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Oh no! The Holidays are Coming! A Real Working Girl’s Hosting Survival Guide – Part 1

Congratulations! For whatever reason you’re hosting your first major holiday.  That’s exciting or terrifying or super stressful or something.  However you’re feeling, go you! You can do this, with our help of course. 

As we’ve discussed in the past, Katie 1 is our resident Ina Garten and has a number of successful holiday hosting experiences under her belt (Hanukkah, a small thrown together Thanksgiving, Christmas) and has generously decided to share her wealth of knowledge with you, our dear readers in the form of this 2 part holiday hosting guide.  Hopefully it’s helpful.

Part 1 of this guide will focus on menu prep.  Part 2 will focus on holiday prep (i.e. the cleaning, shopping, decorating, table setting, etc.).

Part 1 - Holiday menu prep:

I love food.  I love to cook.  When it comes to planning and prepping my holiday menus, most of my menu planning work is reducing the number of dishes I want to make.  Thus, I start planning my menu about 2 months prior to the holiday, mostly because I’m really excited about hosting, but also because I know I’m going to need to substantially edit what I want to make. It also gives me plenty of time to change things around once the Food Network holiday specials start airing and I get inspired to go another direction.  I also have the opportunity to recipe test any new dishes. 

Last year I hosted Christmas.  This year I’m hosting both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Since it is November, I’m going to focus on my Thanksgiving preparation because it’s the most relevant (although do check back closer to Christmas for a reminder post and perhaps a sneak preview of my holiday décor).  I’ve also put more thought into my Thanksgiving menu because I feel the need to redeem myself from my last Thanksgiving hosting experience (long story short, I found out I was making dinner at 2:00 on Thanksgiving Day. Thankfully, Whole Foods was open until 3:00 and I was able to purchase a fresh pre-brined bird and all of the other ingredients for a traditional dinner and we were able to eat by 7:00).

Rambling aside, let’s discuss my initial menu planning thought process.  Like I said above, I started brainstorming my menu around Labor Day.  What can I say? Fall stuff was in stores and I got excited.  I started with a list of every single dish I wanted to eat at Thanksgiving.  I then thought about how many people I’m hosting (6), their individual preferences/allergies/food issues, and the spacial constraints associated with my kitchen.  Keeping that in mind, I made my list of Thanksgiving non-negotiables: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and sweet potatoes.  I then filled in that menu with starters, salad, and other sides.  Then I edited again, this time considering timing, especially since I’m working the day before.  Once I had my menu down, I started to think about wine pairings, again keeping my guests in mind.  Once I have the menu nailed down in my mind, I put it into a spreadsheet to keep myself organized.  Sheet 1 is the menu and I have additional sheets for my shopping list and cooking schedule. (We will talk more about this in Part 2 of our guide, so get excited!)

So, what did this leave me with in terms of menu?  Given my time and space constraints, I decided on cold appetizers, preferably pre-made, paired with sparkling wine.  My guests tend to be very health conscious and particular about what they eat, so I included a salad course with ingredients that can be easily served on the side.  For the main course, I included a few more healthy sides.  I know my guests prefer a lighter wine, so I chose a fruitier red but will have white available upon request.  In case you’re interested, my full menu is below (also, if you want any of the recipes, let me know in the comments).  I also knew my guests would ask what they could bring so I intentionally left space in my menu to accommodate those requests.  I don’t bake so I didn’t plan for dessert or rolls because I knew I could ask my guests to bring these items. 

Katie 1’s Thanksgiving 2017 Menu:

Appetizers:
Shrimp Cocktail
Charcuterie Platter
Crackers
Apple Slices

Paired with sparkling wine

Salad:
Arugula Salad w/:
Beets
Goat Cheese
Red Onions
Candied Pecans
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Main Event:
Herb Butter Crusted Turkey
Cornbread Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Scalloped Potatoes
Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Mashed Sweet Potatoes w/ Brown Butter and Sage
Green Beans
Rolls

Paired with Cotes du Rhone Villages

Dessert:
Pie 
Coffee

Yes, I realize that’s a lot of food for 6 people.  I’m aware and in order to compensate for the sheer number of dishes, I will adjust the amount I make.  For example, I’ll make a half batch of the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and scalloped potatoes. Not only will this prevent too many leftovers, it also gives me more oven and fridge space. 

I also realize that the menu, at first glance, appears rather overwhelming.  However, it’s deceptively complex.  As I noted above, when planning the menu, I intentionally decided on a mixture of dishes that I can buy already prepared, make ahead, and/or serve cold.  For example, all of my appetizers are cold and pre-made.  All I have to do is pull it out of the fridge, put it on a platter, and serve it to my guests. The same goes for the salad – most supermarkets have a wonderful selection of pre-roasted beets so no purple hands here!  All I have to do is open packages and slice some vegetables.  In the words of Ina… how easy is that?

With respect to everything else, about half of the menu is make-ahead.  The cranberry sauce will be made Tuesday night and served chilled.  We are allowed to leave work early on Wednesday so I will have a good deal of time to cook Wednesday night.  I will take advantage of that time by putting together the Brussel sprouts, dressing, mashed sweet potatoes, and scalloped potatoes Wednesday night so they will only need to be baked on Thursday.  I did this at Christmas last year and it made day of meal prep way easier and less stressful. 


So there you have Part 1 of our Holiday Hosting Survival Guide.  Check back later for Part 2 where Katie 1 discusses the logistics of hosting a major holiday!  It’s going to be super fun!  We’re going to discuss shopping, scheduling, cleaning, and decorating!  Plus there will be spreadsheets! 
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