quick question about preping the day before?

[maui420]

hello,

can i do these the day ahead?

1. boil the pasta a day before for mac and cheese cooked the day of.

2. boil the potatoes a day before for mash potatoes cooked the day of.

3. cut up vegies i plan on roasting the day before cooked the day of. (squash, onions, carrots, potatoes, etc...)would they turn that brownish color?

i never tried to prep the day before and i get kind of crazy that when something works good one way, i am very stubborn in changing. =)

thanks!

[shaw10805]

Cooking the pasta ahead of time is fine, just lightly mix it with oil to keep from sticking.

You can't cook the spuds ahead of time for mashing, that has to be fresh.

The vegetables should be okay, but if you're roasting potatoes and carrots, you have to hold them in water.

good luck

[ludja]

...

You can't cook the spuds ahead of time for mashing, that has to be fresh.

...

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On the other hand, you can get pretty good results on reheating mashed potatoes. The easiest way to avoid burning is to reheat them in a double boiler with some extra milk, butter, etc.

[Bree20]

I do my pasta the day before and it works fine, as for the potatoes I do sweet potatoes and I just go ahead and make the dish and rewarm it in the oven the next day.

I also do my dressing the night before and cook it the next day as well as my cranberry sauce.

As for your veggies, you could get away with doing some of them the night before - I grind my veggies for a crust for my turkey (sorta like a salt crust). and I do this the day before and it has carrots in it and they have never browned. I don't see why you couldn't just peel your carrots and the cut them up on thursday.

I would not do the potatoes till it is time to cook them, they seem to turn brown so fast and trying something you have never tried before for thanksgiving can sometimes backfire.

Onions should be no problem just keep them in the frig till it is time to use them.

Every year I make a schedule of what needs to be done on what day and what time so I don't feel scattered.

Hope yall have a happy and stress free Turkey Day.

[slkinsey]

You should do okay with cooked-ahead pasta for a baked dish if you remember to undercook the pasta significantly (which you should be doing anyway)

The potatoes for mashed potatoes should be okay cooked ahead of time if you take the trouble to do Jack's retrogradation trick.

It's fine to pre-cut your vegetables for roasting although, as others have said, I wouldn't do it with potatoes or any vegetable that browns.

[baroness]

I would do the pasta when I need it, not ahead. By the time you warm it up, it could have been cooked fresh. It takes so little time to cook, and you aren't using up refrigerator 'real estate' to hold it over. If you have plenty of room, why not finish the mac and cheese except for baking?

Potatoes need to be cooked directly before mashing. Again, they don't take long to cook if cut up. Or, I've heard that mashed potatoes can be heated or kept warm in a slow cooker.

Cutting up most vegetables early is not a problem, save with potatoes. I've never had carrots turn color, but maybe I'm just lucky.

As noted above, having a schedule and lists to refer to can ease the stress.

[Bree20]

Baroness - I use to do my mac and cheese early then like you suggested, but then like you also stated it took up so much in my frig. Now I just make it while the turkey is in the oven.

I think people forget that not only are you putting things in there for your big thanksgiving meal, but there are other items for the rest of the week that you are cooking.

I am cooking not just thursday, but the whole week for my family and with a growing boy in the house there is always food in the frig. I think in my next life I am going to have a ktchen big enough for two frigs!

[slkinsey]

Potatoes need to be cooked directly before mashing. Again, they don't take long to cook if cut up.

Not if you do the retrogradation trick (see here for the process for pureed potatoes). You could do the double-cooking process, store the cooled potatoes, reheat them to temperature, then puree. This would take longer at service time. Actually, even if I were going to puree the mashed potatoes ahead of time, I'd recommend the retrogradation trick.

[Anna N]

These potatoes might be overkill for your plans but they are awesome and can be made the day before.

[forever_young_ca]

These http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r743.html potatoes can easily be made the day before and reheated. Awesome taste as well as convenience

[maui420]

thanks all for the replies, appreciate all the help!

[SusanGiff]

If you have plenty of room, why not finish the mac and cheese except for baking?

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This is the big issue of the morning that sent me to the computer for help. Can I fully make a mac and cheese, cooking the pasta quite al dente but not baking it, and then just refrigerate it from now until Thursday? Or will everything turn to mush?