Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'm so glad to see Elise get recognition for her great site; I'm also a big fan. Her artichoke soup, enchiladas, carbonnade and pulled pork are fabulous. I hope she'll get a cookbook published like other popular food bloggers, like The Pioneer Woman and Orangette.

I learned, after hosting 30-40 for dinner when I had little kids, that you cook most of it the day before. We had the best turkey and sides that year. So now I make my turkeys the day before , slice them and put them in a pan and pour in chicken broth to keep it moist. The sides are made and in serving casseroles the day before and just hit the oven when the appetizers come out. I use to spend the day in the kitchen while everyone else enjoyed themselve now I can relax and enjoy myself with everyone else and dinner is still great. Another benefit, my inlaws and mother want a good deal of leftovers to take home with them. I can make extra and have it already packaged for them without trying to get that done after dinner.

We have one of those countertop convection/rotisserie ovens that we use to keep the side dishes warm until serving - one of the best $80 investments I ever spent. Caveat: I am usually only making holiday dinners for two, so I use smaller casserole dishes. a standard 9 x 13 dish won't fit in this oven, unfortunately.

Not only do I have "just one" oven. My kitchen actually has less counter space than my work cubicle. Yet we still host a 12-15 person dinner. I find that for Thanksgiving the roaster is key and a crock pot or two help. We cook 2 - 12 pound birds. One in the oven timed to come out about a 45 minutes before dinner and one in the roaster. The oven bird is the "show bird" and the roaster bird is carved and served right away. Everything else (except the two veggie dishes) is cooked fully or partially the day before or the morning of and heated or finished dinner (even the mashed potatoes) and is put in oven dishes as soon as the turkey comes out and served right in the dish. I find this arrangement makes it a more social event.

Also our guests bring snacks, drinks, wine, bread, and desert.

unless you are feeding the 7th army, cut the number of sides down and use crockpots for keeping things warm. Lets face it the protein is usually the star of the show, and for most, three or four sides is more than enough. who wants to feel like doing nothing but hibernating after dinner? concentrate on being with people you love, it's called THANKSgiving, not gorge to bursting. yes its nice to have options, but everyone deserves to enjoy the day, including the cook and dishwasher.

my mom uses a standalone roaster, and after heating up most of her large sides (mashed potatoes, green beens) puts them in chafing dishes and puts the smaller sides in the oven. Her chafing dishes use hot water, not sterno, so i think they work a lot longer (plus you dont get hot spots and burned undersides). She's amazing!Totally blind and makes the whole meal every year, turkey and 12 sides!

I must agree with her about the fried onions on top of green beans. Never understood that! I wouldn't think it would be appetizing. You can tell that recipe is definitely old-school because I've never seen anyone do that since the 80's!

Vegetables are best when done simply. A little salt and pepper, some garlic and butter is really all you need!

Funny I just got an email from my friends, first time hosting Thanksgiving at their apt, to bring appetizers that don't require cooking or heating. Potato salad it is.

here's the link: http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/11/a-completely-crockpot-festive-meal.html

Oh my god Osomtaic hahaha! Freudian indeed.

I like some of the input and would like to keep hearing suggestions. I'm trying to do a better job than last year with the oven space.

Very poorly. I have friends and family who have two ovens and have NEVER even used but one. I would love to have two!!!

Days in advance (well, today), I sit down and work out a battle plan. With military precision I work out exactly what's going to be where when (and how hot it'll be).

If I remember rightly, last year I even managed to schedule "glasses of wine" for myself, interspersed throughout the cooking period!

Deep fry the turkey. We've done it for years, and it frees up the oven for everything else. :)