ALT-4 How to have a Stress Free Family Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving Day is approaching and fast. Every year families come together all over America to enjoy a beautiful meal that someone worked so diligently to prepare. Cooking up a great feast for the family can be stressful. Making sure the turkey is done, getting the stuffing right and ensuring that everyone has their favorite dish can be a little overwhelming to do alone. If you can be ever so fortunate to have a good help mate kudos to you.
Preparing a great traditional Thanksgiving meal doesn't have to be stressful it can in fact be stress-free. With a few simple guidelines to follow you can deliver an ambrosial Thanksgiving feast that everyone will be talking about until Christmas.
Prepare foods the day before
If there are foods that can be made the day before then by all means do it. That's what ovens are for. Right before you sit down to eat pop a few of your foods that need to be served hot in the oven for a few minutes to warm them. Fast and easy a hot dish. There are many foods that can be prepared ahead of time and even foods that can be made a week ahead of time and frozen, just thaw the night before stick it in the oven and you'll have a dish magically prepared and ready to eat. Desserts such as your pies can definitely be made the night before. A helpful little trick is to designate trustworthy people to bring a dessert, this allows you to stick to making the many other foods on your list and leaving dessert to someone else.
Make lists
Lists are helpful little cheat sheets that all cooks need to have. Make out a list of foods you have made to remind yourself that they are done and in the refrigerator or let yourself know that there are foods you have yet to make. A list will help keep you in check and your mind sane. Thanksgiving day can be such a whirlwind that a lot of times a person can forget what needs to be done. Don't be the person to forget the corn casserole sending your hungry family into agitation.
Ask for help
It's okay to ask for help, no one expects you to be the superhero of Thanksgiving. Anyone that has prepared a Thanksgiving dinner will gladly help out because they know all to well the strain of keeping on task and trying not to burn the turkey. Gather up a few ol' reliables and ask them to help prepare a few foods that maybe your not so good at and they happen to be the guru of.
Know the guest list
Having a guest list isn't definitive to any certain gathering, knowing who will be there can help you acclimate the appropriate amount of food, so that you don't spend unnecessary hours cooking. Requiring R.S.V.P is quite befitting for Thanksgiving, knowing who will be there ahead of time will help you know what to prepare, as well as the amount of food and the place setting around the dinner table.
Don't sit by me
If you are having family members or friends to a Thanksgiving dinner that can't quiet seem to get along when in close proximity do the entire group a favor and don't seat them next to each other. Having a preferred seating list may seem a tad decorous but it will save a lot of headaches come dinner time.
Just breath holidays are meant to be fun and a time to gather together with friends and family collectively for the same purpose, to give thanks. At times there can be too much prominence placed on holidays causing undo stress. Creating a stress-free holiday is just what the doctor ordered.
