How to Make a Thanksgiving Prep Gameplan You Can Actually Stick to

Hosting Thanksgiving is not the time for a dream to-do list. You're not going to get around to painting the bathroom before the holiday arrives, so don't even think about adding that to your list. You need a Thanksgiving timeline you can actually stick to. Here's the good news: If you're cooking our official Thanksgiving menu this year, we've already created a gameplan for you to follow. But if you've chosen a few new recipes, or you're incorporating old family favorites, here's how to make your own detailed and organized step-by-step plan.

I learned many things in culinary school, but perhaps the most helpful was the training in making an action list the night before each day of cooking. Every day, I'd present two to four dishes to the teachers for judging, and every day, those dishes needed to be ready at a different time. My teachers taught me how to break apart each recipe, task by task, and to group tasks together in the right order to get every dish finished at the same time. It's actually fun to do, especially if you're into puzzles and plans.

Your Thanksgiving menu timing and presentation are not being judged by a panel of three French chefs, but those action-list skills are still helpful. Here's how I put them into play for creating a gameplan for any important meal:

1. Have All the Recipes for Your Menu In Front of You

You need to look at all of the recipes you've chosen together at once to make a timeline. Print them all out if you can and put them in a folder—doesn't it feel nice to be organized like that?

2. Decide What Time You're Serving the Meal

A gameplan needs a finish goal. 5 p.m. sit-down on Thanksgiving? OK! Write that down at the end of your gameplan. Next, we'll start parsing out tasks to be completed by times moving backward from there. But first, let's think about supplies.

3. Make a Shopping List

Write out a master list of all the ingredients you will need to cook and bake everything you will be serving. Divide your list by section: produce, pantry, dairy, whatever. Go through all your recipes and write down every single ingredient used, placing it in the appropriate section. Now take that master list, go to your kitchen, and cross out any ingredients you already have. Use your master list to make two fresh lists: things to buy in advance, and things to buy two days before. Add these two tasks to your gameplan.

4. Check the Oven Temperature for Every Recipe

Any recipe that will need to be baked or roasted in the oven the day of your dinner is going to be fighting for oven space. So check the temperature for each dish, and then figure out which of your menu items can be in the oven together—and how long they need to be in there. Add oven temperatures and start and end times to your gameplan.

If you're working on a Thanksgiving timeline, you may want to start by scheduling your turkey. Since it will need to rest before carving, you've got a window of oven time after it comes out to blast something on high heat and/or reheat things that were baked or roasted earlier in the day or the day before. In our Thanksgiving gameplan, for example, the potatoes go in the oven with the turkey at 350°F, and then the pork and the already-baked stuffing slide in when the turkey comes out and the oven goes down to 325°F. For a handy list of what can be made ahead and reheated, check out our Thanksgiving Hosting FAQ.

5. Look for Tasks that Can be Grouped Together

As you look at all your recipes for you menu, look for recipes that call for the same ingredients, group that prep together. For example, if you're making stuffing and a green bean dish that both call for chopped onions, plan to slice the onions for both at the same time. No need to chop onions twice in one day! Check how many recipes call for turkey stock and how much, and then make the total amount of stock together in advance.

Continue adding and moving around dishes—and every step needed to make them—until everything on the menu is accounted for. Remember, the puzzle is half the fun!

6. Delegate Tasks

As you write out your timeline, assign tasks to each person cooking. That way you can have multiple tasks happening at the same time on your gameplan, and your kitchen companions know what to do when. If you are planning on tackling Thanksgiving cooking with someone, it's best to make the gameplan with them so they don't feel like you're bossing them around in the kitchen too much. Just ask my sisters how they feel about that. (It's not a great look.)

7. Don't Worry If You Get Off Schedule

A timed gameplan is a great tool to manage the multitasking required for hosting a big meal like Thanksgiving. But it's just a tool to help you get organized and understand the scope of the tasks required to get everything done. If you don't stay on schedule, life goes on! Cooking Thanksgiving should be fun. Especially if you're cooking together with your nearest and dearest. If the meal starts late, or some dish isn't quite ready on time, no one actually cares. Pour more wine, put out some snacks... The point is to enjoy being together.

Originally Appeared on Epicurious