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Your centerpiece is the main decoration on your Thanksgiving table. Make it special with these ideas. Of course these decorations will also look stunning if you set them on a counter or the mantle over the fire place.
Fall Vegetables
Begin with a pumpkin and gourds. Loosely arrange them on the table or mantle. Set a natural-color candle on each side of your display. Finish your free form art center piece by sprinkling colorful fall leaves all over and around your center pieces. Make sure they are not too close to the candles, of course.
Fall Leaves
Simply find a large glass bowl and fill it with beautiful fall leaves. Set a candle on each side of the bowl to showcase the leaves. Then, cut leaf shapes out of construction paper and use them as place cards. Of course you could also press small leaves, and glue them to a plain white place card.
Floral Display of Abundance
Make a dried floral arrangement from fall flowers. Gather some of the plastic sticks that the florists use to hold notecards. Stick them into the floral display, but put photos of the things you are thankful for in them, instead. Or, if you don’t have photos, just write words on notecards and display them in the floral arrangement. Some words you may start with are “family”, “friends”, “food”, “laughter”.
Carve A Pumpkin
Yes, you heard right, carve a pumpkin. Of course you don’t want to go with the traditional jack-o-lantern design here. Instead carve some geometrical designs, or some flowers, leaf-shapes etc. on your hollowed out pumpkin. Add a candle inside the carved pumpkin and light it just before your guests arrive.
Pumpkin Candle Holders
Get some small pumpkins and hollow out enough room on the top of the pumpkin to stick a candle in it. Group of few of these candle holders together for a festive center piece. Finish your candle arrangement with a few pieces of native corn placed around your pumpkin candle holders. Give the arrangement more dimension by using different size pumpkins and candles. Use some scented candles to give your room that Holiday smell. Are you feeling inspired yet by all these ideas? Dig through your Thanksgiving supplies or take a stroll through your local craft store and you will come up with your own versions of these suggestions, or even a creation all of your own.
Start Planning Early
Nothing can spoil a Thanksgiving party more than a burned-out hostess. So, be sure to start planning your party well in advance, make a master list of what needs to be done and when, and start cleaning and preparing ahead of time. Purchase non-perishable items the week before your event. Don’t forget to buy the turkey early as well. It will take several days to thaw in the fridge. If you have room in your freezer, you can purchase the turkey and other frozen items weeks ahead of time.
Delegate the Turkey
A great way to entertain the men is to put them in charge of the turkey. This may be untraditional to some, but in many areas of the country, the men are in charge of deep-frying the turkey. There’s nothing quite as entertaining as watching a group of men standing around a vat of boiling peanut oil, discussing the turkey. Plus, it gives you more freedom to enjoy the party.
Plan activities
Board games are always fun for kids and adults. Get everyone laughing with the newest game. Or buy a DVD-style game like Scene-It and gather around the TV for some trivia. Of course old family favorites would be a bit hit as well. Dust off that old edition of Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly and get everyone playing.
Just for the Kids
Set up a craft table for the kids. Set out coloring pages (if you can get some Thanksgiving ones, that would be great). You can find lots of coloring pages online. Just print a few of them for each child. That should keep them busy while you prepare the rest of the food.
Lay out pieces of orange, brown, and yellow construction paper and show the kids how to make a turkey. Or have the kids make pilgrim hats out of black and white construction paper.
For the Adults
One of the staples of Thanksgiving is football. Oftentimes the men gather in the living room to watch the game. One way to keep the party lively is to give them a football and send them outside to toss it around during commercial breaks. This can really get the men talking and having a great time. And, ladies – don’t be shy. Jump right in there with them.
The turkey is the central element of any good Thanksgiving meal. An otherwise perfect meal can be ruined by a dry, overcooked turkey. Since this isn’t something we cook on a weekly basis, it’s not easy to pull off the perfect turkey…unless you follow these tips and the recipe below.
Start with a quality turkey. Yes, you can find off brand turkeys for quite a bit less, but keep in mind that a lot of the pounds you will be paying for will be saltwater that was injected in the turkey. Go ahead and buy the good stuff – You’ll be glad you did when you get all the praises for that delicious bird you fixed.
Thaw the turkey slowly in the fridge. Keep in mind during your planning stage that this will take several days. Doing this instead of submerging the bird in water is much gentler on the meat, resulting in a more tender finished product and is also much safer.
When you are ready to cook your turkey, remove the neck, giblets and anything else that may be stuffed in the chest cavity of your bird. Take some paper towels and pat your turkey dry.
Set it in a large roasting pan. If you prefer the breast meat on the dry end, place the turkey on its back. For moister breast meat, turn the turkey breast down.
Cut up a peeled onion, 3 stalks of celery and a few carrots. Big chunks are fine, since these vegetables are just for flavor. Stick them in the body cavity. They will infuse the bird with flavor as it cooks.
Melt a cup of butter in the microwave. Use a turkey baster to baste the turkey with butter. Don’t use all of it, just enough to get your turkey covered. Sprinkle the turkey with salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like.
Cook the turkey in a 325 degree oven. Baste it every 30 – 45 minutes with the juices that collect in the bottom of the roasting pan. Here are some general guidelines for how long your bird should cook:8 to 12 lbs. 2 ¾ to 3 hrs. 12 to 14 lbs. 3 to 3 ¾ hrs. 14 to 18 lbs. 3 ¾ to 4 ¼ hrs. 18 to 20 lbs. 4 ¼ to 4 ½ hrs. 20 to 24 lbs. 4 ½ to 5 hrs. Or cook until temperature on meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees (check in the thickest part, and in a couple different places) Don’t overcook or it will be dry, but do make sure it is done.
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