Remember that sunny day back in September when you blurted out that you would LOVE to host Thanksgiving at your house?  You'd had a few glasses of wine, your mother cheered, you quickly invited your nearest and dearest and immediately were elevated to "hero status."  Slowly your promise faded from memory. It is quite understandable as you were wrapped up with soccer practice, running to school conferences and creating a perfect Halloween costume but now it's "go time" and overwhelm is trying to take root.  Fear not dear friend you can do this!  Seriously, you really can.

Here’s a breakdown of moves to ensure that you get that turkey to your table.

Of all of the things you need for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, it’s the Turkey.  Securing this item on time makes a difference because if you do it too late there is often not time for it to thaw properly and for it to be prepared. Do it now.  Go online, go in person or call them.  Tell them you want a fresh turkey to pick up this week-end . At this point the food store is in full blown Thanksgiving mode. . . Do not get distracted by their fabulous deals - remember, you have turkey on your mind and your goal is to secure one, so keep your eye on the prize.

The one thing the grocery store wants to know from you is the size of turkey (how many pounds) you are planning for.  The recommendation is 1-1/2 pounds per person. I generally host 10-12 people and usually end up with a 12-15 pound bird.  If you are hosting a larger group, obviously you need a bigger bird but I usually draw the line around a 20 pound turkey.  Any heavier and it just gets too heavy to hoist in and out of the oven for this hospitality maven. For a small sized group you could consider purchasing a turkey breast instead. Cooking the turkey breast only will decrease the cooking time and it is not as time consuming to thaw. You can also use the “turkey breast only method” for larger groups you will just need more than one breast.

When you get your bird home put it in the refrigerator.  A few days before Thanksgiving take off the "shrink" wrap and rinse the bird out.  If you have never done this before you are in for a real treat. This is the one part of meal preparation that may make you feel like no one appreciates all of the work you are doing for Thanksgiving because it is only Tuesday night and the rest of your crew is probably watching Netflix and eating delicious take out while you are slaving away. . .now back to the job at hand. . . There are two bird cavities the top and the bottom. There will be a bony neck stuffed inside one of the cavities as well as a bag of giblets.  If you do not know, giblets are organs like the heart, liver and some other bird innards.  Get them out of your precious turkey. If you plan on using them set aside for now, if not using, just toss them out.  Sometimes a turkey will also have a plastic handle like thing on the inside of the turkey.  Pull this out too because it won’t cook up very well.  Drain out any of the water that remains inside the cavity of the bird. Pat it dry inside and out. 

Next get a shallow rimmed pan (like a cookie sheet with sides)  and an unused kitchen garbage bag.  Put the turkey in the bag, secure it on the pan and place it in the refrigerator. The pan is key because as the turkey continues to thaw  the bag / pan combo keep your refrigerator free from turkey juice and traces of salmonella.

Speaking of salmonella (that's the food borne illness people can get from poultry), once you have put the bird back in the refrigerator, it signals a time to sanitize.  This is the time to become a bleach believer.  Fill up the sink with bleach water and dish soap and scour any surface, counter-top, sink faucet, door handle and kitchen tool that may have come into contact with the turkey. Kill those germs sister!

If you are going to use the giblets here is where you make a "giblet stock".  In a medium saucepan put in the giblets and neck (I always remove the liver because I don't care for It but if that’s your jam then go for it). Fill the pan with water, a couple of inches above the poultry parts. Add a small quartered onion, a few large chunks of celery, a bay leaf and salt and pepper.  Bring them to a boil and then let them simmer on the stove for 45 min - hour and remove from heat. Don't drain the water because this liquid is your “broth” which you can use to add to your gravy.

The next step is to remove the cooked turkey neck. Take it out of the pan and get any meat off of the bone. Set the meat aside and discard the bone. Fish out the other giblets from the pan and add them to your meat pile.  As a key step, run all of this cooked giblet meat through a food processor or blender.  This gives the cooked meat an even consistency and is more appealing than hunks of random giblet meat. You can add the cooked ground giblets to the stuffing when you make it on Thanksgiving (some people also add cooked giblets to their gravy). In any event, you will want to store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. You can obviously toss the giblets out if you just wanted them to make the “stock.” Let the liquid from the stock cool. Place in a food storage container in the fridge, Prior to using the broth you will want to strain the onions, celery and bay leaf from the broth.

Pat yourself on the back.  The absolute hardest part about Thanksgiving dinner has now been accomplished.  Just make sure your bird is cozy and cool in a refrigerator and isn't leaking onto produce or potatoes or something catastrophic. 

The final step on Thanksgiving day is getting the bird in the oven so that it can be roasted to perfection. In order to ensure it is cooked properly make sure you have a meat thermometer. A turkey is done when a thermometer reads 170 degrees in the breast and 180 in the thigh (not touching the bone).

Ensure that you have a sturdy roasting pan to get your bird in and out of the oven with ease. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove your bird from the refrigerator, drain any juices that have accumulated and pat dry with paper towels. Coarsely chop one onion, three stalks of celery and two carrots and place on the bottom of the roasting pan. Season the turkey by rubbing salt and pepper all over the inside cavity and outside of the turkey. Butter the skin of the turkey. Place herbs inside of the cavity and place in the oven. For a detailed recipe go here for a popular recipe very similar to what is outlined above. To determine the time for cooking your bird follow the cooking chart found on your turkey or go to the cooking time chart found here for guidance (this site also has cooking times for those of you cooking a turkey breast only). Some first time roasters like using a roasting bag to keep the turkey moist. It involves buying a roasting bag (like this one shown here) and following the instructions that come with the bag. Roasting a turkey in a bag will decrease the cooking time. It is also important to note that with bag roasting, the turkey doesn’t “brown” like it will if cooked traditionally in the oven.

When the thermometer shows the the turkey is done, remove it from the oven. If you can remove the bird from the pan place it on a shallow rimmed sheet pan or other large platter. You will then cover the turkey with foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. You can begin to make the gravy while the turkey is resting.

Roasting a Thanksgiving turkey is not difficult providing you plan ahead and follow the steps above. Be brave dear friends, and tackle your Thanksgiving turkey with confidence!