Menu: A Chesapeake Bay Thanksgiving

Celebrate the foods of Virginia's earliest settlers with a Chesapeake Bay Thanksgiving of oysters roasted with green tomato pickle and cranberry-horseradish relish, a flavorful herb-roasted turkey, luxurious stove-top creamed spinach, and more. End the feast with a boozy and sweet rum bundt cake, elegant sugar-glazed pears, and a decadent pumpkin cheesecake.
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The Menu

Planning Tips

The okra pickles, which need time for the vinegar and spices to permeate the okra, should be made at least two days ahead of time, though you can make them as much as a month in advance.
If you're working with a frozen bird, transfer it from freezer to refrigerator at least 48 hours in advance of when you want to put it in the oven to make sure that it has time to completely thaw.
Use the day before Thanksgiving to prepare all side dishes, condiments, and desserts that can be made ahead of time, and to get a head start on multi-step dishes like the sugar-roasted pears.
Assuming you're preparing a 16-pound turkey, it will take around four hours to roast, so be sure to allow plenty of time for it.
The pears can be roasted while you eat so they're ready to serve after dinner.

Comments (1)

by 1JERRY2 on 2012-11-04

Good recipes, enticing the palate. Too bad I cannot save them. When I try, I get this page that says "Oops! You have reached a page that doesn't exist! I have left messages as instructed, to no avail. I am going to stop my magazine subscription and delete the recipes.