Just in case you’re interested in my cooking plan for our holiday meal, here’s a little look inside my brain at how I have organized myself to get the meal on the table for Thanksgiving. I figured I needed to make the lists anyway – might as well bore you with them. ;)  Thankfully, everything from the Saturday through Wednesday lists are completed!

Saturday – Cook Thanksgiving turkey

Monday – Finish all Thanksgiving meal shopping

Wednesday –

• Make Pumpkin Pies
• Make Chocolate Pie
• Make Cheesecake
• Put together Green Bean Casserole (recipe found in Holiday Hospitality eBook)
• Bake sweet potatoes, mash and have ready to rewarm tomorrow
• Prep Stuffing (recipe found in Holiday Hospitality eBook)
• Peel potatoes and put in water for tomorrow
• Get cooked turkey out of freezer to thaw

Thursday Morning –

• Make a double batch of rolls (recipe in Holiday Hospitality eBook)
• Set out butter to soften
• Cook and mash potatoes – put into crock-pot to keep warm
• Cook corn for Cream Cheese Corn (recipe in Holiday Hospitality eBook)
• Bake stuffing
• Rewarm turkey
• Bake Green Bean Casserole
• Rewarm sweet potatoes
• Make gravy
• Whip cream for desserts
• Have boys set up tables and prep plates, napkins, etc.
• Do whatever else I’ve forgotten to do….

{I’m not really trying to be annoying by  putting (recipe in Holiday Hospitality eBook) several times in the above lists, but many have asked about those recipes and I thought I’d curb more of those questions by letting you know where to find those recipes. If you’re interested in that eBook, great, but – wink, wink – wait until at least Friday to purchase so that you’ll save a few bucks!!}

Here are my cooking and baking pictures from today. I had lots of fun and my feet are a little bit tired from standing so much. ;)

Below, it looks like I made six pumpkin pies – but really, there are just three. I have a big mirror in my kitchen, and I thought it would be fun to take the picture there to make it look like I got carried away with pumpkin pies.

Pictured with the cheesecake in the following picture is a batch of chocolate chip cookies. One college girl that is around town this week isn’t able to come for our Thanksgiving meal, but she really (really) likes my chocolate chip cookies. I made some to serve at lunch today (Wednesday) when she joined us.

It’s not likely that we’ll run out of desserts. I made this chocolate pudding recipe and poured it over a graham cracker crust for a “chocolate pie”. It ended up in a rectangle dish because I was out of pie pans. :)

I am so excited to eat this healthier version of Green Bean Casserole! Why don’t I make this more often?

Peeling and prepping our potatoes ahead of time is a tip I learned from my former hair dresser many eons ago. I love getting this chore out of the way a day early!

I baked three small sweet potatoes and only ended up with a small dish of them to serve tomorrow. I don’t think this will be the most popular part of the meal anyway, so a small amount will hopefully be fine.

Last but not least, I made dressing – for what I believe is my very first time! My sister-in-law has a wonderful recipe, which she shared for my Holiday Hospitality ebook. It is so easy, I’m not sure why I haven’t tried it before.

And now, I look forward to a good night’s sleep before I get up and tackle my Thursday list. How are your holiday preparations coming?

I’m thankful for all of you and pray that you have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving holiday!