The 36-Hour Thanksgiving Grocery List
By Amiel Stanek and Claire Saffitz. Photos by: Alex Lau and courtesy of Bon Appetit.
Behold: Everything you need to make our simplest Turkey Day dinner ever happen on one handy tear-out page. You’ll find all the ingredients you need to pick up, the equipment you’ll need to buy, borrow, and/or steal, and a few other crucial notes. We assume you already have olive oil (1½ cups), lots of kosher salt (we use Diamond Crystal or Morton) and black pepper, all-purpose flour (½ cup), granulated sugar (2 cups), and spices like dried coriander, cumin, and/or fennel for turkey (optional). Ready? Let’s do this!
*Let’s Talk Turkey
If you’re actually trying to pull this off in 36 hours, you need to buy a fresh turkey—as in one that is NOT FROZEN. In fact, don’t even think about buying frozen unless you’re shopping the Sunday before. A frozen bird thaws in the fridge at a rate of 4 lb. per day, and you don’t have that kind of time because, well, math. If you can’t find fresh, buying three chickens is a better bet than trying to rush the thawing process. Trust us.
Remember, You Can Delegate
You can do a lot, but you can’t do it all. It's alright to ask for help obtaining all of your materials. While you’re in line at the grocery store, go ahead and text three of your guests:
To your most adult friend — “Hey! I don’t have enough [chairs/forks/glasses]. Could you bring some over?? A bottle of wine would be great too if you don’t mind :-) Thanks!!”
To your eager to help friend — “Hey! Any chance you can grab cheese and crackers or something to snack on before dinner tomorrow? And wine?? Thanks!!”
To the least responsible friend — “Hey! You still coming over tomorrow? Mind picking up two or three bottles of not-that-fancy wine? Thanks!!”
Get Cooking: The 36 Hour Thanksgiving
This story originally appeared on Bon Appetit.
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