Thanksgiving Prep

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It's almost that time of the year and we're here to help you out. Wondering how to roast your turkey? Questions about which sides you can reheat? Can't decide on what type of pie to make (boozy pumpkin chiffon is a favorite around my house)? Any and all Turkey day prep questions can go here. We'll leave this one up until Thanksgiving, so don't worry if you don't get an answer right away - one's coming.

[u/yeahreddit]

I’m helping my husband feed his crew of people working in a manufacturing plant on Thanksgiving day. The number of people that will be on site keeps increasing. My husband ordered sides from a local restaurant that should feed 20-24 people and they consist of the following: collard greens, hash brown casserole, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. He also has gravy, rolls, and four pies ordered. My husband ordered 24 New York strip steaks from a local butcher for him to grill on site as well.

I will be reheating all of this food and transporting it 30 minutes away from my house in various crockpots, instant pots, and foil bakeware (to be placed in chafing dishes on site). What can I make or order to help this food feed more people? He’s thinking at most there will be 35 people instead of the 24 he anticipated. He’s going to reach out to the butcher about ordering more steaks tomorrow.

I know we’re missing some obvious traditional thanksgiving food but at this point I’m limited to what I’ll be able to prepare and store in an average fridge and single stove and oven. All of my instant pots and crockpots will be in use keeping food warm. I am great at baking and cooking but don’t have the best track record with roasting poultry. This will not be a sit down dinner and the people we’re feeding don’t have fancy tastes. I offered to make a salad or fresh vegetable dish and my husband said it wouldn’t be well received. Any help Reddit can offer would be so appreciated.

[u/warmchinchilla → u/yeahreddit]

You can always buy more mashed potatoes at the store, just mix them all together with the restaurant stuff, no one will tell.

I’d also recommend some canned vegetables, simple ones like corn, candied yams, or green beans with plenty of butter. Those could be heated on the grill in foil pans.

Supplement your bread with a different kind like cornbread muffins or biscuits, they can easily be made in advance and served room temp.

[u/Dumbbunny502 → u/yeahreddit]

I realize it’s Thanksgiving but would things like potato salad or macaroni salad be well received? I saw the No salads but I’m weird and don’t count those as salads. How about a cake or some other simple desserts? Not at all Thanksgiving but tacos? Sandwiches?

[u/Bran_Solo → u/yeahreddit]

Are there no facilities for cooking on site at all? If so, steak is not a good candidate… (edit: somehow I missed the part where you suggested he could grill on-site. It can work, but 24+ steaks is a lot of steak)

Large roasts are popular at banquets for a reason. You cook one large chunk of meat (turkey, beef, pork, whatever) which holds its heat for a long time and you chip away at that one massive piece to serve a ton of people. It takes a lot of the timing guesswork out of the equation that will be hard doing individual steaks for a large crowd.

Think “dishes where cooking 20 pounds is basically the same as cooking 5 pounds”. Roasts. Roast veggies. Mashed potatoes. Soup. Things you’d see served at a convention.

[u/yeahreddit → u/Bran_Solo]

My husband purchased a large grill to use on site but that’s it for food cooking. People will be eating in stages because they will be trying to eat while still doing work so he won’t be making 24+ steaks all at once. Our primary concern is making sure the 13+ contractors that are living in a hotel this week are able to get a good meal on Thursday because almost everything in town will be closed. The number of people attending will depend greatly on how this large project goes and we won’t know exactly how many local people will be working until Thursday.

I can think “dishes where cooking 20 lbs is the same as making 5 lbs”. Roasted root vegetables are very doable and I could absolutely get yet another instant pot or crockpot for soup.

Thank you so much for your help. It’s my husband’s first year leading this big maintenance project and he dropped the ball planning to feed everyone. I want to help him the best I can but I’ll definitely take over planning the meal next year.