Parties & Celebrations 10 Tips for Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Prep Article / Updated 10-25-2023 Even the cook should get to enjoy a stress-free Thanksgiving. So, if you're hosting this year's holiday festivities, follow these tips to help take the stress out of getting ready to cook a Thanksgiving meal: Make a plan: Poor planning is probably the greatest stressor when you're trying to execute a large meal, particularly Thanksgiving dinner. If you want your holiday meal to run smoothly and keep you from aging ten years over the course of a week, you must plan the event carefully, well in advance. Organize: Make lists of everything you need to keep organized (ingredients, dishes, kitchen gadgets and accessories, guests, tablescapes, activities). Once you know exactly what you’ll need, you can round up the items, and organize them in a way that makes them accessible. Keep a general head count: Crowds tend to be ever-changing. At first, Uncle Joe and Aunt Juanita plan to come, then they decide they can’t, then they decide they can and ask if they can bring Joe's brother. Especially around holidays, the reality is that crowds often shift, so it’s up to you to keep an accurate head count as you move forward. However, don’t spend all your time trying to keep a solid count or you'll drive yourself — and your guests — crazy. Expect some changes on your guest list, just always err on the side of too much food than too little. Just try to keep a general head count running at all times so you know what you’re up against. Carefully determine your menu: It’s easy to get excited about a holiday meal and go overboard with your menu. Keep your head out of the clouds and think carefully about everything you must do to create each dish. Plan to have a few items that are more difficult and take more time and a few items that are quick and easy. Prepare some items in advance: A vital trick when cooking for a crowd is preparing as many items in advance as you can. The more items you can prepare in advance, the easier the big day will be. Here's a solid list of make-ahead Thanksgiving dishes you can prepare before the holidays. Don’t be afraid to borrow: Just because you're the host of a holiday dinner doesn't mean you should have all the pots, pans, dishes, and supplies on hand. When you cook for a crowd, borrowing items is perfectly fine. You don’t need to buy everything you may need, and you don’t need to suffer in silence, either. Create a workflow: A workflow will help you manage your tasks and ensure that everything gets done. Eat well, exercise, and sleep well: Everyone has gone into panic mode at some point. In those times, reality seems to go out the window, and you zone in on one particular task. As you’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, try to keep the same schedule. Eat the same kind of foods you normally do, get some exercise, and go to bed and get up at the same times as usual. If you keep your body in sync, you’ll keep a level head on your shoulders. Take a breather: Build some downtime into your Thanksgiving day. Your mind and body work better if they both can take a break, so don't feel guilty if you put your feet up, watch a parade, or read an article for 15 minutes. You’ll feel refreshed, and those overwhelmed feelings will remain at bay. Ask for help: The trick is knowing when you need help. As Thanksgiving day nears, be realistic. If you simply have too much to do, make some phone calls and get extra help. Your goal is to have a fun, successful Thanksgiving Day. View Article

