I'm going to share four basic recipes today---cranberry sauce, apple pie, mashed potatoes, and gravy. I roll these out in the order you make them.
You can make cranberry sauce as far in advance as two weeks if you like, it keeps well in the fridge.
Pie can be made in advance and kept unbaked in the freezer if you're pressed for time on Wednesday, but I like to make it the night before I'm planning to serve it. You can also wake up early and make it first thing on Thanksgiving, but be sure you have it done and out of the oven before the turkey needs to go in!
Potatoes boil up pretty quickly (less than an hour, but it varies with size) so they're best made as the turkey is starting to brown up.
Gravy is the absolute final step of your dinner preparation---you start it as soon as you take the turkey out of the oven and transfer the delicious drippings from your roasting pan to your saucepan. Stir and thicken the gravy as everyone comes and sets the table, and when your diners are taking their seats and someone lifts the knife to carve the turkey, you'll be walking with the gravy boat across the room and joining everyone.
Trivia: Cranberries are a perennial plant (that is, they are planted once and harvested the following year, and then again the next year, and then again the next year---never needing to be replanted if they are managed well), but they are highly susceptible to frost. Growers must cover their cranberry plants under a protective layer of ice so that the plants can survive the winter.
