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. On Friday we posted Part 1 of
this guide written by Katie 1. Now
it’s time for Part 2 - Holiday Prep.
Part 2 - Holiday Dinner
Prep:
So, you’ve taken our advice and planned your menu well in
advance. It includes the perfect balance of pre-made, make ahead, and make day-of
dishes. It’s traditional yet modern. That’s a huge chunk of your holiday
preparation, so way to go. Now you’re
probably starting to freak out about all of the shit you have to do in order to
make that menu happen. It’s cool. It happens.
This is a totally normal reaction. Part 2 of this guide helps you turn
that meltdown into a seamless holiday experience.
As you know from Part 1 of this guide, in planning my menu
for Thanksgiving, I took timing and space constraints into account and came up
with a menu that included several pre-made and make ahead items. In Part 2, I’m going to expand on that and
discuss all of the logistics and planning that help turn that carefully planned
menu into an epic feast of the senses.
After tackling the menu, the first thing I do is record that
menu in a spreadsheet. I love
spreadsheets, especially ones with multiple tabs, so this spreadsheet becomes
my holiday bible of sorts. It contains
the menu, my shopping list broken down by store, and my schedule for the days leading
up to the celebration. I’m posting
screenshots of each tab so you can see what I’m talking about.
As you can see, Tab 1 is my menu. Nothing too exciting and we’ve already
discussed what I’m planning on cooking.
As you can see, Tab 2 contains my shopping list. I’ve broken it down by store and have
included a column noting what I’ve already purchased. I’ve personally found it less overwhelming to
start shopping about a month or 2 in advance, especially for non-perishable
items (stuffing mix, wine, chicken stock, crackers, canned goods, etc.). I’ve found this to be particularly helpful
because (1) some of it is stuff I already buy; and (2) I can stock up with items
are on sale and not have to worry about having enough chicken stock the day
before Thanksgiving. I’ve also broken
down my shopping list by store. Why?
Well, I like to save money and certain stores have the items I like in the
sizes I need. For example, the Aldi near
me has a sparking Blanc de Blanc that I really like. It tastes much more expensive than the price
tag would indicate. It pairs really well
with chilled seafood. Aldi also
increases the price around the holidays so I stock up before that price
jump. Another example: Costco has a
rosemary cheddar that I love. I can only
find it at Costco. I buy shrimp cocktail
at Costco because it’s a better value than buying it anywhere else. I would buy my turkey at Costco; however, I
don’t need a 40 lb turkey so we’re going to probably buy it at Whole Foods or
Marianos because I don’t want a frozen turkey and I’m not a huge fan of the
meat at Aldi.
Tab 2 also contains my table scape list. Just like with my non-perishable groceries, I
start stocking up on these items in September (when stores have the best
selection). For my holiday tables, I
like go all out and use my really nice stuff.
I also like to use a combination of my basic and holiday specific
items. Typically this means using my
basic white tablecloth (I have this one), a holiday specific table runner (I
have this one), my china (here) mixed with a holiday specific salad plate
(these are similar to mine), festive party crackers (love these!), my nice
crystal (similar here), and flatware (here). I’m
still figuring out a centerpiece so check our Instagram for updates as I plan
on posting a photo of my table on Thanksgiving Day. Advice on the holiday specific stuff: stores
like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Burlington are your best friends. There is no need to spend a ton of money on
this stuff, just shop around and pick it up as you see it. As for the other stuff – treat this as an
excuse to use all of those nice wedding gifts you received. Not married? You can find a ton of nice china
and crystal at thrift stores, a lot of times in complete sets. Ikea is also amazing for table linens. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to have
a beautiful table. Finally, when it
comes to appetizer plates – save yourself some time. Use festive paper plates and paper
napkins. It’s fine.
Now on to Tab 3 which contains my schedule. Honestly, this is a rough schedule, but I
have an idea as to how much time the preparation of each dish takes so it ends
up being pretty accurate. I start my
meal prep the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Tuesday night preparation is pretty chill – just brining the turkey and
preparing the cranberry sauce (which is served chilled). Wednesday night is pretty busy in terms of
prep but because it’s a short day at work, I’ve got more time to get shit
done. Besides butter crusting the
turkey, I use Wednesday night to do all of my chopping and to put together all
of my dishes that need to be baked. This
saves a ton time and makes me way less stressed on Thursday morning. Thursday’s schedule is pretty chill. I turkey trot in the morning, give myself time to shower, watch the parade and have coffee, and I’m
in the kitchen cooking by 11:00 a.m. Besides making the mashed potatoes, green
beans, and putting the salad together, the only thing I have to do is put stuff
in the oven. This gives me time to
actually enjoy the day and my guests. It
also helps that my husband does the dishes.
There is one thing missing from my spreadsheet schedule –
cleaning. I deep clean the weekend
before Thanksgiving and do light cleaning a day or two before to make sure
everything is fresh.
Final bits of advice: expect at least 1 disaster. It happens and honestly it’s not a big deal.
It’s also likely that your guests won’t notice, especially if you get them drunk first.
Unless it’s something epic like mixing up salt and sugar, which will at
least make for a great story. When you
are planning your schedule, make sure to include some chill time for
yourself. You are going to need it. Finally, have a couple of glasses of wine
while you cook. It makes it more
enjoyable and helps with the stress.
Happy holidaying!
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