October 22, 2020

One Month Until Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is about one month away which is typically my cue to start thinking about a menu if I’m hosting. Over the next month we will have lots of tips and resources for hosting a thanksgiving dinner and many recipes to choose from if you’re just bringing a dish to a loved ones home.

With the countdown to turkey day starting now here are the five things to start thinking about as you plan your meal.

1. Who is on the guest list?

Most important is knowing how many people are attending your gathering so you know how big that bird will be. Check-in with your guests to see if they have any food allergies, restrictions or aversions. While you may not go as far as making a tofurkey for your vegetarian cousin it is a nice and welcoming gesture to make sure there is at least one or two dishes he can eat. It’s also important to start thinking of what dishes you’d like your guests to bring which leads to…

2. What are my cooking/baking strengths?

If you love making stuffing but hate making pie it is time to start delegating! No one expects you to make every single traditional thanksgiving dish as host but a little direction on what guests should bring goes a long way. I create a list of what I’d like to make and what I’d like others to make. First person that asks me what they can make gets choices like, “Could you bring a side, dessert or something fun to drink? Please let me know what you’re bringing so I can take it off my list”. The third or fourth person to ask will have a much more specific ask like, “No one is making an apple pie yet. Are you comfortable bringing one of those?” Finally, if you ask day of the party what you can bring my go-to is either wine or ice because you can never have too much of either.

3. When do I want to serve the meal?

Deciding what time your meal will be ahead of time helps you prep. If your guests are arriving at 2 and you aren’t eating till 5 you’ll want to include appetizers or snacks on your menu. If you’ll be serving pretty soon after guests arrive you can jump straight into the meal. You’ll also want to think about how early you’ll need to get up on thanksgiving to start prepping and work backwards from your meal time. Personally, I also need to plan around my toddler’s nap. I can get a lot more done when she’s sleeping and that definitely is a factor in what time we will all be eating.

4. Where will I seat everyone and serve food?

Especially during a pandemic, figuring out your seating situation ahead of time is very important. Are you and your guests comfortable sitting at one long table? Should you have smaller tables spread across multiple rooms? Will you serve buffet style or family style? So many decisions! The sooner you can figure this out the earlier you can let your guests know (for Covid reasons) and start gathering up your tables and chairs.

5. How can I prepare now?

During a normal year I’d start planning my menu and begin to look for sales on the nonperishable ingredients. This year, it’s not just about the sales but also about making sure the grocery store has what I need stocked. The earlier I can buy my ingredients this year the less stress I’ll have as the big day approaches and I won’t have to be hopping around to multiple grocery stores the week of looking for enough sticks of butter. Cause we all know…I’ll be using a lot of butter.