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Thanksgiving is the one meal hosts can feel the most pressure about preparing. The entire celebration is centered around the meal, THE Thanksgiving feast. Messing that up could make for a household full of unhappy guests. For a beginner, the pressure could be off the charts! I believe anyone can learn to host fabulous gatherings in their home, even if they have never done so in their lives.

If you are new to entertaining (or not so new), concentrate on doing a few important things well. Here are a few tips to help you pull off your Thanksgiving meal with delicious style. Sharing your hospitality with family and friends makes happy memories that last long after the holiday is over. Your family will have one more thing to be thankful for…you!  I have also included no-fail recipes for plump, Roast Turkey and rich Pan Gravy. Even a beginner can accomplish these recipes. There are more delicious, doable recipes including Herb and Apple Pecan Stuffing in the “My First Thanksgiving” chapter of my book, Easy Entertaining for Beginners.
Happy Entertaining!

Patricia Mendez

• Write down your guest list and invite your guests 3-4 weeks in advance. Either invite them by phone or send a free online invitation. http://www.Mypunchbowl.com or http://www.pingg.com offer beautiful e-vites. Guests can RSVP online and get a map to your home.
• Choose your recipes and read through them. Make a shopping list and purchase your frozen turkey by Monday. Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday. Defrost your turkey in its original wrap in a baking pan in the refrigerator when you bring it home from the supermarket.
• Do not choose a complicated menu. Choose some recipes you can make in advance and prepare a traditional meal with items such as turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls and pumpkin pie.  Most people only eat a Thanksgiving meal once a year, so they look forward to well-prepared basics!
• If this is your first time to host Thanksgiving, take guests up on their offers to bring side dishes, drinks and appetizers. This frees you up to concentrate on the main entrees. Also, when guests offer to help clean up after a large meal like Thanksgiving, graciously accept!
• Feel free to fill in your menu with purchased items. Pumpkin pies purchased from a reputable bakery can be a timesaver.
• Serving your meal buffet style is the easiest. Set up a separate table in your dining room or kitchen and place all the food on it. Guests can line up and dish their own plates. Be sure to put salt and pepper, rolls and butter at both ends of the dinner table. Need an extra table? http://www.LifetimeProducts.com carries a handy 6 foot fold-in-half buffet table that stores easily.
• Using a cloth tablecloth in fall colors sets your dinner table apart from the everyday. If you have a beautiful tray or clear bowl, fill it with fruits, gourds, mini-pumpkins and nuts for a festive centerpiece. No flower arranging experience necessary!
• Have a kids’ activity table for children who are attending. Print out free Thanksgiving coloring pages from the internet and have a basket of mini-pumpkins with markers or stickers for the kids to decorate.
• Pace yourself! Do not wait until Thanksgiving morning to do all of your food prep. Prep some of your recipes the day before. This will take pressure off of you on Thursday. Set the dinner table Wednesday evening.
• Offer light appetizers such as cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce, crudités & dip, etc. Serve a chilled Riesling wine with dinner.
• Last but not least, do not take any mistakes you might make too seriously. Some hosts think everything has to be perfect and that is stressful. Even the most seasoned hosts make mistakes. The ability to solve them and move on is a plus. Kudos to you for giving the gift of hospitality to your family!

Roast Turkey with Pan Gravy
Makes 8 to 10 servings

1 turkey, about 12 pounds, defrosted
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons dried turkey seasoning (see Note)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth (soup aisle)

Gravy

4 cups water
2 medium carrots, each cut into 2 or 3 pieces
1 large onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
Reserved turkey neck and giblets
1/4 cup drippings from roasted turkey
1/2 cup white wine
3 tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Special Equipment

Instant-read thermometer

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the giblets (heart, kidneys, and liver) from the turkey (they are usually packed in a bag in the neck cavity). Remove the neck from the opposite cavity inside the turkey. Reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out in cold water and pat dry. Starting at the neck cavity, loosen the skin from the breast and drumsticks by inserting a tablespoon, upside down, under the skin, gently pushing it between the skin and meat to separate the skin. In a small bowl, combine the butter, turkey seasoning, salt, pepper. Rub the mixture under the skin onto the breast meat and both drumsticks.

Place the turkey, breast side up, in a shallow roasting pan. Pour the broth over the turkey. Place in the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees F. Roast for about 2-2 ½ hours.

While the turkey is roasting, make the stock for the gravy. Combine the water, carrots, onion, bay leaf, chicken broth, and neck and giblets in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until reduced to 2 1/2 cups. This will take 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Using a sieve, strain the stock into a medium bowl and discard the solids. Reserve stock for gravy.

After the turkey has roasted for 2 hours, place the instant-read thermometer in the meaty part of the thigh, making sure not to touch the bone. The turkey is done when the thermometer reads 175 to 180 degrees F. If it hasn’t reached this temperature, roast it for 15 minutes more and check again. Repeat until the thermometer indicates that the turkey is done. If the skin is becoming too browned, you can tent the turkey with a piece of aluminum foil until it is finished roasting.

Take the turkey out of the oven and put it on a heatproof surface. Remove 1/4 cup of the turkey drippings from the bottom of the pan, cover the turkey with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before you carve it.
To make the gravy, while the turkey is resting, combine the flour and turkey drippings in a bowl and stir with a whisk until smooth. Whisk drippings/flour mixture into the wine in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce and simmer for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the 2 1/2 cups of strained stock, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. You should have perfectly lump-free gravy.
To carve the turkey, cut through the skin between the drumstick and the body. Pull the leg outward to locate the joint at the body and cut through the joint to remove the leg. This includes the thigh and the drumstick. Remove the other leg and both wings in the same way. Cut between the joint to separate the thigh and drumstick. Slice the meat off the thigh and drumstick and put it on a platter. Insert the carving fork to steady the turkey and slice the breast into thin slices, cutting parallel to the rib cage. Continue on both sides until you have enough turkey carved to serve.

Pour the gravy into a gravy boat or bowl and serve with the turkey.

Notes: The spice section of most grocery stores has prepared turkey seasoning, or you can mix together 2 teaspoons each of dried sage, dried thyme, and dried marjoram.

For ease, in this recipe the turkey is not stuffed. The stuffing is baked separately in a casserole dish. If you wish to stuff your turkey, lightly spoon the stuffing into the cavity and be aware that your turkey will take a longer to roast.

For more tips, visit www.ezentertaining.net

Copyright 2009
Used with permission