How To Prepare A Huge Holiday Meal By Yourself And Still Have Time For Fun

I was asked, recently, how I made a Holiday meal by myself for the whole family and still had time to enjoy the day. Here is the basic process. Everyone does it differently, but you don’t have to make a big deal cooking a huge dinner. It only takes a few hours and actually Saves time because I don’t end up cooking again for, like, two days.

Well, admittedly, the whole family is usually only 5 people, but I do like to be extravagant and make as much of it myself as possible. Once you are already cooking, most dishes can be upsized. Actually, having a bunch of people is easier because they can just bring sides to add on.

Over Thanksgiving I took notes on how the day(s) went, play-by-play in my (little apartment) kitchen. It’s kind of interesting. If you’ve ever wanted to make a big Holiday Meal to feed a bunch of people, you can look over how I do it and adapt as necessary. I didn’t take timestamps, but just the basic order of operations with a bit of advice I’ve picked up from doing this for a while.

This is Thanksgiving, but Christmas is Very Similar. I’ve included Kid Helpers occasionally, but it’s optional. Only include the kid helpers if you have kids available and want to be a good influence and teach them life skills AND have the extra time. Anytime kids are helping add an extra 10-15 minutes.

Generally speaking, except for Turkey, you can save a bunch of time by just going for boxed and store-bought. Don’t want to bake a pie? Just buy one.
 

Our American Thanksgiving is usually turkey, hot sides, rolls, jello salads, and pie.

Just a Note on Christmas: We try to mix it up so that Christmas isn’t Turkey. Last year I did a leg of lamb. I’ve made Cornish Game Hens. No one is wild about Ham here, but I know people make it. Do Prims rib, pork ribs, fish, duck, rack of lamb, whatever. One year I plan to make a goose. Arrange your plan accordingly, but roasting meat is pretty similar. It can be slotted in for when I do the Turkey prep pretty easily.

Here’s how it’s done:

(Warning: it’s a bit long-winded, but only because I’m describing all the steps. Sometimes it takes more time to tell how to do something than to actually do it.)

Wednesday Night:  (about 1-2 hours)

Make the Pie:

Note: Pumpkin Pie is just a puree of pumpkin with added spices made into a custard pie. If you are going full baker mode... make the from scratch pumpkin puree ahead of time and use your best pie crust recipe. Otherwise, save time and use canned. Except for the baking time, these only take about 20 mins. I make two.

Let’s Do It:
Mix can of pumpkin, can of condensed milk (use goat milk if you have someone with milk issues), eggs, and all the spices. Add extra spices. This is Grandma’s recipe, after all.

Realize you didn’t take the Trader Joe’s frozen pie crusts out of fridge to finish softening. Stick them in the microwave on defrost for a few minutes to finish softening them.

Put pie crust in pan. Make a pretty crust edging, except on the one pan side you got lopsided, there’s no extra dough to make pretty on that side. Preheat oven. Pour in pumpkin mixture. Scrape that bowl really well with a spatula. You don’t want to waste any pie, even though the pans are already full. Cook those babies low and slow for like an hour. Don’t overcook. Make sure you set the timer.

If you wanted to make fruit pie, you can do that now too. I make one sometimes but don’t bake it until after dinner the next day so it’s served warm. Add about 30 minutes for a fruit pie.

Make the Jello Salads:

Note: So, jello salads are basically a dessert, but you eat it with dinner. They are sweet, usually have whipped cream and fruit and we always make them with holiday meals. I don’t know where they originated, but my wife's grandma and my grandmothers passed on recipes and I search through those and try to find new ones every few years.

Let’s Do It:

You can make these while the pie cooks. For Christmas I usually make a layered one. You have to give yourself a 30 mins or so to let each layer cook, so have a movie or book handy. If it’s a single bowl recipe with no layers, you are looking at, like, 20 minutes each. Make at least two. You mostly just have to make sure there is room in the fridge.

Grab your recipe. Follow the instructions witch will be something like this: Heat up jello and water and maybe fruit juice. Let cool, dump in cans of crushed pineapple or mandarin oranges or cherries or whatever the fruit is. Add whipped cream. Make the whipped cream yourself or save time and use Cool Whip. I save the fresh cream for the pies. Add whatever else it needs... nuts, coconut, marshmallows, etc. We always leave nuts OUT for my daughter, though. Chill overnight in a pretty bowl.