Parties & Celebrations Adding Visual Appeal to Your Thanksgiving Meal Article / Updated 10-25-2023 You’ve worked hard deciding what foods to serve on Thanksgiving and have chosen the finest ingredients. On Thanksgiving Day, why not create some visual impact with the food you’re going to serve? Try these following tips for adding flair to your Thanksgiving table. Make your own dip bowls: When serving a vegetable tray with dip, try making a bowl out of a red, yellow, or green bell pepper. Simply wash the pepper, cut off the top portion (about 1/4 to 1/2 of it from the top), and remove the insides. Wash the pepper thoroughly with water and allow it to dry. Then fill her up! Likewise, when you serve a fruit tray with dip, try using an orange, grapefruit, small cantaloupe, or honeydew melon. Carve holes in your bread: Breadbaskets or bread bowls are great for serving dips, soups, sandwiches, and individual servings of bread, such as muffins and sliced bread. To make a breadbasket, take a large loaf of bread, cut a circle in the top, and remove its insides. You can also use smaller round loaves of bread, preparing them as you do the larger loaves and using them to serve soup. Garnish: Fresh mint sprigs, cilantro, and parsley are the most common garnishes. Place them in the center of the food item, and you won’t go wrong. The addition of the small piece of greenery can have a huge visual impact. Make special garnishes: To make a tomato rose, first wash and dry a tomato (other than a cherry or grape). Take a sharp paring knife and, starting at the top, gently “peel” the skin off in the same manner you’d peel an apple. Then gently take one end of the peel and start rolling it up to create a rose shape. The end result is a beautiful garnish that will make you look like a pro! To fashion a strawberry fan, take a washed and dried strawberry (with the green stem still attached) and, using a paring knife and starting at the bottom, cut thin slices into the strawberry. Slice up to the green stem. Gently fan the pieces of the strawberry out and place it on the food as a garnish. Break out the baskets: When serving bread, rolls, muffins, chips, or crackers try placing them in a basket that you’ve lined with a color-coordinated napkin. Cookies are also a good choice to serve out of a basket, as long as they’re of the crunchy variety, not chewy. The chewy kind is best served on a platter so they don’t break apart. Eating utensils and napkins can also be served in baskets. Mask your dishes with leafy greens: Leaf lettuce and kale cover a multitude of ugly platters, plates, and the like. Make sure you thoroughly wash and completely dry each piece of the greens, then line the platter with them and place the food on top. Borrow Grandma’s paper doilies: When you’re serving a food such as chips, cookies, or anything else that doesn’t belong on a bed of lettuce, line the platter with foil and then place paper doilies on top. Use baking pans as big platters: Have a large piece of meat to serve and no platter big enough? Use a cookie sheet or a jellyroll pan lined with lettuce. Vary the heights of food: You can greatly boost your table’s appeal by using various heights with your dishes. For example, use a cake pedestal to serve cookies or a tiered serving dish to serve snacks. With just a little planning, you can give the food a whole new look. View Article

Parties & Celebrations Planning Beverages to Serve with Thanksgiving Dinner Article / Updated 09-29-2023 If you are serving dinner to a Thanksgiving crowd you will need to include room in your budget for drinks. Plan on offering hot and cold drinks, decide whether you will serve alcoholic beverages, and always be sure to offer water. Also, don’t forget to have plenty of ice on hand. When serving soft drinks, it’s important when planning your menu and looking at your budget to decide whether to serve them from cans or 2-liter plastic bottles. Generally speaking, the plastic 2-liters are less expensive than cans. However, some people prefer to serve canned soft drinks because they think that if they do, they don’t have to provide cups and ice. Regardless of how you serve soft drinks, always make sure you provide cups and ice. One advantage of using bottles is that you tend to not have as much waste, because most people won’t drink a whole can. What usually happens is they get a can, start drinking it, and set it down, and eventually the drink gets warm — and face it, no one wants to drink a warm soft drink. All that’s left to do is get a new can. When serving tea, lemonade, or limeade, you need to make sure you have a large enough container or enough smaller containers to hold the amount that you need for the event. Keep that fact in mind when you’re making up your list of things to borrow. Many times churches, auxiliary clubs, and the like will have a large drink container. If you're planning to offer cocktails, be sure to stock up on mixers. The following is a list of standard cold drink choices: Coke or Pepsi Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi Dr. Pepper Sprite or 7-Up Ginger ale Root beer Orange or grape soda Iced tea Punch Lemonade Limeade Sparkling water Make sure you use good quality coffee cups, either ceramic or disposable. If you’re serving hot drinks to children, go for “warm” hot chocolate rather than “hot” chocolate, and so on. Here are a few quick suggestions to consider: Coffee Flavored coffees Hot apple cider Hot chocolate Hot punches View Article

