How’s your Turkey day prep work coming along?

[Carolyn]

Just finished making reservations at a local French café for Thursday. Boy, am I exhausted. I'm gonna go take a nap. 😉

[captainlee]

Spoken like a true PitMaster!

[Skip]

Just spatchcocked the Turkey and put it in the brine. Tomorrow morning I'll make the stock for gravy in the Instant Pot. I'll grill the Turkey tomorrow too.

[ecowper]

Spatchcocked the turkey, dry brine on it, into the fridge now. Working on the turkey gravy prep, cranberry sauce and cookies are done

Update: Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans are all prepped and ready to cook tomorrow.

[Michael_in_TX]

Will take the pork butt out of the freezer in a bit, in prep for a Friday night marinade.

I haven't done a multi-day cook in a very long time and I am looking forward to it.

Boo. The weather forecast is worsening significantly for the weekend, so I've elected to postpone the cook. Probably for the best as today I have learned I may be inheriting quite a bit of Thanksgiving leftovers!

[OC Sandy]

Carnitas are done and will be reheated on Thursday. Smoked salsa is done. Grocery shopping is done. Housework is well underway - kitchen cabinets cleaned; appliances cleaned inside and out; furniture dusted; tablecloths on 2 of the 3 tables. Pozole will be made tomorrow and reheated on Thursday. All in all, things are going pretty well so far.

[RichieB]

Both birds are pretty much defrosted. Stuffing ingredients lined up and ready. Meats for tomorrows Italian meal defrosted in the cooler. 1st bird cooked tomorrow. 2nd Thursday. The Vermont crew will be here about 2 Wendsday. Nancy keeps me busy moving stuff. I'm tired and need another glass of wine🍷🍷🍷

[ecowper]

The other prep item that was important is that the Jury Duty I had a summons for tomorrow is cancelled as all cases were resolved today pre trial. Yay!

[Panhead John]

The only thing more fun than a trip to the DMV is jury duty!

[58limited]

Car is mostly packed, that's all the work for me unless I shoot a deer or hog. I'm bringing the Maquina de Carnitas for lunch tomorrow and my host is doing everything else for turkey day.

[Richard Chrz]

Was not sure if I was going to or not, but I made three pie doughs today, one for a pecan pie my wife will make, then two more for a leftovers pot pie.

got 2 1/2 lbs of fresh baked sourdough cut up and dried in the oven, dressing is now made, covered and in the fridge.

i did get 1 loaf of cranberry walnut made, 1 standard sourdough, 2 1/2 pan ciabattas, and 16 ciabatta rolls all in cold ferment.

i need to do dishes tonight, and I;d still like to wipe down oven, a bit tonight, having a bourbon now.

[Richard Chrz]

I did make a partial cran walnut for my mother in law today as well, so it is 5 am oven on to bake her loaf tomorrow, after that the oven is not shutting off until probably 10 pm tomorrow

[RichieB]

A jury story.
Massachusetts is 1 day or 1 trial. Plus being an old fart, I'm exempt. Now it wasn't always that way. Back in the 80s when you got called up, it was 30 days. I did one of these. Worcester District Court. Every day there at 800 A.M. Sit in the jury room. Maybe get called. If you were part of a pool. Judge describes the details. Then lawyers ask you questions. If selected, taken to separate room with the other jurors. Told by court officer to select a lead juror. Fun times having 14 strangers decide. Yes 14, 2 alternates. I sat on about 6. The worst a rape case. Guilty. Luckily a unanimous decision.
On a positive note, some of us got to enjoy our company outside of the jury room. Many post evening dinners. We were in downtown Worcester, so the selections were many. My manager wasn't happy. He actually called the jury room requesting I be dismissed. The officer called me over after putting him on hold. He explained the request. We both chuckled. He told him I'm on a trial now and it's unlikely he'll be available anytime soon. Plus he explained jurors can't be excused unless family emergency or confirmed medical issue.

[ecowper]

This jury summons was for the municipal court. It is one day of availability or the full trial, depending.

[SheilaAnn]

Because I over extend myself… I am doing simple! I ordered a bird and they generously spatchcocked and reserved all the parts. I’ll dry brine in the am before my volunteer shifts. I’ll make my pie dough (team cook!!!) and hold on the fridge. Mashed and Brussels prepared as the bird roasts. Turkey stock in the IP for gravy. Pie will be chocolate cream because I love it so. However, it will be real whipped cream, not the effing cool whip I grew up with.

beajoulais will be flowing because that’s how I roll on T-Day. Ok, not really until we sit down….which will be about 3 or 4pm.

[Carolyn]

My favorite pie was the chocolate cream pie from Piccadilly cafeteria. It was not the consistency of pudding. It was not dense like that and not a dark chocolate. It wasn't overly sweet either. I sure miss that pie. I could still get it at one Piccaddilly in the late 90s, but I think that is now gone too. 😩

[Santamarina]

Goal for tonight: toast stuffing bread, make cranberry sauce, prep veggies for stuffing and gravy.

So far…

Cranverries done! My first time making them from scratch. Simple recipe. Cranberries, water, sugar, and a splash of triple sec.

Stuffing bread toasted! For years I’d buy bread a few days early and let it sit out open to dry out a bit. A few years ago I didn’t get it out so I toasted the bread…and made the best stuffing ever! So a new tradition was started.


2+ lbs of rustic Italian. 1 lb of sourdough. 1 lb of whole wheat mountain bread - which one of my kids asked if it was chocolate. All store bought this year.

All sliced and on the Blackstone to toast!


Came out beautiful, and the toasting really adds depth of flavor to the stuffing. And yes, we still call it stuffing even though it’s baked in a dish.

[Richard Chrz]

Final prep of the day!

Salute Pitmasters!

[WI Bubba]

Dropped the turkey in the hot tub time machine this morning so I have time to chill it tonight. All that's left for me to do is bake a couple of pies, and get the fryer ready to travel down to my brother's house on Thursday. Easy peasy.

[Lynn Dollar]

Got the birds out of the brine. They're now drying in the fridge.

Parted one of them before brining. Decided to hold off on the other until I season tomorrow morning. I'm thinking parting when the skin is dry will cause less tears and pulling off the meat, as can be seen in the pic.