I Love My Thanksgiving Spreadsheet

Want to hear more from Claire? Sign up for her weekly newsletter here.

Last year, around this time, I decided to be vulnerable with our Radio Executive Producer, Annie, and show her my Thanksgiving spreadsheet. It’s a document that’s very important to me, one that offers a glimpse into my process. “I’m taking a screenshot and will be talking about this with my family for the next three weeks,” she said.

But I don’t make the spreadsheet for the awe and admiration it inspires; I make it because I am a “list person” and cannot function without it. (If you have any desire to use my spreadsheet as a template, you can make a copy of it here.)

I don’t think it’s all that elaborate, but it has the basic information I need to plan my Turkey Day, like who is responsible for each dish, where that dish will be cooked (oven, stove, grill, etc.), the oven temperature, how long that dish needs to be cooked for, and if it can be made ahead of time. It’s also where I keep all my other prep notes, like “Wash/steam linens,” and “Clean oven.”

The most interesting part is the recipes. I will smoke my turkey like I always do—and my boyfriend is making crab sauce—but most of the meal will be ripped from the pages of the Milk Street Thanksgiving Collection.

For the last two years, I’ve made the Milk-Simmered Mashed Potatoes, which are luscious, rich and velvety. I don’t like to fix what isn’t broken, but this year I’m going to give our Butter-Basted Mashed Potatoes a whirl. I‘m making them tomorrow, in fact, just to make sure there are no surprises on The Big Day. Neither recipe calls for draining the potatoes—just cooking down the liquid—so all the potato flavor and creamy starches stay in the pot, where they belong.

I’m also going to be making our Savory Sweet Potato Gratin. Yes, that’s two types of mashed and creamy root vegetables, but I don’t care! Thanksgiving is the day to enjoy your favorite piles of mush. I love this particular gratin because it does not involve a blanket of marshmallows on top. Instead, the natural sugars of the sweet potatoes are balanced with a little miso, ginger and soy sauce and finished with a crisp topping of peppery-sweet panko bread crumbs and sesame seeds.

There will be a few vegetables left un-mashed and un-casseroled, like these Butter-Roasted Carrots with Za’atar and Pomegranate Molasses. We call these “magic” carrots because they emerge from the oven transformed. Roasted in a moderately-hot oven for the better part of an hour, they come out glistening, with an intense sweetness and meltingly tender texture. The butter caramelizes in the pan, giving them a deep, nutty flavor, while orange zest and juice cut through the richness and wake up your palate. It’s all balanced with earthy za’atar and tangy pomegranate molasses, then finished with crunchy pistachios. It’s the most complex carrot dish I’ve ever had.

For a salad-like dish, we’ll be enjoying Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Browned Butter Vinaigrette. Yes, that is two vegetable dishes with browned butter, because it really does make everything better.

For bread, I’m going to try my hand at Hawaiian Sweet Bread–Style Dinner Rolls. I usually just buy a big package of King’s from Costco, but last years success with these butter rolls has emboldened me to take on more baking projects. (I was never a baker before I started working here. Such is the magic of Milk Street’s baking recipes.)

Speaking of baking projects, I’ve got a lot of desserts planned to this year, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

And if you're looking for more Milk Street, check out our livestream cooking classes with our favorite chefs, home cooks and friends for global recipes, cooking methods and more.

Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.