How To Enjoy Thanksgiving Even If You Are Hosting

Do you have a Norman Rockwell vision in your head? Your smiling family sitting around a beautifully decorated Thanksgiving table piled high with steaming plates of delicious food. The candlelight glimmers, the crystal stemware shimmering in their soft glow, while everyone at the table watches dad carve tender, juicy slices of turkey for everyone to enjoy.

Does the thought of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner terrify you? Not sure where to start? Take a deep breath…you can do it! I have hosted Thanksgiving for several years, with up to 18 people at the table. I have learned each year how to streamline the process so that it is manageable and allows you to actually sit down with your family and friends and partake of the beautiful meal you have created. But…it does take planning on the front end!

If you are willing to take the time beforehand, you can sit down to that Norman Rockwell image in your head and enjoy your family and friends for a spectacular meal without being so exhausted that all you want to do is collapse in utter exhaustion once you finally get the meal on the table. Been there done that!

Today I want to share with you what I have learned from hosting Thanksgiving every year for over a decade. I learned over the years from my mistakes and once I got organized, each year got easier and easier. Even if you don’t think you can do it, I’m here to let you know that you absolutely can! Today I want to walk you through it step-by-step, and show you exactly how you can do it. You got this…I promise!

The 2 most important keys to enjoying Thanksgiving day?

• Start planning early!
• Break down everything into small manageable tasks so you are not overwhelmed!

These two steps are the most important things to keep in mind for Thanksgiving or for any other holiday meal you want to host. If you wait until the last minute you will be running on empty by the time you get the meal on the table and you won’t get to enjoy all the fruits of your labor. You will be tired and cranky and no fun to be around. So take the time to do a little planning on the front end!

5 Weeks Prior

• DETERMINE THE TIME YOU WILL BE SERVING DINNER.

If you can, I recommend serving your Thanksgiving meal later in the day. It gives you more time to prepare the meal without having to start before the sun comes up. I invite guests to arrive between noon and 1. They have snacks to enjoy while watching football games. We typically eat around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and serve dessert a couple hours later, once everyone has had a chance to digest some of their meal.

• CREATE A GUEST LIST AND SEND OUT INVITATIONS.

It doesn’t have to be fancy engraved invitations unless you want to go to the trouble. Maybe you are a paper crafter and creating lovely embellished invitations is your thing, then by all means go for it! If you are not a paper crafter, a simple phone call, email or even a text message suffices. The point of sending out invitations early is to get an idea of how many peeps you will be serving.

4 Weeks Prior

• PLAN YOUR MENU

Avoid trying new recipes, stick to the one’s you have made before and you know your family enjoys. Try out new recipes during the year when you don’t have the pressure of getting several dishes out on the table all at the same time. You don’t want to be reading a recipe trying to figure out how to make it when you have so much going on in the kitchen. Stick to the recipes you are comfortable making and the ones that you have successfully made in the past.

I serve a more traditional Thanksgiving meal because it’s what my family enjoys the most. Think about what your family enjoys and tailor your menu to their favorites. Maybe no one in the family likes turkey, or you have someone with certain food allergies, or a gluten intolerance. Your menu may be very different from what I serve and that’s ok!

Here is a sample of what my menu looks like.

Looking for An Outstanding Pecan & Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Casserole? This is my go to recipe each year for Thanksgiving. If you’re not a fan of overly sweet marshmallows you will love this easy to make from scratch recipe with a crunchy brown sugar, pecan topping. Best thing about it? Other than it’s absolutely AMAZING? It can be made in advance and then popped into the oven at the appropriate time on Thanksgiving day.

No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without Cranberry Sauce on the menu. Give this Easy To Make Cranberry Sauce a try. It can be made ahead so it’s one less thing to worry about on Thanksgiving day. Once you try this you will never purchase the gelatinous, sickly sweet, canned gloop again!

