Thanksgiving Day might just be the busiest day of the year for kitchens across the country. If you love to host, this is your day to shine! If you have to host, well … that’s a different story. Here are some tried-and-true tips and tricks that should make your hosting duties a little easier this Thanksgiving.
Let’s Talk Turkey
- First, buy a turkey that’s big enough. You want to serve ¾ lb to 1 lb per person. If you want leftovers, bump that up to 1 lb to 1 ½ lb per person.
- If you’ve bought a frozen turkey, don’t wait until the night before to thaw your bird. According to Butterball (the King of turkeys), you need 24 hours of thawing time in the refrigerator for every 4 lbs of turkey. A 12-lb turkey will take three days to thaw! To speed up the process, you can opt for cold water thawing. Check out Butterball’s thawing advice here.
Make Room
- Thanksgiving isn’t complete without a bevy of sides, but where will you cook all that food? While some dishes must be cooked or baked in an oven, choose at least a few recipes that can be made in a slow cooker, an air fryer, or a pressure cooker. Better yet, get all three going!
- Clean out your refrigerator a few days or a week ahead of time so you’re starting with a clean slate.
- Break out those coolers! Pack a cooler with ice and load it with all those bulky jars of condiments, pickles, jellies, and such in your fridge that are taking up valuable space. If you won’t be using them on the big day, throw them in the cooler.
- Use square and rectangular pans, instead of circular pans, so you can fit more in the oven when you’re baking and more in the refrigerator after the meal.
Keep It Warm
- Borrow a slow cooker (or two) from a guest ahead of Thanksgiving Day so you can get dishes out of the oven, but keep them warm while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- A big thermos is a great way to keep gravy warm before you’re ready to serve!
- If you’ve got another cooler, we’ve got more ways to use it. Layer warm dishes (with lids) on top of each other in an insulated cooler to keep already-done dishes warm while you’re finishing up the rest of the meal.
Think Ahead
- Make and shape pie crusts ahead of time (or just make the dough), wrap it in plastic, and freeze. Frozen pie dough lasts about three months.
- Make your gravy ahead of time and freeze it; then just heat it up on the stove.
- Most soups can also be made ahead and then frozen!
Entertain and Imbibe
- Get your appetizers and drinks OUT of the kitchen. Set up a pretty table with appetizers and a bar cart with drinks in a common area that is NOT the kitchen. Guests can mingle and watch football without interfering with your last-minute scramble in the kitchen.
- In addition to a few bottles of red and white wine, designate the bar cart as a make-your-own-drink station. A few basics such as tequila, vodka, gin, and rum will satisfy most guests. Don’t forget mixers like club soda, tonic, fruit juices, and mini cans of regular and diet cola. You’ll also want garnishes, an ice bucket and scoop (or tongs), cups, cocktail napkins, and straws.
- Have plenty of ice water sitting out for guests!
- No space to chill the white or sparkling wine before guests arrive? Check out this quick wine-chilling hack from Tanji!
More Tips and Time-Savers
- Set the table the night before. Better yet, let the kids or grandkids do it!
- DO NOT try a new recipe on the big day! We can’t stress this enough. Trying a fancy recipe or a complicated dish that you’ve never tried before is a surefire way to raise your stress level to a 10! If you want to try a new recipe, give it a test run a few days before.
- Don’t shy away from store-bought shortcuts. Things like ready-made cranberry sauce and even mashed potatoes (we’re lookin’ at you Bob Evans) taste great and will give you more time to make things you can’t find in a store. Ready-made pie crusts and already-assembled vegetable and cheese trays are also great shortcuts.
- If you’re feeling ambitious, take stock of your pots, pans, and utensils ahead of time. Get them all out and decide how many you’ll need and which ones you want to use. You can even label each pan, dish, serving platter, and serving utensil ahead of time with masking tape and the name of the dish that will go in it.
- Pick up some to-go containers at a big box store ahead of time so you can dish out the leftovers in a quick, easy fashion without giving away all your Tupperware!
- Last, but not least – check out restaurants in town offering Thanksgiving take-away orders. You can buy a few desserts, sides, or even the whole dang turkey to bring home for your holiday spread!
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