Vegan MoFo Day 23: Thanksliving Game Plan

Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner is sort of like running a marathon. At least I'd think so, but since I've never run a marathon, I can't say for sure. It is definitely a long process with a short reward. I start the serious planning about a week before, figuring out what I need to buy where. Prior to that I try to plan out my menu and figure out who is coming over. This year, we'll be having the parents-in-law, beeps, and DR for dinner, though beeps isn't really a guest since she and I have excellent kitchen dynamics and will be co-cooking a lot of the meal.

This may be a little late to be posting for people who are hosting dinner this week for the first time, but for people considering it for the future, perhaps this will be helpful.

The Menu:
Appetizers --
Hummus (store bought)
Guacamole (homemade - got cheap avos!)
Corn chips
Crackers
Chex Mix (homemade, I'm hooked right now)

Dinner:
Seitan turkey
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet potatoes with apples
Cranberry sauce
Scalloped Broccoli and Cauliflower
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet potato corn bread

Dessert:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Apple Pie
Pecan Bars
Mimicreme Whip

Saturday before:
Plan shopping lists for Supermarket & Food Co-op. Shop. Put stuff away.

Sunday before:
Bake seitan loaves.

Monday and Tuesday before:
Pop into Supermarket and Co-op for the things I forgot on Saturday.

Wednesday after work:
Make cranberry sauce. Make desserts. Make Chex Mix.
If I'm awake enough and motivated enough -- Make Cornbread & Prep green bean casserole to be baked tomorrow.

Thursday morning:
Prep stuffing and veggies.
Do delicate oven timing dance

Thursday afternoon:
Baste Seitan loaf and bake, rebasting regularly.

Right before food is served:
Make Gravy
Put Mimicreme in the freezer

After dinner:
Whip Mimicreme

Later after dinner:
Do a million dishes, pass out.

In general, the game plan is to do as much as can be done ahead of time ahead of time so that there is plenty of time for relaxing and enjoying the holiday. If I wasn't working from 9-6 tomorrow, and I had a larger fridge, I would definitely be getting more done tomorrow night. The most important things to have done the night before are the cranberries and the pumpkin cheesecake, since they both need time to set up.

What's on your menu this year? Do you have a gameplan?