ALT-3 How to have a Stress Free Family Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving can be an incredibly stressful time for people, especially for those who bear much or most of the responsibility for preparing the family dinner. The degree of stress one encounters will depend on how big an ordeal the Thanksgiving feast will be, how many people there will be and who else will be available to help out or take over some of the responsibilities.Here are some suggestions as to way reduce, minimize or totally eliminate the stress associated with preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends.*Plan ahead -As soon as you know who will be attending and how many total people you will be having, you should start to think about what to put on your menu. As soon as you know what your menu will be, then start stocking up on staples. It won't hurt to buy non-perishables ahead of time.
Things that can be frozen can also be purchased. Buy anything that can be purchased in advance, because stores tend to run out of things as the holiday approaches. Last minute shoppers find themselves dashing out for basic essentials that they should have bought long in advance but didn't, and now they are finding that many items (like canned pumpkin, cranberries, pecans, spices, etc.) are not in plentiful supply.
- Delegate -
There is nothing wrong with asking other members of your family or invited friends to contribute to the meal. Doing so will ease the burden on you, both in terms of work and financially. Make sure that everyone advises you of what they intend to bring well in advance of the holiday.*Cook things before the holiday -A Thanksgiving dinner is very much about timing and scheduling. The more one has to do on the holiday itself, the more stressed they will feel. Things like pies, cranberry relish or sauce, bread and casseroles can all be made in advance without sacrificing quality. Cranberry sauce or relish can be made several days or even a week in advance and it will only get better as it ages. Pies and breads can be made the day before.
- Getting other things ready ahead of time -
If you are going to stuff the turkey with vegetables, cut those up the day before and put them in container in the refrigerator. If you are adding things like celery and onions to your stuffing, cut those things up in advance. You can also cut up and toast stale bread the day ahead. All of these things will help you greatly by cutting down on the amount of work you have to do the day of the meal.
- Checking and double checking -For some people, it helps to make a list. That way, they will know what they need to do. A list will serve as a reminder that you need to get things for the table, or you need to figure out some sort of centerpiece or decoration for the table. It will remind you to check to see whether the linens are ironed and whether the silver is polished and the good dishes are clean and ready to go.*Assigning chores to members of the household -Preparing for a party isn't only about cooking food and setting a lovely table. No one wants to have a big elaborate holiday party for family and friends when their house is a mess. Making sure that the house is clean is every bit as important as preparing all of the food. Make sure that the powder room is clean and that it is well stocked with guest towels. Make sure that the rest of the house is also clean.
- Prepare the table the night before -
The night before is the perfect time to set the table up with table linens. Arrange the table decorations or center piece at this time as well. You can also put things like salt and pepper shakers on the table. Then make sure that all of the dishes and silverware you will need is gathered in a central place in the dining room. If the meal will be a sit down meal, go ahead and set the table.*On Thanksgiving Day -If you have planned for your dinner party as well as you should have, your main concerns on this day will be to cook the turkey, dressing, gravy and heat everything that needs to be heated up. Ideally, you will want to time the cooking of the turkey so that everything else you intend to serve will be ready at the same time.*Set up a buffet -When dealing with a lot of people at a party, the easiest way to ensure that everyone gets enough to eat and that they are served as quickly and efficiently as possible is by setting up a kind of buffet. This way, everyone can bring their plates up to the buffet and help themselves to whatever it is that they want. This avoids the problem of putting something that someone doesn't like on their plate.The holidays are a stressful time in general. When people are going through difficult times, as seems to be the case of the majority of the American people, things that might not ordinarily stress a person may be magnified by many times. If other areas of life feel like they are out of control, then it's easy to get enmeshed in trivial details that take the focus and energy away from the important things: having a wonderful holiday meal with family and friends.Make sure that you have some time to decompress and relax. Most important, don't be afraid to let other people know when and if you need help. They can't be responsible for your stress and frustrations if you don't let them know that you need or want their help. Most of your guests or other family members will understand this, and they'll be more than glad to jump in and help out.
By planning ahead, doing things that can be done in advance ahead of time, asking guests to bring a dish and asking members of your household to help out with the clean up, set up and other preparations, you can avoid having to assume the total burden of putting together a holiday meal alone. When the responsibility for a major holiday meal like Thanksgiving falls on the shoulders of one person, it's inevitable that there will be a lot of stress. When the responsibility is shared among many people, then it is a celebration of people coming together to enjoy a meal to which everyone contributed.