Over the years I’ve struggled with what kind of salad to serve with dinner. Lettuce gets soggy and wilted after it’s tossed with salad dressing. The hot kitchen speeds up the wilting process…sigh. My solution is to make this Broccoli Salad. It’s loaded with bacon and everyone loves bacon, right? It stays crunchy and delicious for a very long time. No more wilted lettuce! Another bonus? It can also be made ahead, freeing up your time on the big day.

I personally love to bake bread. I find working with dough therapeutic. I get up early on Thanksgiving morning, brew myself a cup of coffee and get to work making these Quick & Easy Dinner Rolls. I don’t often make them unless we are having guests over to help us eat them. Confession…I have been known to eat several of them in one sitting, they are that good! Any leftover rolls are perfect for making little turkey or ham and cheese sliders.

CREATE LIST AND WHEN DISHES NEED TO GO IN THE OVEN

What makes cooking a Thanksgiving dinner so overwhelming is the number of side dishes to prepare. The turkey is actually the easiest part, it’s all the side dishes that make Thanksgiving tricky. If you cook regularly you know one of the most challenging parts of cooking a meal is getting everything done at the same time and onto the table nice and hot.

Creating a list for when you need to prepare one of the sides or when it needs to go into the oven will keep things running smoothly on Thanksgiving day. Here is a sample of what my list looks like:

3 Weeks Prior

• MAKE YOUR SHOPPING LIST

Find the recipes for each item you are serving for Thanksgiving. Go through each recipe and create your shopping list. Check you pantry to see what you may already have and determine those items that you need to purchase.

Don’t forget things like mustard to serve with the ham, ice cream or whipped cream to serve with pie. Do you have cream and sugar if you are serving coffee? Lemon slices to float in the water pitcher? These are items that can easily be overlooked.

TIP: Don’t forget ingredients you need to cook up leftovers after Thanksgiving.

Be sure to pick up the items you need to turn those Thanksgiving leftovers into more meals. A bag of split peas to use up leftover ham and turn it into split pea soup. Bread and cheese to make turkey melt paninis. What are you going to make with your leftovers?

Creating your shopping list well in advance gives you an opportunity to add to it when you think of something you might have forgotten. It also allows you to start picking up items during you regular shopping trips to the store when you happen to see something, like canned pumpkin for pie, or stuffing. These items will keep for a long time and that way you won’t have to worry about not finding an ingredient later on when everyone else is shopping for the same items.

2 Weeks Prior

• THINK ABOUT DECOR

This is my favorite part! I love to decorate for fall! When you start early you have plenty of time to play around until you get it looking just the way you. want. If you need something you still have plenty of time to make a run to your favorite craft store to pick up items.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to decorate your home for fall. Just take a walk outside and pick up items that Mother Nature has to offer. Look for colorful fall leaves, branches, acorns and pinecones. These are just a few lovely fall accents or you home that won’t cost you a cent.

Remember that less is more. A few strategically placed natural accents are all that’s needed for a tasteful, elegant look.

1 Week Prior

• CLEAN THE HOUSE

I confess, this is my least favorite chore when entertaining. I try do a little bit everyday instead of waiting till the last minute. Focus on cleaning out your fridge. Take the time to organize it and get rid of leftovers. You will need a lot of space for your groceries, thawing the turkey, and storing the side dishes as you prepare them.

Don’t forget to clean the oven. You don’t want burnt on food in the bottom of the oven to burn and fill the house with smoke when you are cooking your Thanksgiving dinner. You want your guests to be greeted with the wonderful smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking, not smoke…LOL.

TIP: Line the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil. When there are spills, all that’s needed is to replace the foil, easy, peasy!

• DO THE GROCERY SHOPPING

Get an early start and give yourself plenty of time. Remember to take your list with you!!! Doing the shopping early allows you to hit more than one store and to take advantage of sales. One good thing about Thanksgiving is that supermarkets typically have specials on items that are traditionally served for dinner. Last year one market I shopped at offered me a free turkey if I spent $100 in groceries. I wasn’t cooking a turkey, I sous vide turkey breasts instead, but I accepted the free turkey and donated it to my local food bank. It felt really good to bless a hungry family in my community.

