Thanksgiving Feast Extraodinaire

Hello Mamas! My parents were in town last weekend, and since I'm not going to see them over Thanksgiving we celebrated early. My husband helped me cook a fantastic meal, and Bonki asked for my tips on creating a Thanksgiving feast extraodinaire, so I thought I would share it with all of you ladies.

T stands for Turkey on the Table.
T Minus Four Days and Counting:
Grocery shop, list organized by section, so you don't have to keep going down the same aisle repeatedly

T Minus Three Days:
Bake Chocolate Cake
Boil and chill two gallons of Brine

T Minus Two Days:
Bake Cornbread and Biscuits (for Dressing)
Bake Pumpkin Pie

T Minus One Day:
Mash Potatoes
Bake Dressing
Sink Bird
Make Turkey Broth from Giblets for Gravy

T Minus Four to Six Hours:
Start slaving in a hot kitchen
Prep the Aromatics
Prep the Bird and stick 'er in the oven
Cross your fingers
Create Cranberry Silk, just for fun, when you have nothing else to do

T Minus One Hour:
Remove Bird from oven
Bake Rolls (for the Country Crock)
Whip the Cream
Saute Corn
Simmer Green Beans
Whisk Gravy
Open Cranberry Sauce

T Minus Ten Minutes:
Put everything on the table and take a pretty picture
Take Bird back to kitchen and carve 'er up

T Plus Ten Minutes:
Say grace and start chowing
You're on your own from here

So here's the lowdown so you can slow down...

I would skip the chocolate cake. It's good, but pumpkin pie for dessert is traditional and classic, and no one even ate cake on T Day. I made 2 boxes of jiffy corn muffins and 1 can of buttered biscuits for the dressing. Just make them and leave them out to dry out overnight. I used Libby's pumpkin pie mix, so all you add is evaporated milk and eggs. You just mix it up, pour it into a store bought crust and bake it. Easy, easy, easy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html
This is the brine recipe, (Allspice berries and candied ginger are optional. Hanny used allspice powder and left out the ginger completely)
The next day...
I used Mom's dressing recipe, and I altered it just a little. Here's exactly what I used.
2 pans cornbread
7 of the 10 biscuits
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 tsp sage
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 raw eggs
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 c. shopped celery (take it to the mall, oh wait... it should be CHOPPED...oops)
1/2 c. chopped onion
Saute celery and onion in 1/2 stick of butter. Crumble up cornbread and biscuits. Add soups, spices, 2 eggs, chicken broth, and celery and onions. Add enough water to make it runny ( I added exactly 2 cups) Bake at 350 until set and brown (I left it in for one hour)
For my mashed potatoes, I peeled, quartered and boiled 8 small-medium sized red potatoes in water that I had added a little salt to. When they were tender I drained them, added a stick of butter, a little milk, and salt and pepper and mashed them with a fork until they were creamy. I put more pepper than I meant to, but they were actually really good.
The day of the feast...
For the turkey you will need a roasting pan with rack and a meat thermometer.

Cranbery Silk:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/zesty-cranberry-dipping-sauce/691.html
Hanny likes to add extra brown sugar and maple syrup (about 1/4cup instead of 2 tbsp) and instead of blending it he pours it through a strainer. (Besides turkey, it's good on pie, ice cream and waffles, or mixed with ginger ale, Sprite or iced tea.)

If all this seems like a little much, I saw that Target has a complete feast for around $68. Could be a good value? But not nearly as tasty or fun.
Hope this is helpful. Bon Apetit. (that is pronounced app-uh--teet, not ape tit) :)