Monday, November 16, 2009

Countdown to Thanksgiving

This year I'm determined to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas rather than participate in a procrastination-triggered frenzy the night before. Therefore, I actually began my Thanksgiving cleaning and meal plannig on Saturday. Yes, a full week and 5 days early. Don't get too impressed, though--we'll have to see how good my holiday preparation stamina really is. As an even bigger challenge, I want to have the house clean and all prep done before Tuesday evening. It's crazy, but my sister-in-law is visiting from Colorado and I want to make sure we get to spend as much time with her as possible during the few days she's here. To keep myself somewhat accountable, I'm going to create a to do list and post it here.

already done (listed here because it's more stuff I get to cross off):
  • cleaned/conditioned the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms (this stuff is amazing. My cabinets look so much better and the house smells nice and citrusy)
  • Pulled recipes for my go-to Thanksgiving recipes (chocolate chunk pecan pie and my apple pecan dressing)
  • made shopping lists for Sprouts and Wal Mart

do this week:
  • determine menu with family (we do potluck style meals)
  • go shopping at Sprouts and Wal Mart
  • deep clean kitchen and bathrooms
  • vacuum
  • clean windows
  • clean bottom of oven so it doesn't smoke during the Alton Brown turkey roasting method
  • clear out/organize fridge to make room for ridiculous quantities of food
  • tidy up front yard vegetation (aka: make it look like we don't live in a jungle)

do Monday
  • make brine for turkey
  • chop veggies for dressing
  • make cornbread for dressing
  • toast and cube bread for dressing
  • chop pecans and apples for dressing (okay, so the dressing is a little labor intensive, Keith and I think it's amazing and totally worth it)


do Tuesday
  • dust
  • sweep front porch
  • make pie crusts
  • bake pies

do Wednesday
  • sautee veggies for dressing 
  • mix dressing
  • prep and brine turkey
  • enjoy the day
  • do all of the other things I inevitably procrastinated on earlier in the week
  • go to bed at a reasonable hour on Thanksgiving Eve for quite possibly the first time in our marriage

do Thanksgiving day
  • roast Turkey
  • bake dressing
  • eat
  • play games
  • eat 
  • play games
  • eat
  • go to bed late, but happy
If this actually works, I'm creating a 4 week plan for Christmas. After that, I'm going to take over the world.

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