22 Handy Thanksgiving Hacks To Make The Holiday Prep Easy

Thanksgiving can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned cooks. These great hacks should solve many a pesky problem and allow you to make your meal easy, delightfully decorative, and totally delicious!

Want Great Gravy? Use Soy Sauce

Enhance the meaty flavor of this years gravy with a bit of soy sauce. Adding about a tablespoon to a gravy boat makes a traditional gravy absolutely luscious.

Open An Impossible Jar

Have a jar cap that just won't budge? Grab some duct tape and attach a few inches worth to the lid before folding the tail end in half. With the jar in one hand, tug on the folded end to easily open that pesky jar.

No Really, Rinse Potatoes With Your Dishwasher

You don't need to use precious cooking time to scrub each potato before mashing. Run a bunch through the rinse cycle in your dishwasher to jet clean those potatoes to perfection. Just don't add detergent!

Easy Crisp Cornbread In Your Waffle Iron

It is easy and effective to bake cornbread in your waffle iron. If made in small batches, you can serve them as snacks or piecemeal so that everyone has a delicious and crispy warm slices while the larger prepared dishes are passed around the table.

Leftover Cranberry Cocktails

Leftover cranberry sauce actually makes for one of thanksgiving's greatest cocktails! Mix an ounce of bourbon with an ounce of cranberry and Amaretto in a cocktail glass, then top it off with ice and ginger ale for a seasonal tasty tipple.

Easy Rolling Pin Replacement

Forgot you didn't have a rolling pin handy for the fresh baked bread you were planning on making? A well-cleaned empty wine or beer bottle functions as a frugal and brilliant solution.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Instead of a single large pumpkin pie, take Dominos approach to a perfectly cooked through pie and make personal pan pies in cupcake tins or ramekins for simple serving that's a breeze to clean up.

Perfect Cookies With Paint Stirrer Levels

A trip to your local home improvement store could suddenly become a useful trip for baking equipment. The paint stirrers offered free in most paint isles serve as great thickness guides for pie crust or holiday cookies.

Room Temp To Ice Cold Beer In Minutes

Planning on kicking it back for some Turkey Day football and forgot to throw beer in the fridge? Wrap a wet paper towel around each bottle and stick it in the fridge. In 15 minutes time your beer will be ice cold.

Take The Right Post Turkey Nap

Taking a post turkey nap is natural and good for you! To avoid waking up groggy follow the 20-60-90 rule. 10 to 20 minutes will aid with alertness and energy, 60 minutes gets you a bit of deep sleep with a manageable amount of grogginess, and 90 minutes puts you through a whole cycle including REM, meaning maximum energy for evening activities!

Beauty And Ambiance With Gourd Candle Holders

Add a nice warm fall glow with beautiful gourds carved out to hold small votive candles.

Preserve Rolled Crust In The Freezer

A rolled pie crust best holds it shape going in to the oven still frozen. Whether using homemade or pre-made crust, if you can spare a bit of room in the freezer throw the crusts in pan and all for the best results out of the oven.

Make Delicious Stew With Leftovers

Make use of all those leftovers with a delicious stock pot stew. Add chicken broth and leftover veggies to any amount of turkey leftovers, bones and all. The heated stock should make the turkey fall right off the bone, making maximum use of your leftover bird.

Extra Fluffy Mashed Potatoes

Give mashed potatoes an extra bit of fluff with a pinch of baking soda while mashing. Your resulting mash will be light and creamy without tasting too rich.

DIY Turkey Roasting Rack

If you feel underequipped to handle your bird in your oven this year due to lack of roasting rack, never fear! DIY your own with a last minute 3 foot long coil of aluminum foil to properly prop your turkey in the oven.

Muffin Tin Stuffing

Grab a muffin tin for extra crispy single serving sized stuffing servings. Also, not to mention they stay perfectly sized when stored in the fridge for great leftovers.

Skin Potatoes Effortlessly

Skinning potatoes could not be easier after boiling them for around 15 minutes. After letting them cool for 10 minutes or so, simply rub the skins off with your hands. Presto!

Stale Bread Means Better Stuffing

Use stale bread in your dressing to avoid a mushier end result. If you don't have stale bread on hand toasting does a decent job at removing excess moisture.

Grate Butter For Easy Mixing

Have any recipes that call for folding in that bugger of a stick of butter? Use a cheese grater to easily add frozen butter with less mixing hassle.

Prevent Apple Pie Apples From Browning

Apple pie makers rejoice! You can now pre slice the apples without worrying about troublesome browning if you simply store them in a bowl of cold water. Simply add the apples to a bowl and fill until all slices are covered and stick it in the fridge for later.

Egg Wash And Sugar For Perfect Pie Crusts

Take your pie crust to the next tier with a quick and easy egg wash before baking. Brush on a mixture of one beaten egg and a tablespoon of water for a crust that's golden and crisp. Adding a sprinkling bit of sugar on top of that for a bit of sweet sparkle.

Guaranteed Perfectly Unburnt Pie Crust

For a perfection of pie crust, wrap the rolled dough in a layer of tin foil to prefect burning in the oven. Use a 12" square of foil, fold in half one direction, then fold it in half again the other direction before cutting a circle out of the folded corner, starting at 3 to 4" in. Throw out the quarter circle, unfold, and the foil should easily wrap around the edges of pie crust.