Alyssa Ponticello // In Good Taste

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One Week Until Thanksgiving Plan


YOUR one week until Thanksgiving plan

last updated November 10th, 2022


It seems like every year the gap between Halloween and Christmas tends to get more and more overlooked and slowly Thanksgiving has become all but a blip on the holiday circuit. But, I mean, who overlooks a holiday dedicated to stuffing yourself with stuffing?? Because, ya know, that’s obviously what this day is all about! Ha!

When I first put together this one week until Thanksgiving plan, we were in the middle of a move, holidays were the farthest thing from my mind and a plan to get organized felt very necessary. Little did I know this plan would continue to come in handy year after year both for myself and for others.

Whether it’s because you’re busy (Who isn’t this time of year??), you’ve forgotten about the holiday until now, it’s your first time hosting and you don’t know where to start, or you just feel overwhelmed and need some help making sense of it all, don’t worry, I’ve got you!

Below, you’ll find a step-by-step plan for everything you need to do to prep one week from Thanksgiving.


one week until Thanksgiving plan


7+ DAYS OUT

  • Decide on a MENU (check here for lots of Thanksgiving recipe ideas + get a simple turkey day menu here)

  • Order and/or go buy a turkey (This is most definitely one thing you don't want to wait until the last minute on! In fact, if you are buying one frozen/have room in your freezer, I suggest getting your turkey even sooner and just keeping it in the freezer until 7 days out, then transfer it to the refrigerator to defrost in time for Thanksgiving.)

5 DAYS OUT

  • Grab any table decor items that don't require a vase (i.e. gords, dried flowers, potted plants, baskets, linens if you're using them)

  • Decide on servingware + make sure you have enough serving pieces for all your dishes as well as all of your guests

4 DAYS OUT

  • Clean your home

  • Start getting groceries that will last longer, things like wine and beverages, squash, potatoes, nuts, etc.

3 DAYS OUT

  • If you have a separate dining room, start prepping and setting the table

  • Make place cards (if using them)

  • Start getting remaining groceries

  • If you picked up a frozen turkey, start defrosting it

2 DAYS OUT

  • Grab fresh flowers for the table (if you're using them)

  • Finish getting any remaining groceries (I like to wait as long as possible to get things like salad greens, vegetables, fruit and bread)

THE DAY BEFORE

  • Set the table

  • Chill any necessary beverages (i.e. wine and/or beer, etc)

  • Prep any make-ahead food (pre-assemble appetizers, make cranberry sauce, prep stuffing, make and bake pies, whip cream, pre-wash salad greens, pre-measure ingredients where able, prep veggies, make salad dressing, make dough for rolls if having homemade rolls)

  • Decide on serving dishes and mark them with post-it notes so it's easy to assemble everything day-of

  • Run any last minute errands for forgotten items

T-DAY

Here are the highlights for day-of duties. For a full run down and more details, check out the plan in this post.

IN THE MORNING

  • Bake the turkey

  • Add any last touches to the table

  • Finish any other baking (pies, rolls, potatoes)

  • Quick clean-up

  • Get yourself dressed

IN THE AFTERNOON

  • Set out appetizers

  • Assemble salads and vegetable dishes

  • Mash the potatoes + make the gravy at the very end

  • Serve the food, enjoy with family and friends and give thanks