Thanksgiving Dinner - You Can Do It!
By Rachelle Bowden in Food on Nov 16, 2004 10:42PM
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Chicagoist is salivating at the thought of turkey, dressing and mashed potatoes. Can't hardly wait! To bide our time we've been surfing the interweb for all things related to preparing Thanksgiving dinner... and don't worry.. cooking Thanksgiving dinner from scratch can seem like a frightening task, but if Chicagoist can do it without making the entire family sick then anyone can!
The Chopping Block is having classes on how to time and prepare an entire Thanksgiving feast, with lots of make ahead tips. Tuition ($100) includes a holiday recipe CD. You'll learn how to make roast turkey with sage stuffing, dinner salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed root vegetables, brussel sprouts with maple mustard glaze, green beans with bacon, dinner rolls, and both pumpkin and apple pie. Sign up for a class tomorrow or Saturday at the Webster Ave. location and Saturday at the Lincoln Square location. Also at the Lincoln Square location on Friday is the Pride Thanksgiving Feast class and on Saturday is a free class on pairing wines with turkey.
Epicurious For those who don't want to shell $100, head over to Epicurious for online videos and classes on cooking a turkey, making gravy, and a pie-making tutorial. While you're there, check out the Thanksgiving Timeline (what to do and when to do it), Thanksgiving Dinner FAQ (Q: Can I stuff my turkey the night before? A: Only if you wish to poison your guests), and other helpful tips and tricks in their Thanksgiving Survival Guide. This is some great stuff, a "must read" if you're doing Thanksgiving Dinner.
All Recipes Not to be outdone, the somewhat more down to earth All Recipes has it's own Thanksgiving Advice section featuring over 1,500 Thanksgiving recipes. Turkey? You wanna know something about turkey? They've got recipes for roasting, deep frying, BBQing and even smoking it. Also, a turkey buying guide, a carving guide, instructions on thawing and brining, cooking times and the ever important leftover ideas. Another holiday treat they've documented well are pies. Like how to troubleshoot them, how to make a basic crust and then how to put a fancy crust on it, and step-by-step instructions on how to make an apple pie.
Once dinner is cooked you still need to present it in a way that will make your family and friends want to eat it right? Unless you're like us and you just take your plate in the living room to watch football! For the more civilized, check this site for some table decoration ideas and this one for the proper way to set a table.