Parties & Celebrations Entertaining on a Shoestring Budget Article / Updated 09-26-2023 Do you want to socialize with friends and family while spending as little money as possible? Your guests will appreciate the quality time together as well as the frugality of these events. Here are a few ideas that are proven winners: Covered-dish dinners: Hosts provide the main course, and guests bring side dishes and desserts. The benefits of this type of gathering are that no one has too much work or cost to absorb and everyone gets to try lots of new and varied dishes. Bring the kids, hire one babysitter or older child to sit or entertain the children in the basement (or a separate part of the house), and the adults can visit or play cards upstairs or in the living room. Wine-tasting party: This type of get together can be a very educational and fun experience (and not to mention thrifty). Here’s how it works: The host’s responsibilities are to invite friends or family, lay out the rules, and provide glasses, crackers, fruit, and cheese for all. Then guests each bring a bottle of wine. The host predetermines the rules, such as the following: Bring red wine, $10/bottle maximum, with bottles disguised in paper bags. After all the guests have arrived, randomly number the bags, open the wine bottles, and begin the tasting. Discuss the characteristics and qualities of each wine and vote on your favorite while enjoying your cheese, fruit, and crackers and the company of your friends. At the end, unveil the winning selection. Football party: Hosts provide the theme entrée, which has something to do with the opposing team. For example, if your team is playing the Miami Dolphins you may want to serve fish tacos, or for the Tennessee Titans, Greek gyros. Guests bring drinks. Rotate hosts with each game. Game night: Invite two to four people over after dinner to play Farkel (dice game of skill and luck; all you need is six dice and the instructions, which you can find on the Internet) or another game of your choice. View Article

Parties & Celebrations Foods You Can Prepare before Thanksgiving Article / Updated 10-26-2022 Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is a big endeavor, but you can take a lot of the stress out of the holiday by preparing some foods in advance. Take some time to go over your menu and determine which dishes you can make ahead of time. Read on to see suggestions for tasks you can perform before the big day arrives. Thanksgiving preparation tips Cooking for a crowd is much more time-consuming than cooking a typical meal, so considering your time is really important. As you’re thinking ahead, take a close look at your Thanksgiving recipes and all the tasks you must accomplish and keep the following points in mind: Wash, dry, and cut up all the vegetables ahead of schedule. You can store them in individual plastic bags in the refrigerator to keep these foods fresh. Make dips, spreads, and sauces ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator. If the recipe allows it, make desserts ahead of schedule and store them properly. If refrigerator space allows, make anything that can keep overnight the day before the event. Box up all nonperishable items that you don’t need until Thanksgiving. Make-ahead Thanksgiving dishes Some foods actually taste much better if they’re prepared ahead and all the flavors are allowed enough time to thoroughly blend together. Here are a few examples of foodstuffs that benefit from early preparation: Vegetable platters Salad dressings Dips Most soups Punch bases Beans and some other side dishes Minicasseroles Some cold desserts Cookies Cheesecake Keep pre-made meals fresh Much of what you’ll prepare ahead of time will probably need to stay cold or frozen. Because foods absorb odors, make sure your refrigerator, freezer, or ice chest is thoroughly clean. Baking soda helps absorb odors that may be lurking around your refrigerator or freezer. After all, nothing is worse than chocolate cake that tastes like an onion. Just open the baking soda box, pull back the lid slightly, and let the sodium bicarbonate do its job. Here are some tips for keeping foods fresh: Avoid overloading your refrigerator. Be careful not to block the air vent in your refrigerator. The more the air can circulate around the food, the more even the temperature will be, and the fresher the food will stay. Good quality plastic bags are very versatile and are rather inexpensive. Reusable plastic storage containers are also very versatile and affordable. These storage containers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be reused for a period of time and then discarded. Many of them are microwavable, which is also a big help. Heavy-duty foil is better than a less expensive, lighter weight foil. The lighter weight foil tends to tear easier, which lets freshness escape. Plastic wrap is useful, but make sure it actually clings. If you use plastic bags or plastic containers, make sure you always press out the air before sealing the bag or container. The less air you have in the bag or container, the longer the food will stay fresh. Don’t forget about nonperishable food items. When you cook for a crowd, money is usually a concern; therefore, looking for sales on the items you need is always wise. As you’re shopping, make sure you pay close attention to the expiration date or the sell-by date on the package. View Article

