planning.

this year for the first time i'm entirely in charge of producing thanksgiving dinner.  i've been actively involved in making other thanksgiving dinners, but i've never planned and made the whole thing.  and it's kind of fun to sit down and plan a menu and figure out a schedule.  so here's what my thanksgiving will look like:

the menu:

• roast turkey breast with lemon and thyme
• mashed potatoes and gravy
• oven-baked bread stuffing
• sweet white corn
• homemade (of course!) dinner rolls
• pumpkin pie (need i really designate it as homemade? really?  anything but is simply inadequate)

the schedule:

tuesday:

• buy challah, slice in half-inch slices and leave out over night to dry

wednesday:

• make gravy.  since a turkey breast won't produce enough drippings to make gravy, i'm doing this step in advance using cooks illustrated's "all purpose gravy" recipe (which looks delicious)
• make pie crust and filling and bake.  i may even dig out my mini fall leaf cookie cutters and decorate the pies
• cut the dried slices of challah into half-inch cubes and leave out over night to dry out some more

thursday:

• brine the turkey (again using cooks illustrated's directions; i do love my cooks illustrated subscription)
• mix up rolls and let dough double in size
• peel potatoes and cover with water
• punch down roll dough and put rolls on pan to rise again
• prep turkey and get it into the oven
• prep dressing and get it into the oven
• boil and mash potatoes
• re-heat gravy
• bake rolls
• boil corn
• carve turkey
• EAT!!!

can i just say that thanksgiving is one of the very best holidays?  yumminess! 

{p.s. let me know if you want any of the recipes i'm using.}