Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays (right next to Halloween)! I love to cook, and cook extra big for the holiday. I also like to stay home, so I love to treat my out-of-town guests to an extra tasty meal.

Getting it all together can be a bit tricky. There is a lot of planning involved. I start back in Spring making a Turkey a month. I know it sounds silly, but there is a method to my madness. I only have the one oven, and lots of dishes to prepare. Starting earlier in the year helps me get my timing down, and we can eat for a week on those turkey leftovers. I also test out any new recipes way in advance. I’ll bake a few extra pumpkin pies during the Summer and Autumn months too, trust me, you do not want to have a pumpkin pie failure on Thanksgiving.

I luck out though, James loves Thanksgiving, so he doesn’t mind having a mock-Thanksgiving dinner a few times a year. The turkey freezes well too, and you can make a crazy amount of Turkey stock to use for other dishes.

This week the kids are out of school, so I am getting as much as I can done in advance. I only have this morning to myself, so I am starting the most time consuming dish Fresh Croissants. I’ll start thawing the turkey tomorrow, and finish any shopping too.

I’ll do a quick clean of the downstairs living areas and bathroom too before any guests arrive. I’ll also prep any dishes that I can the day before. I’m excited though, I can’t wait to get started!

So what is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?