Parties & Celebrations Planning Thanksgiving Dinner on a Budget Article / Updated 10-26-2022 Cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd can be expensive, so it’s important that you start out with a firm look at your budget. If you’re the one making Thanksgiving dinner, ask yourself the following questions: How much can you spend? You may be thinking goose or duck, when your budget calls for turkey. What are the ages of the guests you’ll be cooking for? Teenagers, both girls and boys, can eat, eat, and eat some more. However, tots aren’t going to eat as much. What items can you borrow? Borrowing items can save you a lot of money. For example, if you’re hosting an upscale buffet served on china, you’ll certainly save money if you can borrow the dishes rather than rent them. What are you responsible for cooking? Are you cooking the appetizers, turkey, dessert, and everything else? Could you ask family members to cook one or two of the side dishes? What can you borrow? You may need extra plates, tables, chairs, glasses, cooking tools, and other items. Borrow them. Don’t waste your budget on items that you’ll rarely use and can borrow from friends and family. Nothing is wrong with getting some help and borrowing things you need instead of buying them. Planning a budget doesn’t have an exact formula, because a number of factors come into play. Remember that your budget should be a relatively firm guideline for how much money you spend — not necessarily 100 percent set in stone. The idea is to come up with a budget that helps you have a great event without maxing out your credit cards. Keep these issues in mind: Before you start planning anything, think about your bottom line. Don’t start with what you’d ideally prefer and then see what happens with your budget — you won’t like the results. Rather, start with a reasonable budget and work backwards. Plan the event according to your budget, not the other way around. You want something really elegant, but your budget won’t allow you to prepare everything you want. Instead of overspending, find ways to compromise. You may spend more on the entrée and try to find a few less expensive side dishes and appetizers to make up the difference. Remember, you can cook great food without breaking the bank, so think about how you can find a win-win resolution with what you want and what your budget will allow. Watch out for budget creep. As you plan, think about everything you need to buy so that your needs and budget are accurate. Be reasonable and flexible. You may try to tackle the world with the best crowd meal ever, but be reasonable about what you can spend and what you can prepare. View Article

Parties & Celebrations 10 Ways to Prepare a Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner Article / Updated 10-26-2022 Cooking for a crowd on Thanksgiving is always a little stressful. But with a little planning, your Thanksgiving dinner will arrive on the table without incident. Keep these tips in mind to run a smooth kitchen, which is especially important for a big holiday meal: Check what you need before you start cooking: Nothing is worse for a cook than being halfway through a recipe and realizing that you’re out of a key ingredient. Before you ever start working on a recipe, check all the ingredients, pans, tools, and anything else you may need and be sure you have them all on hand. Follow the recipe: The best way to ensure that your dish will turn out right is to follow the recipe exactly. When you’re cooking for a crowd, you don’t have time for experimentation, so now isn’t the time to exercise your creativity. Be careful with substitutions: Substitutions often work great, but err on the side of caution at Thanksgiving. If you want to make a substitution in a recipe, make a small-portioned size of the recipe and try it out before you make the crowd-sized serving. You don’t want any surprises on the day of your event, and substitutions can get you into trouble if you don’t test them out first. Use parchment paper: Parchment paper is a grease- and moisture-resistant paper used to keep things from sticking. It’ll save your cheesecakes, sausage balls, rolls, cookies, and other baked items from sticking to the pan. It also makes cleanup much quicker and easier. Parchment paper is inexpensive and available at most grocery stores. Tightly seal all containers: When you cook for a crowd, you need to make some foods in advance and store them in the refrigerator. Yet, refrigerators can easily cycle odors, and you may end up with foods that have absorbed tastes and smells that you don’t want. Make sure all containers and bags are thoroughly sealed when you store food in the refrigerator. Use heavy-duty storage bags, and double and triple the bags to make absolutely sure no odors can get in or out. If you need to store onion in the refrigerator, here’s a quick tip. Get a canning jar with a sealable lid and store the onion in it. Glass doesn’t breathe, so no odors will escape into your refrigerator. Avoid last-minute preparation: Some dishes can be made at the last minute, and some can’t. For example, sauces, dips, marinades, and other foods with combined ingredients often need time to chill and set. Plan, plan, and plan some more. Make sure your last-minute food preparation is reserved for foods that you really can and should make at the last minute. Wash your hands religiously: Raw meat and eggs often contain germs and bacteria, such as salmonella. Mix a little salmonella in your Caesar salad, and you’re asking for trouble. Because proper cooking kills germs and bacteria, your meat and eggs won't make you sick; however, you always run the risk of cross-contamination, which happens when you don’t wash your hands, the counter, or utensils with hot water and antibacterial dish soap before you use them on another food item. Avoid having too many recipes in the works at once: Cooking for a large group requires more focus than a typical family meal. As such, avoid trying to do too many things at the same time. Be aware of what you can’t do ahead of time: You can’t make everything in advance, so plan carefully. That chocolate soufflé will fall if you make it much in advance, and other desserts and dishes will have similar repercussions. In short, prepare what you can ahead of time, but if the dish doesn’t allow for it, then don’t. Be attentive to personal hygiene: Personal hygiene does matter, because the consequences are very embarrassing. So play it safe. Use a hairnet, or at least put your hair up if it’s long. Keep your fingernails short and don’t wear any jewelry when you’re preparing food. View Article

