2. Prepare Some Dishes Ahead Of Time
Why oh why didn’t I heed this warning before? Many traditional Thanksgiving dishes can be prepared the day before. This serves a number of beneficial purposes. First, it frees up your time on the actual day to, oh, I don’t know, SPEND IT WITH YOUR FAMILY. And second, unless you have three ovens, it’s likely you’ll be getting up at 3:00am simply to ensure every dish has an opportunity for a chance to cook. Pies are good dishes to make in advance. Even casseroles can be pre-assembled, so all you need to do is throw them in the oven and let them cook at any point, thus freeing up your time.
My first Thanksgiving, I ended up waiting until the last minute to cook all my dishes, so predictably, by the time I finished baking my side dishes, the turkey was a solid room temperature.