This year I made an Orange Ambrosia and a 2-layer Raspberry Cream.

That’s it. While the pie finishes in the oven, wash the pans or start the dishwasher.

Pull the pies out. Let them cool. You can leave them overnight.


Brine The Turkey:

Note: Brine your Turkey. Seriously. It turns out soooo much better. You don’t have to get fancy with spices and lemon peel and leeks and all that stuff. Just make a big pot of cold salt water. It should taste like seawater. All you really need is the salt. Oh, yeah. You need a big pot or sanitized food bucket big enough to hold the whole Turkey. I hope you didn’t buy a 28 pounder.

Pull your Turkey out of the fridge. You did remember to put it in the fridge a few days ago? Well, if not, brine it anyway, it will help it thaw. This year I did remember, so we are in luck.

Right, so pull the Turkey out, cut the bag or whatever off that Butterball. Throw out the giblets and neck.  Submerge that entire bird in the salt water.

That’s it. You are done. See you in the morning.


Thursday Morning: (1-4 hours)

Hey, it’s a Holiday! Sleep in a bit. When the kids wake you up make a light breakfast. You are eating a feast today, no reason to go all out on Brunch. Make the kids put away the dishes from the dishwasher last night. Make Coffee!

Start making your big Holiday Dinner about 3.5 hours before you want to eat. We usually aim for late afternoon. But if you want to eat at Noon for some reason, best get up and get moving in the morning. Me? I’m going to play board games or video games or watch TV or something with the family till about Noon.

Start The Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, and Dinner Rolls: (about 45 minutes)


Prep and Sear Turkey:

LET’S COOK THIS BIRD

Note: Wash that roasting pan. Like seriously. It’s probably been under a counter or in the pantry for a year or so. You don’t need anything fancy. I have an old  Blue Speckled Enamelware pan from a garage sale. You can get them new for under $20.

Carefully take turkey out of the brine. You don’t want to scrub raw turkey water off of things. I have the brine pot sitting in a sink. Throw away neck and giblets because you forgot to do that last night and they are still inside the body cavity. Let any water drip off.

Place Turkey in upside down roasting pan lid. Now pat it dry with some paper towels.

Now, preheat the oven to 450-500. It needs to be HOT but only what your oven can handle. Don’t go too hot unless you have a commercial oven and vent.

Transfer the Bird to the Roasting Pan. Pull off any plastic handles or pop timers or other things. Now we are going to rub it down with oil. Yup, this is hands on. If you can’ touch raw food, use a bbq basting brush. The easiest way to do this is only to use your off hand to touch the bird and keep your primary for pouring oil. I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO).

Massage both sides of that dead turkey (and inside) with EVOO. Wash hands. Salt and pepper all over the bird.

Place in the oven uncovered. You are going to sear it for about 30 minutes. This will make the skin all golden and lock in the moisture.

Don’t forget to start the timer! But if you do forget, you can wing it by just watching how golden the turkey skin gets. It’s not an exact science and depends on the size of your bird.  

Wash the pans NOW.... The pot and the lid. They came in contact with the raw turkey so get them washed up right now. Plus they take up half your counter space.

Fresh Cranberry Sauce:

While the turkey is searing, this is your chance to make the cranberry sauce. We actually like both. I make a fresh sauce and put out a can of the jellied cranberry sauce from the store.

Let’s Do It:

This is really easy. You take a bunch of fresh cranberries and wash and de-stem them. Fill a saucepan halfway with berries. If you want more sauce, get a bigger pan and fill IT halfway. Add 3 tablespoons of water, a few shakes of salt, and about 3/4 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of berries. Simmer the berries on medium-low, stirring regularly so they don’t stick and the heat is evenly distributed. After about 8 minutes they will start to pop open and get mushier. Some recipes get fancy with all kinds of add-ins. You don’t need them. The cranberry flavor overpowers Everything. Except, I do like to add citrus; fresh lime, lemon, or orange juice, if I remember. This year I forgot to buy any, so no fresh citrus.

After about 10 minutes you’ll have a pan of molten lava. Don’t touch it and lost any fingers. Put some on a spoon and let it cool. Taste it to see if it needs more sugar. Add more sugar.  

