Once the bird is done brining, Brubkaker breaks it down. Literally. She’ll remove the legs and the wings, and cook them separately. “I like to braise my dark meat, because it makes a delicious gravy, and it keeps the dark meat super-duper moist,” she says. She’ll put the cooked turkey in a sealed container or a plastic bag with some of the drippings and store it until the big day. This is an optional step, but she says that it makes it easier to keep the white meat moist while ensuring that the dark meat is fully cooked.
This is also the time to do your heavy lifting, cooking-wise. “Anything you can just reheat, do it on Tuesday or Wednesday,” she says. “Make your mac and cheese and then just heat it up, so it gets that nice caramelized top.” It’s time to prep your green bean casserole, too. “Blanch your green beans. Make your béchamel. Find those crunchy little onions. Have it all ready to assemble.”
While many people view passing plates around as a holiday tradition, Brubaker serves her Thanksgiving meal buffet-style and suggests you consider doing the same. “I like to do a buffet rather than passing the food around the table because we always host so many people,” she says. “It’s less stress on the host and there’s more of that fun reveal, rather than everyone just watching someone carve the turkey.”
While most of us set the table almost as an afterthought, just before it’s time to eat, Brubaker says that doing it a couple of days in advance has a host of advantages. “I like the word ‘tablescape.’ Being able to bring the table to life with something other than the food is really fun,” she says. “And bringing everything out in advance brings that magical anticipation. It almost makes your stomach growl to see the table pretty and ready for the food.”
While setting the table a couple of days in advance gives you time to be artistic, it also gives you the opportunity to discover that, say, your best wineglasses need a lap through the dishwasher. “You know you’ve got the right silverware washed and every little bowl and dish is found, so there’s no scrambling,” she says.
She adds that a pretty table doesn’t have to be expensive: “It doesn’t necessarily need to be a giant flower arrangement. It could be fall leaves. It could be pine cones. It could be, you know, painted, anything.”
