up some hot peppers to suit your taste. This is a good buffet dish, because it doesn't need a knife and you can eat standing up if you have to. It is also a good dish to take when someone is sick because it reheats well.

 
I'm changing up my Thanksgiving this year too....just too much work for the traditional

takes me all week to make one dish a day, and I am the only one who does it. Buying a beautiful prime rib already seasoned. Serving with our families stuffed baked spuds that everyone loves and can be made one day ahead. Fresh green beans cooked in garlic and lemon butter. Plus a lovely simple salad with lemon vinaigrette. I don't think anyone can complain about that. Oh, and I found out about some frozen dinner rolls that you let rise before baking, on Pioneer Woman...I hear they are wonderful.
Prime rib is served with a mixture of a good local horseradish and sour cream.

 
Preparing food ahead is sounding really good to me; I was thinking of cooking the turkey . . .

I could smoke it maybe several days ahead and re-warming on Turkey day, wrapped tightly in foil and heated slowly with some broth to keep moist. Bring any turkey cooking juices to a boil then keep it in the fridge till the day before, make the gravy, keep it in fridge and re-heat also. Make mashed potatoes early in the day, keep warm in crock pot. I could even do a long-cook green bean and bacon dish and re-heat that. A fresh salad pops together in no time. As for pies and dessert, I normally cook my pies the day before anyway, so in any case that is taken care of.

The above sure would save a LOT of trouble, especially with my Sister's and Sister-in-law's help.

 
More Thanks

Great article, GayR. So much good information there. KarenNoCA, I love the Texas Party Spaghetti for anytime. I’m thinking Christmas eve when everyone is rushing around trying to finish their errands.

Going to find those Pioneer Woman frozen dinner rolls.

 
They are called Rhodes Dinner Rolls and come in an orange plastic type bag in the frozen section

They appear to look like the ones I saw Ree Drummond taking out of her freezer. They are made in Salt Lake City, Utah. I think my neighbor picked them up for me at WalMart. I have them rising now. I only needed four and it is suggested to put two into a muffin tin and let rise 3 to 5 hours.

Here is a review on the WalMart site.

THE BEST as other reviewers have testified, but also the lowest in saturated fat (0%),Cholesterol(0%) and sodium is only 5%.You can't find a better heart healthy roll than that except the Rhodes's whole grain version. I have been making pizza crust out of them for some time and it is quick, easy, delicious and cheap at about .31 per crust for a small (12"# single pizza. I use three rolls per crust. And thanks to Walmart for including the nutrition information on so many of their grocery items.... we need that information!!!. The Rhodes website #Rhodes.com) is a gem of information on how to make items out of their dough.

 
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