If this is your first year taking on the mantle of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends or maybe you're looking to get better at hosting, here are some tips to help your Turkey day go as smoothly as possible.
1. START NOW!
I cannot stress enough that in order to remain as stress free as possible, start your preparation now! Start compiling a list of everything you need to do (cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, preparing guest rooms, tidying up the lawn, etc). Start with cleaning now so that you can focus on that exclusively and just maintain your space until the dinner or until guests arrive. If you don't want to do it, hire someone now before cleaning services get booked up. You want to then start on your list of what you want to make. Message your great aunt now if you need her recipe, call and order your chair/table rental if you don't have enough, borrow pots and pans and plates if you don't have enough, and just otherwise start prepping.
2. THE FOOD
Come up with a list of everything you want to make. Go step by step on each of the recipes and make a shopping list of all the ingredients you will need. Write down amounts to make sure that you will have enough because if you write down butter for one dish not realizing that you have three more that also need it, you may run out and running to the store last minute is a hassle! Confirm with guests that they have no dietary restrictions. As a point of fact, make sure you have at least one full on dish that contains no meat and that you do offer water and drinks that are alcohol free for guests.
3. STRATEGY BOARD
Grab a huge poster board or a dry erase board and write down every single dish you need to prepare. On the same or separate list, include all the non-cooking things you need to do ahead of time as well. Have this posted up near where you will be cooking so that on the days leading up to and the day of, as you complete a task or finish a dish, cross it off the board. This way you will know for certain by the time everything is crossed off that you've got everything done. It will help you to include cook times for each dish so that if you only have one oven especially, you can see by the cook times when you need to start making certain dishes.
4. POST IT ORGANIZATION
Once you've got your list of all your dishes that you're making, prepare and area with every single spoon, measuring cup, plate, cutlery, glass, bowl, dish, pan, cooling rack, dessert plate, coffee cup, and pot you will need to not only prepare, but serve your guests. Put post-it notes or removable lables on all items like large white bowl=salad, small plastic cups=kids table, baking pan=chocolate walnut cookies, glass bowl=trifle, large platter=turkey. This makes it easy for anyone helping you or for yourself to know without having to think about it, what's what and what goes where. It also helps you to see what you need or don't need in terms of the dishes and plates and bowls that you have. If you don't have a serving bowl for the soup, now's the time to get one ahead of time.
5. FREEZER COOK
This is SUCH a time saver on Turkey day. There are several dishes that you can prepare well in advance of Thanksgiving, and pop them into the freezer in freezer safe dishes and bags where they'll just need to be thawed or popped into the oven on the day. Things like mashed potatoes, cranberry juice/sauce, casseroles, soups, stews, pies, cakes, cookies, etc can all be made ahead of time.
6. ENLIST HELP
I wouldn't recommend going at it totally alone on Turkey day. It is A LOT of work and a second pair of hands can help with the cooking, wrangling of early guests, additional cleaning, or emergency grocery runs. Also don't be afraid to ask family and friends to help you with the cooking or to borrow items you do not have. Thanksgiving can get crazy expensive so if you need someone to bring drinks or some dishes, not only ask them but let them if they volunteer. That's less work for you.
7. BUY IT PRE-MADE
I love to cook and yes, I consider this a crime on Thanksgiving to not make things from scratch, but if cooking isn't your strongest skill in life, then by all means, buy something pre-made like the turkey or a cake. Ultimately, your guests want to enjoy themselves in your company and end with a nice full belly so if you absolutely have to or need to, buy something pre-made or make something semi-homemade.
8. THE SET-UP
It will help you greatly to set up as much as you can for the dinner the night before. Set your table, iron your napkins, shine up your cutlery and glasses, double check that you have enough soap and toilet paper in the bathrooms. Don't leave this until last minute. Just have it up and ready to go and you can tweak it if necessary. Also don't worry if you don't have fancy plates and forks, go with basic white plates, bowls, and napkins for everything and a few glasses or if you don't even have that, go with "fancy" looking sturdy paper plates and serverwear.
9. BE PRESENT
On the day of, don't spend all day just running around like a chicken with your head cut off. There is going to be some of that when it's close to time to serve trying to make sure things are hot and ready, but once people have plates, either delegate any additional tasks to others or just let it go. If something isn't "perfect," so what. If someone spills red white on your carpet, don't freak out, just blot it, spritz it with some cleaner, and laugh about it. If you have more people than you do food, pop in a frozen pizza. Just realize nothing is as big of a deal as you're probably making it in your head when it comes to issues on the day. You too deserve to enjoy Thanksgiving.
10. REFUSE TO DO THE DISHES
After all the craziness and days of planning and cleaning, after it's all over, it's break time for you. Designate someone midparty to do the dishes for you. Hopefully someone volunteers, but if you're serving family or close friends, don't be shy about asking if they'd do the dishes. Keep in mind that whomever you ask should be a very close friend or family or relative whom you think would not be put off by this. Asking your boss whom you've invited for the first time to your house to put on some kitchen gloves, is not the best idea, but asking your cousin whom you just helped move a month ago to do some dishes is.
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