Take a teaspoon or two of cornstarch and add to a tiny bit of water in a teacup. Stir around and then Pour into the sauce. It will distribute evenly, instantly with no clumping. Simmer for two more minutes, stirring constantly. This will thicken it slightly.

Let the pan cool for a bit and then transfer to a bowl. If you want it still-warm at dinner, leave it out. Cold, put it in the fridge.


Rolls, Baby!

Note: Rolls are basically the most important part of the meal. Without these, the whole thing falls apart. You can buy some. It isn’t the same as fresh out of the oven, though. I usually use the frozen dough Rhodes dinner rolls. They are really cheap, anyway. I regularly forget about them until it’s too late to let them raise. This year I did not.

Your Turkey will be done searing soon. Keep an eye on it.

Let’s Do It:

Take some pyrex pans or baking pans and spray with cooking oil. I use the coconut oil one.

Arrange frozen rolls in pan so they have some space. Make a lot. You want some for leftovers too. Plan on, like, minimum of 3 rolls per person, those little monsters.

Cover with plastic wrap.

But after you hook plastic wrap on one side of the pan (this is easier on glass) spray the wrap with a bit of oil too or the rising roll will stick to it and then deflate when you pull it off. Several of this year’s rolls were a bit flat because I forgot this step.

Ignore what the package tells you. Put the pans on top of the oven, but not on top of the vent burner (if your oven has one). The heat from the oven will cause them to warm up and rise over the next 1.5 Hours or so.

Back to the Turkey:

Pull out the turkey. Turn oven heat down to 325. Use industrial foil and hot pads to make a foil tent. (Industrial is better because you only need one sheet, otherwise, layer several sheets to cover). Poke a few vent holes.

Searing heats up the whole bird. Put it back in the oven on a nice low heat to finish cooking for another 1-2 hours. My 21-pound bird took 1.5 hours.

Go Have Fun: (for about an hour)

Grab some Chevre goat cheese with cranberries, wafer crackers, and a can of black olives or sweet pickles. Grab a beer, ginger brew, glass of wine, some water, whatever you are in the mood for and go join the family in the main room for some video games or whatever board game they got out or jump in on the movie or whatever. You have just over an hour before you need to be back in the kitchen. This year it was Rock Band. I was on Drums.

The Final Meal Prep: (about an Hour, maybe more)

Let’s Do It:

While the turkey has about 30 minutes left, wander your way back to the kitchen. We are going to start prepping sides.

This year I made Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Gravy, and Green Beans. No one here likes that green bean casserole, but if you do, you can make that now, too. Adding honeyed carrots or pan-roasted sprouts is pretty easy.

You need three saucepans. Mine come in small, medium, and large and a lid for at least the medium one. Make sure they are clean.

Wash some sweet potatoes and wrap them in foil. You want to use long medium size ones. The massive large ones take too long to bake. Only use those if you are making medallions in a pan. Toss them in the oven now on or around the Turkey or on the rack underneath.

Wash and peel and cut some potatoes into chunks. If using red potatoes, don’t bother peeling. Place in pan about 2/3 full. We are making single pot mashed potatoes. Pour in milk till it’s almost, but not quite covering potatoes. Add a bunch of salt, 4 tablespoons of butter, garlic powder (unless you plan to roast some garlic), and fresh black pepper.

Move the rolls to the counter. They should be about raised. If not, leave them a bit longer.

The Turkey should timer should be chiming. Pull it out and pierce with a knife between the breast and the wing. The Juice should run clear. If not, put back for another 30 minutes. If it does, you can check with a meat thermometer (165F).

Fill 1/3 of your small saucepan with drippings from the Turkey. If you have a fancy fat separator, use that. I just ladle some drippings out because once again I have forgotten to buy the fat separator tool. Oh, well. This year we will just have full-fat gravy... AGAIN.

Turn oven up to 375 or 400 and keep baking the sweet potatoes.

Put the Turkey foil tent on back on. Cover with the roasting pan lid. Place roasting pan on the back burner of the stove top. This will keep it warm and safe. You lose a burner, but you only need three (or two, really).

Start the potatoes simmering. These will take 30-40 minutes to cook. Stir occasionally. A little milk will get scalded near the end. It’s fine.

Follow the directions on the box of stuffing you bought. You could make it fresh, but really, no one here cares that much. Add water, butter. Bring to boil, add stuffing, mix, cover. Move out of the way.