3 Days Prior

• SET THE TABLE

Setting the table early gives you plenty of time to make it look extra pretty. Let’s face it, the table is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving holiday celebration. I spend an entire afternoon focused on the dining room and setting the table.

Iron the table cloth and cloth napkins, polish the silver and make sure there are no water spots on the silverware or stemware. Pull out the fine china, crystal stemware, and candlesticks for Thanksgiving and polish it up so everything sparkles.

Yes it’s more work but there’s something so special about sitting down to a meal served on fine china with candles to light the room. It makes the entire experience all that much more memorable.

I have a very supportive husband who has taken on the role of master dishwasher over the years. He lets me do all the planning and cooking (which I love doing) and he comes in afterwards and cleans up all the dishes. Fine china and stemware don’t do well in the dishwasher so he washes everything carefully by hand for me. What a godsend he is!!!

2 Days Prior

• MAKE THE SIDE DISHES

Spend a few hours in the kitchen making the side dishes; stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, dips. Cut up veggies, grate cheese. Make salad and salad dressing. Spend the time prepping as much as you can. The goal is to prep as much as you can beforehand so that most of what you have to do on Thanksgiving is pop things in the oven at the right time.

Day Before

• BAKE PIES AND MAKE DESSERTS
• SET OUT AND LABEL SERVING DISHES & SPOONS/LADELS

Get out those post it notes and label those serving dishes. Many of your large serving platters may be stored in hard to reach places in your cupboards. Get them out and rinse them off if they are dusty. When you pull the turkey out of the oven you want to have that platter ready to go. Labeling everything is super helpful when it’s crunch time in the kitchen.

Thanksgiving Day

All that should be left to do on Thanksgiving is putting things in the oven at the appropriate times and cooking the last minute menu items that you couldn’t prep beforehand, baking bread or rolls, making the mashed potatoes and gravy.

When your guests arrive you will have time to visit with them, enjoy a glass of wine, nibble on hors d’oeuvre and sit at the table enjoying the meal you prepared for everyone.

If this is your first year hosting Thanksgiving, remember there’s no shame in taking a few shortcuts as you learn. My son loves, loves, loves StoveTop stuffing, I know right? But you know what? It sure lightens my load as far as all the food prep and I have plenty of other homemade from scratch dishes for everyone to enjoy. Fluff it up and serve it in a fancy serving dish and hardly anyone will know it came out of a box. Add a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley to fancy it up.

Does the thought of baking bread or rolls feel overwhelming? Serve store bought King’s Hawaiian rolls instead. Everybody loves them and they are great for making sliders with any leftover turkey. Pile them up in a pretty basket and they will surely get gobbled up.

If someone asks you what they can bring, instead of telling them to bring a bottle of wine, ask them to bring a side dish, or a dessert, or appetizer to share. Do whatever you can to lighten your load so you can enjoy the holiday too.

Baby steps, don’t try to do it all with your very first attempt. Give yourself some grace and start small, you will get better and better every year, I promise. Yes Thanksgiving centers around the food, but in all reality the most important part is spending quality time with your family and friends.

I want to wish each and every one of you a blessed holiday spent with those that matter the most to you. May your table be filled with an abundance of good food. I pray you are surrounded by all those you love and hold dear. That the day is filled with good conversation, smiles, and laughter. May God bless you, your family, and your friends this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving my friend!

Did You Find These Tips Helpful?

Snap a pic and hashtag it #naturewayblog — I love to see your creations!  Don’t forget to comment and leave a review, or tag me on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, and TWITTER!

May I ask a small favor?  If you enjoyed this blogpost would you be so kind and like the page?  It lets me know what you are enjoying the most.  It also helps me focus my attention on creating content that will be most meaningful and beneficial for you, my readers.  And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss out on all the latest that’s happening here at Nature Way.  Thank you!

For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!