Parties & Celebrations Cooking For Crowds For Dummies Cheat Sheet Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-05-2022 You've committed to having a large group of friends and family over for a meal — but now what? The hardest part about cooking for a crowd is figuring out how much to cook. The quantity you make depends on how many people you're serving, of course, and whether appetizers are pre-meal goodies or the main attraction. Fortunately, experienced, crowd-pleasing cooks have figured out the quantity thing and are willing to share it with you. View Cheat Sheet

Parties & Celebrations How to Make Fancy Folded Napkins Article / Updated 12-13-2021 An inexpensive way to decorate your table for a special occasion is to make fancy folded napkins. Crisply starched napkins or weighty paper dinner napkins that are folded in interesting shapes bring art to the setting and can accentuate a dinner table with style. Fancy napkin folding is not as difficult as it looks, and the creative table dressing is an additional way to impress your dinner party guests! How should you fold a napkin for a fancy dinner party or holiday event? You can try various napkin-folding methods; start with these ways of folding to create fancy napkin designs. Fan napkin fold Using a simple accordion-style pleating technique, you can do a few napkin folds that work really well with napkin rings. Place these napkins in the center of your dining plate at each place setting. Fold your napkin in half. Beginning at one short end, start folding the napkin in an accordion style, making folds approximately every inch. Insert one folded end into a napkin ring. Push the napkin ring up no further than one-third from the bottom. Fan out the top pleats. Decorative pocket napkin fold Decorative pockets can hold silverware, a sprig of holly, place cards, or any other treat that you want to tuck in. You can place it in the center of each dinner plate at each place setting at the table, or if it’ll be holding utensils, you can place it to the left of the plate. To make a decorative pocket, fold the napkin in half and then fold it in half again to make a square (or start with a folded paper napkin). Turn the napkin to make a diamond shape with the folded point closest to you. Separate the free edges and begin folding each layer down to the point. Continue folding down layers, leaving the last layer up. Tuck the sides of the napkin to the back. Insert your silverware or other desired item. Buffet parcel napkin fold Try this pretty wrapping technique for when you want to accent your table with special ribbon. To do this, fold the napkin in half and then fold it in half again to make a square (or start with a folded paper napkin). Turn the napkin to make a diamond shape with the folded point away from you. Center the silverware on the napkin close together. Fold the side points in to touch the edges of the silverware, making small triangles. Overlap edges over the cutlery and tie a ribbon around the center of the parcel. Flower napkin fold The center of this folded napkin lends itself to holding little objects that could, for example, relate to a holiday or other special occasion. Or, with nothing placed in the center, this fold still looks pretty. To begin, fold each corner of the napkin into the center. Repeat again by folding the newly made corners into the center. Press or crease folds into place. Holding the folds together in the center, flip the napkin over. Pressing a finger firmly in the middle of the napkin to hold folds in place, reach under the napkin and begin pulling all the points out until complete. View Article

Parties & Celebrations How to Set the Table Like Royalty Article / Updated 08-31-2021 You want to use all your best china and crystal stemware—at least once a year, right? But where in the world do all the silver, stemware, and plates go? For a formal table setting, use this image as a guide. View Article