The time we get to spend with family and friends on Thanksgiving is something we don’t get often. This holiday is a golden opportunity to turn off the grind and connect with your loved ones as deeply as you can. The reunions, delicious food, charity, games and overall fun make it such an exhilarating holiday but preparing Thanksgiving dinners can be super stressful, no matter how many times you’ve done it. Unless you plan to outsource all the food prepping and cooking, I think it’s a rare blessing to successfully cook and serve Thanksgiving dinners on time and still settle down to enjoy the feast without working yourself to the ground. To help you manifest this blessing, I put together a few hacks:
Make it a potluck. This is one of the easiest ways to free yourself from the time-consuming, stressful claws of Turkey Day dinner preparations. Create or download a printable Thanksgiving potluck sign-up sheet from which your guests can choose the dishes or desserts they would bring along on Thanksgiving day. To help you keep the dinner organized, calculate how much food you’ll need and make another list of what each guest chooses to bring. Create this potluck sign-up sheet weeks before Thanksgiving (September is a good time), then send gentle reminders a few times before the feast to make sure everyone is on track. Usually, you will be left with the task of cooking the turkey, ham and gravy, but having your guests bring the other meals will save you a lot of time and energy. Don’t forget to ask them to help you with the cleaning up after the feast. It’s very important.
Create a friendly dinner menu. If you don’t fancy the potluck route, a genius move will be to avoid complex, time-consuming meals and go for the eaiser options. Better still, you can choose to prepare one or two complex dishes along with the other basic meals. Once you know what you’re going to be preparing, create the menu and proceed to the next step.
Draw up a timeline for the menu. This is where you break down the time you’ll need to shop, prep and cook the dishes. It’s always safer to buy shelf-stable or freezer-friendly items two to four weeks before Thanksgiving. Shop for perishable food items the Monday or Tuesday before. Clean utensils, plates, serving dishes and tablecloths a few around this time too. Don’t forget to take inventory of everything you have available in your pantry (ingredients, cookware, serving dishes, tableware, leftover containers, coolers and the like) before you create the shopping list. Shopping online is easier if you’re okay with someone else selecting your groceries for you. To draft out the timeline, create a table on a sheet of paper or use a spreadsheet on your computer. Batch all the dishes you plan to make along with their preparation and cooking times. You can also arrange dishes in their order of preparation. Do give yourself more time than you feel you will need to avoid putting yourself under too much pressure.
Precook as much as you can. Cakes, buns and similarly baked goods can be ready the weekend before Thanksgiving, with proper storage. Sides like braised greens, mashed potatoes and pies should be prepared a day before. Chop up your veggies a day before too and store them in airtight containers or bags. Vegetables that quickly turn brown when exposed to air can wait till Thanksgiving day. The dinner table can also be set with your serving plates, utensils, condiments and seasonings a day or two before.
Push back the dinner time. Another genius move if you ask me. It’s dinner anyway, so why start at 1 p.m. or even 2 p.m.? Four in the afternoon has to be a better time to start. This gives you a bit more time to get ready so you too can settle down and enjoy Thanksgiving with friends and family. It’s the reason why you put it all together in the first place.
