Cooking Q&A: Saving Time in the Kitchen?
What are some great dishes I can make ahead of Thanksgiving to save some time on the big day?
The secrets to a successful turkey day: any shortcut that frees up kitchen/oven/stovetop space (or brain space, for that matter) on Thanksgiving day, and freezer-to-oven side dishes you can make days in advance.
The best shortcut? Premeasuring, chopping, and prepping ingredients for a dish the night before Thanksgiving is the way to go. Zip-top bags with measured flour or sugar, small bowls filled with spice mixes, and other dry ingredients like baking soda and salt, whole eggs -- you can store everything in a bowl in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to throw it all together, you just…throw it all together, and you won’t destroy your kitchen again and again.
Making just two or three dishes before the big day is the real lifesaver because there’s nothing worse than having witnesses (read: mother-in-law) to your last-minute culinary scramble. For the record, sucking back a bottle of red wine to calm your nerves because the family dinner is two hours late (because of you) is a really, really bad idea.