What to Do the Week of Thanksgiving

Well, folks, the big day is finally upon us. It’s go time, the final countdown, etc. It’s an exciting time—even a fun time, if you’re as prepared as we are. Before you move on to these final tasks, take a look at the first, second, third, and fourth installment of this series.

Here are our tasks at a glance:

• Please, please, please take the turkey out of the freezer
• Make your Turkey Day Timeline
• Prep what you can
• Figure out your seating plan
• Clean your house and check on household supplies
• Make a playlist (or TV schedule)

No turkeys in the freezer!

If your turkey is still in the freezer, get it out of there immediately. As I’ve mentioned previously, a turkey needs a full 24 hours of thaw time in the fridge for every four pounds of mass, and that does not include the time it will spend in the brine. It’s not ideal, but if you still have a partially-frozen turkey by Wednesday morning, you can let it finish thawing in the wet brine.

Of course, we are living in the age of the dry brine (salting), and salt can’t do its job on frozen flesh. If you need to speed things up while keeping the bird dry, you’ll need to get a water bath involved. Fill your sink with cold water, set the still-wrapped bird inside the sink, and change the water every half hour until it is thawed. It’s tedious business, and uses a lot of water, but it does the job. If you have an immersion circulator, you can do this even faster: Set the bath temperature to around 65℉ (add ice if your tap water doesn’t get that cold), then add the turkey and let the cool water circulate around the bird until it thaws.

Make your Turkey Day timeline

Take a piece of paper, write down your ideal dinner time, and work backwards from there. Calculate, roughly, how long it will take the bird to cook—your final estimate will depend on its size, the recipe you’re using, and whether the bird is whole, spatchcocked ,or completely broken down into parts. Do not forget to factor in some resting time. Depending on its size. most turkeys will stay hot for at least an hour after you take them out of the oven, and even longer if you tent them with foil. (I don’t tent, however, because it can soften the crispy skin.)

Once you’ve firmed up your turkey schedule, you can figure out how much time you need to finish off the other dishes. Be sure to do the mashed potatoes last, unless you are using a recipe designed to be made ahead of time, like our Butter-Braised Mashed Potatoes.

Finally, tell your guests when they should arrive, and ask if they will need to use your oven or stove, so that you can incorporate their dishes into your timeline if needed. (This is also a good time to remind them to bring serving spoons for their whatever they may be bringing; many guests forget to do so!)

Prepare (and pre-cook) as much as you can

Go ahead and make your cranberry sauce and chill it in the fridge, and make your pie crusts if you haven’t already. If you already have a few crusts in the freezer, now is a good time to transfer them to the fridge.

Set aside Wednesday as your pie baking day, so they’ll have plenty of time to cool (or chill) and set. This is also a good day to boil your eggs for deviling, soak beans, dice onions, and prep some vegetables. The video above can walk you through the details, but here’s a complete breakdown of everything you can prep two and three days out fom Thanksgiving.

Three days before Thanksgiving:

• Carrots and celery: Cut off the ends, peel and rinse. Wrap in paper towels and store in a resealable plastic bag.
• Green beans: Pinch off the stem end and rinse. Wrap in paper towels and store in a resealable plastic bag.
• Brussels sprouts: Trim stalk end, cut in half or quarters if needed (as dictated by your recipe; if making a shredded Brussels sprout dish, leave whole). Rinse, wrap in paper towels and store in a resealable plastic bag.
• Hearty leafy greens: Remove from stalk, rinse and drain well. Wrap in paper towels and store in a resealable plastic bag.
• Herbs: Fill a big bowl with cold water. Plunge and swish the herbs in bowl, shake off as much moisture as you can, then roll in paper towels and store in a resealable plastic bag

• Leeks: Cut off the hairy root ends, leaving the bulb intact. Trim away tough green portion. Slice the white portion in half length-wise, then rinse thoroughly between the layers.
• Scallions: Cut off the hairy root ends, leaving the bulb intact. Remove outer layers, rinse, roll in paper towels and store in a resealable plastic bag

Note: It may seem like you’re using a lot of paper towels and plastic bags, but everything that has gone into them has been clean, so feel free to re-use them for clean up and leftovers.

Two days before Thanksgiving:

• Mashed potatoes: Most mashed potatoes can be cooked, mashed, and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. To re-heat, transfer them to a pan and add a splash of milk, then heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until they soften and warm. (Or you could just make our Butter-Braised Mashed Potatoes, which are designed to be made ahead.)
• Sweet potatoes: If you plan on making a sweet potato casserole, the sweet potatoes can be cooked, mashed, and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Day of, spread into a casserole dish, add your toppings, and bake.

One day before Thanksgiving:

• Bake your pies
• Get the turkey in the brine, be it wet or dry!

Figure out your seating and serving plan

You do not have to assign seats, though I always do. Just be sure you have enough tables and chairs, as well as place settings, water glasses, wine glasses, and napkins. Remember that everyone will need a dessert fork in addition to their dinner fork, as well as fresh plates for pie.

Once you’ve nailed your seating plan, figure out where the food will go. Do you plan to serve everything buffer-style? Set up that space now, wiping it down if needed (and dressing with a table cloth if you like). Also be sure to factor in a space for drinks and desserts, and decide on where you are going to carve the turkey. (I hate doing it at the table—the height is all wrong.)

Clean your house

Unfortunately, this cannot be avoided. You must clean your house. Start with the least trafficked areas and work your way toward the highly trafficked areas, like the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, so they have less time to get dirty again. Check the state of your household supplies, including trash bags, dish soap, paper towels, bathroom tissue, hand soap and air freshening agents, and ensure the necessary items are visible so guests don’t have to ask where to find them.

Do any last-minute laundry, including hand towels, kitchen towels, guest bath towels and any linens or pillow cases that may need freshening up.

Make a playlist

Thanksgiving is, after all, a dinner party. Dinner parties need mood music. Make a playlist using your streaming app of choice, and tailor the music to your crowd—i.e., no profanity. When in doubt, it is never a bad idea to put on The Last Waltz, famously filmed on Thanksgiving Day in 1978. The audio recording will do just fine, but I always put on the full movie. (It just doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving until I see Van the Man do his little “Caravan” kicks.)

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.