Turkey not defrosted in time? Diaper disaster with your toddler means you won’t have time to make stuffing? Hop over to Joe Kissel’s column at Wired News and learn how to Deal With Turkey Day Disasters. Disater or no, my family always uses his trick of baking the stuffing in a pan, not in the bird. Not only does the turkey take less time to cook, but you also get more stuffing. Kissel also recommends using canned sweet potatoes to make candied, baked potatoes, “but only in a real emergency.” I agree this is only for the desperate—but would also suggest that if you’re forced to go for canned, mash them with a little ginger, nutmeg, and butter rather than try to bake them. Canned spuds always come out mushy when baked, anyway, so don’t fight it.
If you need to keep your older kids amused while you cook, point them at MAKE’s podcast and downloadable pattern for creating a Thanksgiving turkey out of paper. Even better, have them sous-chef for you, mashing potatoes or cutting up green beans. (Younger children can snap beans with their hands or use safety scissors.) You might even avoid the last-minute panic if you have more hands to help (assuming you have enough space to keep stray elbows from ending up in the cooling pumpkin pie).