26 Nov Hosting Thanksgiving Tips
Regardless of whether you want to try cooking a new Thanksgiving dish or sticking to your reliable menu, hosting Thanksgiving dinner is an overwhelming event that rarely goes without unavoidable hiccups.
The Turkey Won’t Thaw
Defrosting a turkey takes quite a while. Regardless of whether you neglected to remove the turkey from the freezer in time, or still have a half frozen bird, place it in a sink loaded with cold water, changing the water at regular intervals until it is defrosted. The turkey will take around 30 minutes for each pound to defrost in the sink.
The Turkey Is Undercooked
Grill it, roast it, deep-fry it, smoke it or brine it, cooking a turkey is at the center of Thanksgiving meal preparation. Most cooks fear slicing into a Thanksgiving turkey to find it still uncooked! You can rescue the circumstance via cutting off and serving the parts that are cooked, and putting the rest back in the broiler while everybody eats.
The Turkey Is Overcooked
Well, at least it’s done! Unless you’re facing a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation kind of situation, you can salvage the overcooked turkey by smothering it in gravy.
Your Table is Not Big Enough
If hosting Thanksgiving dinner pushes the limits of your home’s ability to accommodate guests, then it’s time to get creative. Once all the seats at the dining room table and folding card tables are taken, start putting people around the coffee table, or seat children on a blanket on the floor, picnic-style.
There Isn’t Enough Food
A key part of your Thanksgiving dinner should be making sure you have plenty of food. In the event you have more guests than expected, whip up some extra mashed potatoes, soup, stuffing, rice or pasta!
You Have Bottles of Wine or Beer, but No Bottle Opener
It’s the one day of the year when you most need an alcoholic beverage, so what do you do when you can’t find the bottle opener? Thankfully, you can utilize the edge of a counter, or a belt clasp to open most bottles. Need to open wine without a corkscrew? On the off chance that you finish the bottle, drive the plug in.
You’ve Forgotten a Key Ingredient
Google “substitute for” and whatever it is you’re short of and recipe substitutions will be your new best friend on Thanksgiving.
Your Garbage Disposal Is Clogged
Uh oh! How will you deal with cleanup now? More often than not, you can probably fix a clogged disposal by sticking a hex key in the six-sided hole on the bottom of the motor, and wiggling it to free to blockage.
Thankfully, the most important part of Thanksgiving is the time spent with loved ones. Year from now, your kitchen incidents will be only an amusing story to tell at the next Thanksgiving dinner!