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Are you going to host Thanksgiving this year? The anticipation of the holiday and the huge gathering of family members and friends youve been eager to see in one room for so long is probably paired for you with the panic about how in the world youre going to organize the holiday for so many people at once.
This Thanksgiving preparation and hosting tips will help you avoid major stress, set up a perfect dinner, impress your guests with both great food and warm, inviting spirit and recover from the great feast fast.
Tips for hosting a perfect Thanksgiving without going crazy
Plan your menu to include a lot of light appetizers, side dishes, as well as the classics you cant imagine Thanksgiving without roast turkey, delicious mash, steamed vegetables, pumpkin pie, and rolls.
Start cooking a day (or even a few days) in advance. Including the dishes you may cook beforehand (like cold appetizers, sauces, dips, desserts) into your Thanksgiving dinner menu and prepare them a few days before the big holiday will relieve the pressure on the Thanksgiving day and let you enjoy the family gathering just as much as the rest of your family and invited guests will.
If you need to feed a lot of people and cant imagine cooking so much food in your little kitchen, dont be ashamed to order from caterers, especially appetizers, bread-related things, drinks, etc. and cook the main dishes youd like to impress your guests with at home. You may also ask the family members, who you know wont mind cooking, to share your responsibility for the Thanksgiving dinner and bring over the dishes that are traditional in their families.
Dont be hesitate to ask for help. Cooking for holidays always brings people together and gives them an opportunity to unite above something and reflect on their past, maybe cry a little bit, talk about miscellaneous things and share their holiday memories. So, ask your closest friends or family members whore invited to your Thanksgiving dinner to come earlier and help you prepare some dishes. Im sure theyll love it. Or, delegate the preparation of some dishes to them.
Similarly, if youre invited to someones house for this years Thanksgiving, offer your help to the hosts and cook a few travel-friendly meals to bring over.
Use your slow-cooker. It will make your Thanksgiving dinner preparation a lot easier. Theres a ton of traditional Thanksgiving slow cooker recipes you should employ to let some of the dishes (like mash, glazed ham, various casseroles, stuffing, apple cider, cranberry sauce) cook on their own while youre busy cleaning the house before the guests arrive, getting your turkey ready for its grand show time, baking something, etc.
When cooking for a big company, theres always a struggle to find enough pots, pans, baking trays, storage containers, plates, dishes, and utensils. But, theres no need in investing a lot of money (and kitchen storage space) in a ginormous pot youll end up using once a year or cute plates to serve your food when you may totally borrow whatever you need from the relatives that live in town and arent going to host the holiday this year.
Make sure to have enough drinks for everyone. Thats crazy how thirsty people get when theyve eaten quite a lot of delicious holiday comfort food. Thus, its important to serve universal drinks (like apple cider, cranberry punch) both little kids and adults may drink without getting funny and too.
Experiment with appetizers, but make sure to feature the all-time Thanksgiving recipes. And, as many people note, its better to stick to the well-tried recipes when you host a major holiday dinner to make sure that everything (or at least the game-changing dishes) turns out to taste exactly how you want it.
Set the table the evening before and have the dishes youve prepared in advance stored in the dishes you want to serve them in. Thus, you wont have to deal with purely organizational stuff when you need to concentrate on the grad meals, as well as plant the layout of the table.
Dont leave the hair wash on the Thanksgiving day. Theres a great chance youre not going to have any time for that. So, shower and wash your hair the evening before.
Have something fun planned for the kids? Little ones wont sit at the table through the entire dinner. Nor will they listen to the boring adult stories being told for the 100th time. Its better to keep the occupied with entertaining games, holiday-themed movies, and crafts to make Thanksgiving equally enjoyable for them as well.
Dont run around like a squirrel. Be a calm friendly host and forget about all the things that might go wrong to enjoy the holiday and be a part of a huge family that came to celebrate everything they have to be grateful for.
Youre not going to be able to eat all the leftovers. Have a stack of tinfoil containers to pack some leftover food for your guests not to worry about having to eat all the stuff before it goes bad.
Youll be exhausted once the day is over. And, cleaning up the mess and washing mountains of dishes will be the last thing youll want to do after organizing such a feast. Thus, book a visit to the house cleaning services to erase the messy signs of a massive family gathering and get your home clean and ready for decorating for Christmas (if your family decorates before Thanksgiving, a throughout cleanup wont harm as well).
