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Let’s Blog Off: Reducing Stress for Thanksgiving

By SLS | Published: November 16, 2010

Ahhh, here we go again, another Tuesday Let’s Blog Off. This week’s Let’s Blog Off revolves around “what’s your favorite part about Thanksgiving? If you have a tradition you’d like to talk about, list some things you’re grateful for, a recipe you’d like to share or an embarrassing story you’d like to get off your chest, now’s your chance.” As per our custom, we will be including a list of all the great wordsmiths out there that have joined the challenge at the end of the article.

The Holiday Season & Stress:

Ahh the good ole days of Norman RockwellAhhh, the Norman Rockwell scene that so many people try to exemplify – the perfectly cooked turkey, the spotless table, friends & family all gathered together & oh god please just let me survive the day & not drop the turkey, or burn it… Can you say stressed out? Oh and then the kicker, Christmas is now less than 30 days away & I might not get all these dishes cleaned by then.

Turkey Day Cooking Stress & Help:

Then we get to the oops; is the turkey still frozen, not fully cooked inside but burning on the outside – well fear not, many companies have full blown call centers just setup to handle all those calls, and if all else fails… well there’s an app for that (Food Network TV app).

Proper Planning Prevents…

In all honesty, you cannot plan for everything & in some cases; you can waste time by over planning or over analyzing it. With that said, this is not just a simple meal you can whip together, but with just a little pre-planning, you can help prevent the dreaded frozen turkey, or missing spices.

Some closing thoughts:

While this is not the article I had envisioned early on; I hope some of these items might be of help to you or someone you know to help your Thanksgiving dinner & holidays run a little smoother. To all those of you who have served, are currently serving, or for those who have a family member in the service we wish to first & foremost say thank you & wish you all a safe & Happy Thanksgiving.

To all our customers, friends, colleagues, those of you reading this, and of course the great group below that makes “Let’s Blog Off” so special – we thank you for another great year & wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Ami’s – Multifarious Miscellany
Amy Good’s – Thoughts of a Splinter Girl
Betsy DeMio’s – EgrGirl’s
Bob Borson’s – Life of an Architect
Cham’s – cham was here
Cindy FrewenWuellner’s – Urbanverse Posterous
David Mathias’s – Poems of Wood and Light
Denese Bottrell’s – Thoughtful Content
Ginny Powell’s – In the Loop
Joseph Freenor’s – CFT 411
Nick Lovelady’s – Cupboards Kitchen & Bath
Paul Anater’s – Kitchen and Residential Design
Rufus Dogg’s – Dog Walk Blog
Saxon Henry’s – Roaming by Design
Steve Mouzon’s – the Original Green
Veronika Miller’s – Modenus
James D B – Eco Updates by EPP

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  • Harry

    Thanksgiving is fun, since all of our family members and friends will get together in that holly moment.

  • Saxon Henry

    I’m glad to know someone else frets about this stuff (not that I’d wish anyone to go through what I go through when cooking “the big meal”)! I actually do this crazy two-day cooking blowout that includes yeast-rise biscuits the day before so I can break them up into my dressing recipe. I started that tradition when I wasn’t working two jobs called journalism and blogging, and now no one will let me stop! Loved the post; now feel I’ve got a few partners in turkey-burning crime!

  • http://www.eco-modernism.com Becky Shankle

    Wow I had no idea there were rescue numbers available to fix cooking screwups! I thought that’s what the alcohol was for?! Nice post, as always Sean. Have a great holiday!

  • http://SLS-Construction.com SLS Construction

    Thanks everyone for the great comments & may you all have a great Thanksgiving

    Cham – ah the best laid plans, as a backup may I suggest buying a turkey breast or two (instead of the whole turkey) which you can freeze if they are not needed (nobody says you can’t eat turkey later during the year) This will help cut down on cooking times, prep & cleaning, etc…

    V – you may not be a domestic goddess, but I have still heard the goddess term used

    Bob – busting my chops now? Just kidding you & thanks

    Cindy – Nick whos Nick? (I know to many good articles in a day) I also looked at that the real history & was contemplating it, but lord forbid we actually admit that this came from where they lived & dates back to the Egyptians, Greecians & Roman dynastys were they thanked their gods, or that 1621 was almost a pity meal & it wasn’t till 1623 that they finally figured out how to make it work

    Rufus – please tell me you are kidding, except for the part about the buffet – that was definetly worth a good laugh (actually your method will work if you can keep the turkey at 40 degrees or lower, after that you have an issue with any bacteria that was on it starting to create their own buffet

  • https://twitter.com/chamwashere Chamois Green

    If all goes according to plan, I will be going to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving. However, there is a very good possibility my work schedule will not permit that and Turkey Day will be hosted at home – I have a feeling this list will come in preetee handee! Thanks and happy stuffing (your mouth)!

  • http://www.modenus.com Veronika

    List has been bookmarked. Being not too much of a domestic goddess , this comes in very handy. Thanks dear.
    V

  • http://urbanverse.posterous.com/bye.html cindy frewen wuellner

    Nick: Norman Rockwell, check. how to — screw up and then – cook a turkey, double check. Or thanks Nick, you got us covered! I looked up the original story of thanksgiving and decided it was too messed up; guess we just enjoy the turkey and Pilgrim hats! thanks for the info, cindy @urbanverse

  • https://twitter.com/Splintergirl Amy Good

    So, would my oven throwing sparks and dying on Thanksgiving morning of the only year I planned a big event with friends be considered stress? :) Actually, it was probably the best year, as we grilled the turkey, had the friends over, and ended up having a massive super ball fight in the kitchen/dining area followed by screams of “Not fair! Not fair! It has to bounce first!”

  • https://twitter.com/cupboards Nick @ Cupboards

    LOTS of good stuff, Sean- Thanks for sharing!

  • Anonymous

    Sean,

    I love this – this seems to be a skill set particularly suited to well-organized and thoughtful contractors. Very well done (not the turkey)

  • http://www.dogwalkblog.com/ Rufus Dogg

    Stress-free turkey thawing? The evening before, fill up the bathtub with cold water. Place frozen turkey in the water, weigh down if necessary. Close the door so the dog(s) or cat(s) don’t think you set out a buffet :-) Perfectly thawed by 7:00am every time.!

  • http://SLS-Construction.com SLS Construction

    Well said Joseph, well said and thank you for your service. I might be assuming but that was a great post you did: http://cft411.com/2010/11/16/thanksgiving/

    Yes Amy I think that would fall under stressful but you overcame & adapted. Amy I am so glad you joined in on the Let’s Blog Off fun & amen to the no Christmas Music rue until after Thanksgiving. Oh and please send my best to your daughter on her Christmas musical – I know she will do great http://splintergirl.blogspot.com/2010/11/gobble-gobblezzzzzzz.html

    Nick as always another great post, and thanks for the great comments http://www.cupboardsonline.com/2010/11/letsblogoff-thanksgiving-palooza_16.html

    Paul – thanks for the comment & organizing this little shin dig we call Let’s Blog Off, my hats off to you http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com/2010/11/blog-off-post-thanksgivings-coming.html

  • Joseph

    I honestly don’t feel stress at Thanksgiving when we host. And I speak as the guy who actualy does the cooking! I’m an old Army cook and used to do it for hundreds of men, so dozen or so is nothing! My wife used to get stressed out, so I finally said, “You work the front, and I’ll work the back.” So she entertains the guests while I’m cooking, and it works out fine. Plus, it very much is a labor of love.

  • http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com Paul Anater

    Great, thoughtful post Sean. You’ve no doubt saved a bunch of people from needless fret on what’s supposed to be a day to slow down and take it easy.

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