Start gravy. Add some milk to make the pan 2/3 full. Dump in a scoop of flour and add some salt and pepper. Put heat on medium low and Whisk the Heck out of that gravy for 5-8 minutes till it thickens. Turn heat off. Taste, see if it’s salty enough.

Keep stirring the potatoes.

Open oven, Stab a sweet potato with a knife to see if it is soft all the way through. Pull them out if they are.

Turn the oven to 350. Take the plastic wrap off the rolls and throw it away. Put them in the oven. SET TIMER for 15 minutes.

Tell the kids to Set the Table, unless you have a bar or side buffet where people get up to serve themselves. Use the good dishes. Otherwise, what’s the point of owning them?

Keep checking on and stirring the mashed potatoes pot. When they thicken and the potatoes start to fall apart, it’s done. Remove from heat and mash in the pan. Wash the potato masher.

Toss some frozen green beans in the microwave to steam. ‘

Carefully open up the foil on the sweet potatoes. Do it on a plate, they might be sticky. Using a fork and careful not to burn your fingers, peel back the skin (it should come right off) and put the potatoes in a bowl. I use a deep metal mixing bowl. Now, add a half a stick of butter, salt, a few tablespoons of brown sugar, and a few teaspoons of ground ginger. Mash them up. Transfer to a prettier bowl.

Open a can of Jellied Cranberries Sauce. Put it on your spare butter dish that you own because your three-year-old, one year, didn’t listen and broke the cover. It has ridges that keep the sauce from sliding around. Also, serve with a pie server. It’s straight and you can both cut and serve slices of cranberry with that.

Fluff Stuffing with a fork. Transfer to a bowl.

Put mashed potatoes in a bowl.

Find wherever you put the Gravy Boat since it hasn’t been used in several months. Pour in the gravy.

Put green beans in a bowl.

Pull the rolls out of the oven. Put in a basket with a pretty towel to cover.

Open up the Turkey and carve off some Meat. Be careful not to accidentally get any white meat because no one will eat it. Brining the turkey helps a lot, but the Dark Meat is still better.

Have the kids take everything to where you are serving it. In our case, the main table.

Change your shirt if you’ve gotten food on it or gotten too hot in the kitchen with the oven running.

[I know this last step seemed like a lot, but it is going concurrently. It only actually takes a few minutes for each item or just over an hour total.]

Grab the Wine, Water, Sparkling juice, belgian fruit beer, whatever. Go back for the bottle opener.

Grab any leftover olives and pickles from the coffee table.

ENJOY YOUR DINNER!

Go back and grab the jello salad you left in the fridge before you get too far into eating. Cringe mid-bite as a large crash reverberates from the kitchen. Go check on things to find that the fire extinguisher you moved to get into the cupboard above the fridge to find the gravy boat had shifted and knocked over the reusable bento containers you send in lunchboxes onto the counter where it murdered the inedible Halloween Haunted Gingerbread House be knocking it onto the floor. Oh, well. that was probably the best end possible. It also damaged a pie, but that can be hidden by whipped cream. Try to ignore the mess for a few minutes. Go back and finish eating. Pour an extra glass of wine.

After Dinner:

We usually wait a few hours and have pie.

(On Christmas, we often don’t even bother with pie. Usually Frosted Cookies and Eggnog or Cocoa are good enough.)

While waiting for the pie, clean up the leftovers.

This is the best time to pluck the meat off the turkey bones. It will still be warm. (You remembered to re-cover the roasting pan, right?). Separate the Good meat and the White meat into different containers. You can use the White meat later to make spicy chicken enchiladas, or pot pie, or a casserole.

Get the Turkey bones and other trash out of the house now.

Start your fruit pie cooking if you made one.

Make some fresh whipped cream. It only takes a few minutes if you have a mixer. Sugar and Heavy Cream and vanilla and a whisk attachment are all you need.

Enjoy the Pie. Put extra Whipped cream on it or what’s the point? 

Make someone wash dishes.

A Final Note: Assuming we aren’t traveling or being invited anywhere... We’ve started doing Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve with a big meal in the early afternoon. Christmas Day we just have a brunch after gifts and then eat leftovers for dinner. It works much better and I get all of Christmas day to relax.