27 Ways To Win Thanksgiving

For a fruit pie, you can make the whole pie then freeze it unbaked. Then on the day before Thanksgiving take it out of the freezer and "expect to bake a whole [frozen] pie for 20-45 minutes more than the recipe specifies, depending on the temperature of your freezer and the amount of filling," advises Anjali Prasertong on The Kitchn. (Directions here). For single crust custard pies like pumpkin or pecan, make the bottom crust, put it in the pie dish, wrap and freeze, then fill and bake the day before Thanksgiving. (Directions here from Martha Stewart).

The fatal flaw of most Thanksgiving plans is that everything needs to go in the oven at the same time so plan accordingly. Check out this list of recipes you don't need an oven to make.

A big enough roasting pan? A rack for that pan? Food processor? Vegetable peeler?

This $18 CDN thermometer is a good one.

The first trip, which you should do a full week before Thanksgiving (before the supermarkets get crowded), is for nonperishables — canned things, flour and sugar, spices, paper towels, foil — anything on your list that doesn't need to be super fresh. Then make a second smaller and easier trip the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to just pick up things like salad greens, any fruit you still need, milk and cream, etc.

Put it in the fridge to thaw the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Directions here via The Kitchn.

This is the kind of thing that freezes very well. Here are 19 cranberry sauce recipes choose from. Begin thawing it in the fridge the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Any time you bake and mash up a vegetable with dairy (ie make a purée) and use that as the base of a casserole, you can freeze that base. Thaw it in the fridge the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving so you can finish your casserole.

To do this, get your recipes printed out then go through them and figure out what order everything needs to happen in.

And the best way to thaw a frozen turkey.

Here are some recipe ideas. Or just make sure you have enough wine and that the bottles of white have somewhere to chill.

Here's a simple brine recipe from Bon Appétit.

There is no room for that opened jar of artisanal jam or pickles in your fridge when Thanksgiving rolls around. Before you go grocery shopping, FoodNetwork.com recommends that you take all the nonessentials out of your fridge and store them in a cooler in the garage filled with ice packs.

Let them cool, put them in a plastic bag, and put in the fridge. Then tomorrow you can heat them back up quickly and finish making your stuffing without all the pesky herb picking and chopping.

Bon Appetit makes a convincing argument that a serve-yourself buffet is the way to go. Check it out.

Here are 9 Surprisingly Easy Ways To Make Your Thanksgiving Table Look Better and more Thanksgiving decorating ideas here.

"To keep your spuds warm when every burner of your stovetop is in use, butter your slow-cooker insert, add a little heavy cream and spoon in the potatoes," advises foodnetwork.com. Set the temp to low and remember to give it a stir every 30 minutes.

Another great tip from foodnetwork.com: Once you've finished making your gravy, just pour it into a thermos or two (this one made by Zojirushi keeps things so hot for so long it's actually kind of scary) and pour it into a gravy boat once the rest of the meal is on the table.

One of the best things you can do while you're cooking the day of Thanksgiving is have a pan of homemade turkey stock or storebought chicken stock on the back burner of your range — you can use it loosen up gravy, moisten sides, or, as foodnetwork.com suggests, revive overcooked turkey.