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Tomorrow morning first thing I'll make this pine cone appetizer, a requested staple of our pot-luck Thanksgiving feast for probably 30 years. Also a great make at the last minute elegant take anywhere appetizer. http://verfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/11/pine-cone-appetizer.html

the stock came out well...tommorow I'll get the brine going...wednesday we'll make cookies, chcolate cream and pumkin pie...planning in making cortin or creton for an app does anyone have a recipe

My friends and I had a "pre" Thanksgiving dinner last night, which gave me the opportunity to test run all of my recipes for the holiday.

http://kitchendreamer.blogspot.com/2009/11/intern-thanksgiving.html

Lessons learned? Make the pudding pie earlier (or else live in an apt. with a proper freezer), need fewer potatoes for 6 people, brussel sprouts take significantly LESS time to roast if you slice them!

I met my grandmother; I'm pretty sure we'll all be bumping into one another at some point.

My roomates and I actually had a "Thanksgiving Pre-Game Dinner" in our appartment before we all go our separate ways for Thanksgiving day. We made most of it the day of the dinner, although some guests did chip in a few dishes.

Our menu:
apple cider glazed turkey with cider gravy
jalepeno cornbread stuffing
squash caserole
macaroni and cheese
green bean caserole
mashed potatoes
cranberry and carrot ginger salad
apple cranberry sauce
homemade yeast rolls

and for desert (all homemade):
pumpkin ice cream pie with candied pecans
apple pie with vanilla ice cream
pumpkin roulade

And we topped it off by watching Julie and Julia. Quite a foodie pregame.

CatBoy: AAIIEEEEE! impossibly beautiful picture of the kitty, all white belly fur.

PPS.
KitchenWitch, I realized I posted a picture of the stuffing last year and thought maybe you would seeing it (and then run screaming from the building).

http://dextershaven.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/1528/

Yes, KitchenWitch, the stuffing is green. It has spinach and tons of parsley in it and is the texture of stove-top. It was my great-grandmother's (Portuguese) creation, similar to "bread sauces" served in Spain and England. Nigella Lawson would love it.

The pumpkin bread pudding is based on the recipe for Swiss Pumpkin that appeared in one of Ruth Reichl's books. I have the original recipe online (link below), but I have not attempted the sweet version before, so basically I am going to wing it.

I will leave out the cheese, change the bread to challah, add some sugar to the custard mixture, and I am thinking of smearing the inside of the pumpkin with butter then dusting it with cinnamon sugar. I'm going to make a ginger creme anglaise to serve with it. If anyone else decides to wing it, start a thread here afterwards so we can compare notes.

The recipe is not long, but it contains a lot of words because that's just how I talk. http://catboyskitchen.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/swiss-pumpkin/

On Tuesday I have to drive two hours to my parents' house, but on Wednesday I'm going to make the brine, bake two pies (Toll House Cookie and Pumpkin; I might bake an apple pie as well, but that's a pie we buy from a local farm), and make the cranberry sauce. I'm trying to find some way I can make the brussels sprouts and the stuffing ahead of time, but I don't know how to reheat those without making them taste gross.

Need the bread pudding in a pumpkin recipe. Do you always use the same size pumpking? Use a sugar (pie) pumpkin or any old thing? How do you tell when the custard is done - do you use a thermometer?

@CatBoy- I want the bread pudding inside a pumpkin recipe!
@Katieelby- what's in a pumpkin martini????

I got a head start two weeks ago with making chicken stock.

Tonight the fun begins:
I have drafted my sister into helping me chop apples and other things for Cranberry Chutney, followed by regular cranberries.

After that, i'll make bread for breadcrumbs on and picking up the Turkey on Sunday. Then, because work is mercifully slow, i'm taking Wednesday off to prep my stuffing and get the turkey ready.

Thursday is stuffing the turkey, putting the bird in the ice chest, picking up my brother from the airport, and driving the hour and a half to my parents house. From there, it's into the oven, and gravy will be made after that.

My mom, on the other hand, will be spending the weekend making pie crusts and cleaning house (the worst part of all!).

KitchenWitch, congratulations on being able to do your dream Thanksgiving. (Although, your cranberry stance riddles me with dismay and confusion.)

I never host Thanksgiving but I cook a good portion of it. I am in charge of my grandmother's dressing/stuffing (which scares most first timers because it is very moist and sort of olive green in color), dinner rolls (I have no idea why they are required with bread stuffing and two kinds of potatoes on the menu, but at least if I make them they will be homemade), two varieties of cranberry sauce, pecan and mince pies, and a bread pudding baked inside a pumpkin. Also, I bring the bourbon.

For a community center dinner, I am making 8 to 10 pies (pumpkin and coconut pecan), and instant mashed potatoes. The instant potatoes are a donation so I have to cook what they give me, but I add butter and half & half which seems to help somewhat.

The bread and pastry doughs have been in the freezer for a week. The pumpkin was roasted, pureed and frozen on Monday. I made the cranberry sauces yesterday. Tuesday I prep the stuffing ingredients. Wednesday I bake pies and dinner rolls.

Thursday morning, I drink tea with liquor in it and look for Bullwinkle on the TV while I mix up the stuffing and make instant potatoes with vast amounts of butter. Friday I eat pie for breakfast.

My brother and his wife host Thanksgiving every year, and about a week before the big day, my sister-in-law emails everyone with "rules" based on what we learned the year before.

This year: Only she can use the stove (cuts down on prep time), so everything we bring has to be cold or microwaveable. Bittman's list is super-helpful in that regard, because I now have two sides that work.