T-Day Prep: Day 24

As of Monday morning, I have 24 days to put together the first annual Northwest Turkey Day Extravaganza (from here on out known as T-Day). First priority - food. It doesn't matter how cute the decor is or how clean the bathrooms are if the food is sub-par. As it stands, NavyGuy is taking care of the bird and the liquor, his mom is handling stuffing, my mom is handling the green jello pineapple rings and a salad, and that leaves me to cover appetizers, the remaining side dishes, and desserts.

So far, I'm confident in my crab dip and beer dip appetizers. That's it. Leaving, some non-cream-cheese-based appetizers, mashed potatoes, rolls, a couple more veggies, gravy, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and whatever else I'm forgetting! So the next task on the list is to do an in-depth scan of all the best magazines (Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, Cooking Light) and internet sites (Food Network, Martha Stewart) to round up recipes that meet one or more of my important T-day requirements:

~ involves less than 10 ingredients
~ can be prepped or cooked ahead of time
~ does not include a food processor
~ excludes obscure cooking directions (e.g. chiffonade, liaison, quadriller, spatchcock - all real culinary terms, I swear - look 'em up)
~ guarantees delectable results

Feel free to pass along suggestions. I've already received some good pie recommendations from Auntie T (thank you!), and I'm hoping to get the menu settled by the end of the week, so I can move on to other tasks.