Your Guide to Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials

Out of any holiday, Thanksgiving, is the one that revolves most around food and the kitchen. It is a big day to orchestrate between the thawing turkey, baking pies, having enough room in the oven for side dishes, etc. It can cause any host to jump off the deep end. But there are a few things that when added to your kitchen tools can help to pull off a flawless day. Without further adieu, here is Your Guide to Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials.

 

Your Guide to Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials: Prep and Cooking

Prep: Chop Chop in the Pot

A great way to get ahead on the Thanksgiving meal and not get completely overwhelmed is to prep as much as you can before hand. Need to chop and dice vegetables for the stuffing? Have leftover pumpkin from making pies? Use these plastic food storage containers. They come in a variety of sizes, the lid is secure, and they stack wonderfully to help save space in the already overflowing refrigerator.

Prep: Take it Off

Thanksgiving is not complete without mashed potatoes. I repeat Thanksgiving is NOT complete without mashed potatoes. Even though I love this recipe for mashed potatoes that can be made ahead of time, those darn tators still need peeled. And you gotta have a solid, well built, and comfortable to handle peeler to get through a few pounds of spuds. I always love these Y shaped vegetable peelers.

Cooking: All About the Bird

Now as much as I love all the side dishes and pies I get to eat at Thanksgiving, let’s be honest, the star of the show is the turkey. A great roasting pan with cooking rack allows your bird of the day to cook evenly and the removable rack lets you make the gravy in the same pan. AKA… less dishes. Can I get an Amen! (AMEN!!!)

Cooking: It’s Gettin Hot in Here

Okay. Let’s just talk about it. The elephant in the room. I think the scariest part of preparing the Thanksgiving meal for any home cook is making sure the turkey is cooked properly. Cook too long, the birds dry, and you’re hoping the family dog is willing to eat 18 pounds of leftover turkey for the next month of his life. But on the other hand, a raw turkey has family and loved ones making a holiday visit to the emergency room. Cut out the guess work and equip yourself with an instant read thermometer. Not only is it my number one “Your Guide to Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials”, but one of the best all-around kitchen tools there is.

Cooking: Carve Out a Plan

You’ve cooked the bird, now where are you going to carve it? I know some families are all about showing the beautiful golden bird whole at the table, after all you have slaved all day to make sure it was perfect, but my choice is to carve the turkey in the kitchen and display beautiful slices on a platter. What better than this cutting board that is extra large and has a groove to catch all the juice from your moist turkey?

Cooking: Slice and Dice

Having a great knife set in the kitchen is essential. This 9-Piece knife set has everything you would want for paring, carving, chopping, and slicing.

Your Guide to Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials: At the Table

Setting the Table: Country Rustic

Setting a beautiful tablescape isn’t exactly necessary for your family and friends to love and appreciate all of the work that went into putting together your Thanksgiving food, but it’s a way to bring the whole meal together. I love making the table look simple and rustic. A burlap table runner is a great place to start. Add candles, pumpkins, eucalyptus leaves, etc. Just remember to leave room for the food!

Setting the Table: Plates are Great

Now I have ate more than one Thanksgiving meal off of paper plates, but you have to admit there is something special about a large family meal served on Grandma’s special china dishes. This summer I treated myself to these large dinner plates. They are a perfect blank canvas to add the layers of turkey and side dishes.

Serve it Up: Star of the Show

No matter if you carve the turkey at the table or serve it already sliced. Passing the bird around on this beautiful platter is sure to win rave reviews.

Serve it Up: Gravy Boatin’

Gravy is the glue that holds a Thanksgiving meal together. Serve it over the mashed potatoes or stuffing and let it float on down to the green bean casserole. Turkey a little dry? Baptize it in gravy. Such a key player of this meal deserves its own vessel.

Serve it Up: Dippin Good

You made all the food. Now make sure that the spuds can be scooped, the turkey tonged, and the pie portioned. This gorgeous serving set is sure to serve you well.

Serve it Up: Hold the Buns

Bread is my love language, and Thanksgiving dinner rolls are the peanut butter to my jelly. To keep with my country rustic theme on the table, I like to serve my rolls in a large egg basket lined with cloth napkins or bandanas.

Your Guide to Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials: That’s a Wrap

That’s a Wrap: Pack it Up

The second best thing about the Thanksgiving meal is the leftovers. Make sure you have plenty of containers to pack them all away. I have always loved this set of Pyrex storage containers. A great variety of sizes and they stack wonderfully.

That’s a Wrap: Clean it Up

So remember earlier in this post when I told you to forego the paper plates and you moaned and groaned? You know you did. Don’t lie to me. Well as much as nobody enjoys doing the dishes, round up those friends and family you just fed, hand them one of these adorable dish towels and lead them to your kitchen sink.

That’s a Wrap: Send Them Home

Now to thank your guests and keep you from eating Thanksgiving leftovers for the next 364 days, send them home with plenty of turkey and side dishes. Packaging the leftovers in these bento lunch boxes, will keep anyone from noticing the extra pumpkin pie slice you hid for yourself in the laundry room.