Infographic: Holiday Hacks You Need This Thanksgiving

The Perfect Turkey

Beautifully Brown

Try basting your bird with a small amount of white zinfandel or vermouth—it will help crisp the skin, and the alcohol imparts a brown color and glaze to the outside of the meat.

Crispy Skin

We’ve got the secret to crispy turkey skin: salt! The night before Thanksgiving, sprinkle it with about a tablespoon of coarse salt and place it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. The salt and the dry air in the refrigerator will draw out moisture—the enemy of crispiness—and you’ll roast up a super-tasty bird. 

Juicy and Delicious

Did the star of your Thanksgiving dinner come out too dry? Don’t panic! You can re-hydrate your meat with an easy braise: Slice up the turkey and stick it in a baking dish. Fill the dish halfway with chicken stock, top with foil, and place it back in the oven for 10 minutes at 350º. The turkey will be juicy and delicious.

Scrumptious Sides

Vegetable Gratin

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner and your vegetables turned to mush? Simply add some herbs along with tomato sauce or cream. Then top with cheese and/or bread crumbs and stick in the oven for 30 minutes. Your family is sure to be impressed with your new recipe for “vegetables gratin”! 

No More Gooey Mashed Potatoes

If your mashed potatoes sometimes end up a little gluey, it may be because you overmixed them. When potatoes are mashed, their cell walls rupture, releasing an excess of starch and resulting in the gluey texture. Potatoes should be mashed with a vertical motion, not stirred, to minimize the damage that occurs by crushing the cells on the side of the bowl.  

Clean-Up

Have a Stain-Free Thanksgiving

Prepping for Thanksgiving dinner can be an enormously stressful task—and that’s not even counting clean-up time. Here’s a great preventative measure we’ve picked up over the years that helps with our post-meal cleaning: Spray starch your tablecloth a day or two before T-Day, and let it dry for at least a full day. Drips and spills will be no match for your stain-guarded table!

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Image by Quick and Dirty Tips