November 18, 2025
Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Tips
If you’re not decorating your Christmas tree or shopping for holiday gifts you might be planning your Thanksgiving meal right about now. We’re focused on the food – not surprisingly – because every great get-together starts in the kitchen, right? Plus, the brand new kitchens in the new home community of Looking Glass make food prep easy, and serving friends and family a joy. We scanned some of our favorite sites for fun facts and foodie recipes to get the celebration off on the right turkey leg.
According to our favorite AI search assist, the average Thanksgiving meal can take SEVERAL hours to ALL DAY, so here are three make-ahead side dishes to help ensure everything goes smoothly for mealtime!
Thanksgiving Tried-and-True
Tastes Better from Scratch offers a few make-ahead turkey-day recipes, including this Sweet Potato Casserole. The topping is butter, brown sugar, and pecans but you could always throw some marshmallows on your casserole. The make-ahead part is a one-to-two days prior suggestion, so next Tuesday or Wednesday get your five orange yams and cook ‘em up. You can also make the toping and store it in the fridge until an hour before you bake your sweet taters. And, fun fact, sweet potatoes’ anthocyanin and other pigments are thought to be anti-inflammatory, so if you’re running the Parker Turkey Day 5K at 8:00 a.m., this dish might aid your recovery!
Stuffing is practically mandatory on Thanksgiving, or so says Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. And even though it’s highly personal – what kind of bread, whether or not to add eggs which makes it firmer, as opposed to sans eggs for a lighter fluffier texture – this Sausage Stuffing Recipe rocks, with either choice. Ree uses French bread (advises against sourdough or seeded whole grain) and says you can make this two days ahead and refrigerate until it’s time for the oven. Also – she advises doubling the recipes since everyone is likely to want seconds!
Fewer Dishes, Easier Clean-up!
The Pioneer Woman also has a Spatchcock Turkey recipe that cuts down on turkey roasting time, and guarantees both a juicy result and easier clean-up.
And lastly, we picked a recipe not because it’s a make-ahead necessarily, but the fact that it only takes an hour and uses a slow cooker turned our heads. We never have enough room in the oven for everything that ends up on the table at approximately the same time. Crock-Pot Mac & Cheese from Delish means one less serving dish, and less crowding in the oven and it’s a delicious side to which you add sharp cheddar, Gruyere, mozzarella and sour cream – plus a few more key ingredients and add a panko bread crumb topping.
Fun Thanksgiving Facts
During a typical Thanksgiving meal, you might consume 2500 to 3000 calories – easily a day’s allotment – and that’s without appetizers! So, get thee to a 10K to burn off the calories from ONE reasonable slice of pecan pie with ice cream! Oh and cranberries contain proanthocyanidins which prevent bacteria from binding to your teeth (great excuse for another sweet side dish!)
Happy Thanksgiving in Looking Glass
Whatever you do on Thanksgiving, eat lots or just enough, watch football or run around the Cherry Creek Regional Trail, we’ll be rooting for a raring good celebration full of friends and family. If you don’t live here yet, check out all that Looking Glass has to offer new home buyers in Parker. With more than 13 different floor plans from Dream Finders Homes, there’s a design to fit every lifestyle and budget. With ranch and two-story options, homes start in the $600s. And coming soon (2026), the much-anticipated paired homes grand opening from Richmond American!