A family member (who shall remain nameless) argues annually that Thanksgiving Dinner is the easiest meal of the year to prepare. Anyone can cook a Turkey, she asserts. Just pop the bird in the oven and use a meat thermometer to make sure it’s done. While I admire this sort of culinary chutzpa, it’s a view many don’t share.

This point is clear as I read many print and online food sections this week offering information on dining out for the big celebration next week. C’mon! There’s no need to throw in the towel, folks. We’re fortunate to have a wealth of advice at our fingertips to help create a wonderful and memorable Turkey Dinner with minimal stress. To offer you the best tips, gThankYou has poured over pages to pluck the top tips:

• Roast a Turkey just like Mom’s with a gThankYou! to eHow.com.
• gThankYou! to Cooks Illustrated, often called the Consumer Reports of cooking magazines, which offers its Thanksgiving Survival Guide.
• The National Turkey Federation’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide offers a really fabulous Thanksgiving Prep Timeline (gThankYou!) as well as safety tips and a great video on  proper roasting times.
• Finally, a big gThankYou! to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline which posts great information on planning a safe and easy Thanksgiving Dinner.

Thawing is widely considered the number one issue in preparing a Turkey. So, if you plan to serve a frozen Turkey, The National Turkey Federation advises you thaw it 24 hours for every five pounds of bird weight in the refrigerator.  This comes out to 3-4 days thaw time when you do the math for a 16-20 pound Turkey. You can eat out or rely on pre-made meals from your freezer before Thanksgiving while looking forward to cooking Thanksgiving Dinner.

Lynn Welch is a contributor to gThankYou, LLC, based in Madison, WI.  gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way savvy companies recognize employees’ great work at Holiday Time. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, and Grocery Gift Cards.

A nip is in the air and leaves are all over the ground. And with three weeks until Thanksgiving, excitement is building for the big feast. Good thing experts have already planned menus and gathered tips and good advice for choosing and preparing your holiday Turkey, with plenty of info on putting together the rest of the meal, too.

Turkey help is on its way.

This year, there are  more ways to talk turkey. Get Turkey tips throughout the season from Buterball’s Turkey Talk-Line. In addition to phone, Web and email help, you can now text the word “TURKEY” to 36888 and connect with 50 professional turkey experts.

In my mind, you can (almost) never have too many resources to help Thanksgiving go smoothly. So, to help you plan ahead, gThankYou has compiled a few favorite and new Turkey Help resources.

• Mark Bittman’s Mininmalist Thanksgiving Menu with a gThankYou! to the Splendid Table.

• Turkey tutorials and more with a gThankYou! to Foodnetwork.com. Here, you’ll find plenty of video plus tools like the Turkey Calculator to help get the cooking time right and buy the right size Turkey, and a plan for putting on a Thanksgiving Potluck.
• gThankYou! to user-generated recipe site Recipezaar posted its Thanksgiving Headquarters offering the top-rated advice and recipes from the popular site.
• Turkey Confidential with a gThankYou! to Lynne Rossetto Kasper and the Splendid Table for posting audio of her Thanksgiving triage radio show. This episode includes Lynne’s how-to put on Thanksgiving on a shoestring.
• Finally, Better Homes & Gardens’ new Recipe.com is worth a look. gThankYou! for lots of proven recipes here from appetizers to Turkey through dessert. Get updates by following them on Twitter at @Recipedotcom.

Aid your planning with menus, recipes and a host of other practical how-to advice in these pages as you approach Thanksgiving.

Lynn Welch is a contributor to gThankYou, LLC, based in Madison, WI.  gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way savvy companies recognize employees’ great work at Holiday Time. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, and Grocery Gift Cards.

If you are the fortunate to work for a company that gives great holiday employee gifts and receive a gThankYou™ Turkey Gift Certificate, you’ll want to know a delicious way to prepare turkey that’s guaranteed to receive compliments from your family and guests.

My family loves turkey. It tastes delicious from the oven, but for us, the #1 way to cook a turkey is on a charcoal grill. It’s the easiest turkey recipe we know, the set-up is fast and the bird has a taste no oven or gas grill can match.

Here’s how we do it. We start with an ordinary Weber kettle grill, just the basic, least expensive, standard-size, One-Touch Silver unit ($65-$85 online); there’s nothing fancy about it.

Use the “indirect” cooking method; that means charcoal is placed on the perimeter (around the edges) of the grill and a foil pan is in the center to catch drippings from the bird. You can buy foil pans from Weber dealers, or generic ones at the grocery store; we make our own from aluminum foil. If you decide to use foil, first fold the edges twice to create rigidity, then fold the corners tightly so it doesn’t leak. When you’re set up, it will look like the photo on the right.

Setting up the grill. Light the charcoal using your favorite method (lighter fluid, electric or gas starter or chimney with newspaper) and wait until all the briquets are alight. I use basic Kingsford charcoal, but any brand is fine, including some of the specialty varieties such as mesquite, hickory or apple wood. I also find the easiest way to start the charcoal is using a chimney and two sheets of newspaper.

When the coals are ready spread them into two piles, one on each side of the grill and carefully place the drip-pan in the middle. Make sure you use insulated grill mitts to protect your hands from the heat.

Preparing the turkey. Prepping the turkey is simple and fast. First, (this is the secret) cut a lemon or two into quarters and put the pieces in the turkey’s cavity. The lemon is a technique we from Marcella Hazan for preparing chicken; it keeps the bird moist, but

doesn’t impart much flavor. Second, prepare a mixture of roughly 1/2 cup olive or peanut oil, 1 tablespoon salt (we like kosher salt) and 1/2 tablespoon pepper (ideally freshground). Brush this mixture on the turkey to prevent burning. (Food safety note: we’re careful about reusing brushes that touch fresh meat, fish or poultry; wash with soap after use, fully dry and use only for meats afterward.) Tuck the neck skin flap in or attach it to the bird with a small skewer or sharp toothpick. Finally, truss the bird with string: first tie it snuggly once around the breast to hold the wings in place and keep them from burning or flopping; next tie the legs tightly together at the ends to hold them in place.

Cooking the turkey. This is the easiest part of all. Place the turkey in the middle of the grill over the drip pan. Grill about 15 minutes per pound; that means a 14-pound turkey should be on the grill 3-1/2 hours. After two hours or so carefully lift the grate while wearing mitts and add a few briquets to the charcoal on each side of the drip pan.  Remove the turkey from the grill when it is 180˚F. Often the temperature rises a few degrees after you remove it from the grill.

Serving the turkey. Let the turkey sit 15 minutes or so before carving and serving. (I’ll talk about easy ways to carve a turkey in a future posting.)

Enjoy. That’s all there is to it. If you have comments or suggestions, post them below.

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