How to Plan Thanksgiving Dinner

Introduction

• So you've decided to host your very own Thanksgiving dinner! Your friends and family will be coming in from all across the country expecting a flawlessly executed Thanksgiving feast and you don't have a clue as to how to start preparing. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Not if you have the right battle plan! With a little preparation and a lot of work, anybody can host a spectacular Thanksgiving Dinner. Follow these tips for How to Plan Thanksgiving Dinner and you'll be the toast of Turkey day!

Decide On The Guest List

• While a great meal is the centerpiece of a fabulous Thanksgiving, it's all for nothing unless you have guests to enjoy it. Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to reconnect with friends and family around the dinner table. Here are some tips on putting together your Thanksgiving guest list:

1. Make a list of all the people you plan on inviting. Make sure that you have the resources (food, table space, patience) to accommodate the amount of people on your list.
2. Call or write them to find out whether they will be attending. Write down the people who will Definitely be attending, as well as those who Might.
3. Find out if any of your guests have dietary restrictions (Vegetarians, Vegans, Kosher) that you might need to take into consideration. For tips on possible vegetarian dishes, see Mahalo's page on How to Have a Vegetarian Thanksgiving
4. Come up with a final number of guests, including a few extra for those who might make it. This is important for calculating exactly how much food you will need to buy.

Plan Your Menu

• Now that you know how many guest will be attending, you can begin to plan the menu for your Thanksgiving Dinner. Make sure that you start planning your menu at least a week in advance so that you have enough time to get all of the necessary ingredients.

Thanksgiving Food Suggestions

• • Main Course: Turkey (Obviously), Ham, Quail, Turducken, Cornish Game Hen, Duck, Tofurkey
  • Side Dishes: Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Biscuits, Cranberry Sauce, Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Thanksgiving Casseroles, Succotash, Corn, Cornbread, Butternut Squash, Yeast Rolls
  • Desserts: Sweet Potato Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Thanksgiving Cupcakes, Thanksgiving Cookies, Apple Pie
  • Drinks: Thanksgiving Wine, Apple Cider, Holiday Drinks, Beer, Hard Cider, Mulled Wine

Planning Your Menu

1. Start by making a list of all of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes you want to make (see above for suggestions).
2. If you don't already know how to make each of the items you will be serving, search for recipes that will show you how.
3. Figure out how much of each dish you will need to make to feed all of your guests. (see the Turkey calculator below).
4. Make a shopping list of all of the ingredients (and the amounts) you will need to make each dish.
5. Take inventory of your cooking supplies to make sure you have all of the necessary equipment (pots, pans, utensils, serving trays). If there's anything missing, add it to your list of things to buy.
6. Figure out which dishes can be prepared in advance of Thanksgiving. The more work that you can get done beforehand, the better. To save time, try pre-measuring any dry ingredients and spices that you will be using.

Buy Food & Equipment

• Now that you know how much food you will need, you are ready to go out and get the ingredients and equipment for your Thanksgiving feast.

1. To avoid the Thanksgiving shopping rush, go ahead and purchase as much of the food as you can about a week before the big day. This will save you from fighting the crowds of last-minute shoppers.
2. Wait to buy perishable items such as vegetables until a few days before Thanksgiving.
3. If there are any items that need to be pre-ordered, make sure you do it in time to have it ready by Thanksgiving.
   

   Get your shopping done early (Creative Commons photo by Eric Schmuttenmaer)
4. If there is a specific piece of cooking equipment you need, see if any of your guests can lend you one for the night.

Money Saving Tips

1. Before shopping, look in the newspaper for coupons on basic meal items, as well as ads and flyers for Thanksgiving food specials and sales.
2. Buy frozen vegetables instead of canned ones in order to save money. They may take longer to cook, but they are also often healthier as well.
3. Buy generic products whenever possible. Look for supermarket brand specials that cost significantly less than the name-brand version.
4. If you will use the extra food, buy in bulk in order to save money. Wholesale stores such as Costco and Sam's Club will often have good deals on bulk purchases.

Clean Your House

• All right, you've got all of the necessary food and equipment for your meal and you're feeling pretty good about things. But then you take a look around your home and realize that it's a mess! If your house looks like a tornado just hit, it won't matter how great your meal is. No need to panic, though. Here are some tips:

1. Do a full house cleaning two days before Thanksgiving.
   • Then check the day before for places you might have missed in your initial cleaning.
2. If you're going to be using nice dinnerware (such as your Mom's fine silver or china) go ahead and give them a good cleaning and polishing beforehand.
3. If you think that some guests may end up staying the night, make sure to set out some clean linens and towels, as well as figuring out where your guest will be sleeping.
4. Don't stress out about getting everything spotless. Your guests won't notice if there's a slight smudge on one of your windows, so don't kill yourself trying to make sure everything looks perfect.

Holiday Cleaning Resources

• • Service Magic: Holiday Cleaning
  • Num Sum: Holiday Cleaning List (Spreadsheet)
  • Budget Home Cleaning: House Cleaning Checklist

Put Up Decorations

• A great way to add to the festive mood of your Thanksgiving day celebration is to spend a little time setting up fall and Thanksgiving-themed decorations. While you don't need to spend a ton of time on this (this step is optional), a few well-placed decorations and Thanksgiving flourishes can be a great way to spruce up your home for the holiday. Here are some tips:

1. Add a little flair to your dinner table by folding your napkins into a fancy pattern. Check out eHow's pages on how to fold a Pleated Fan Napkin, a Peace Lily Napkin, a Bird of Paradise Napkin or a Pocket Vase Napkin.
2. Another great way to add some autumn colors to your dinner table is to use a Thanksgiving centerpiece. While you can always buy a pre-made centerpiece, making one is not as hard as you'd think. Visit HGTV for how to make a simple fall centerpiece.
3. Give your kids something fun to do by asking them to help with making the decorations. Look through these fall arts & crafts projects for ideas.

Thanksgiving Decoration Resources

• • eHow: Thanksgiving Decorations
  • FamilyFun.com: Thanksgiving Decorations
  • HGTV: Thanksgiving Centerpieces, Crafts and Decorations

Prepare The Meal

• Now it's crunch time. Your house is clean, your decorations are up, your menu is planned and all of your ingredients, recipes and equipment are ready to go. This is what it all comes down to: Thanksgiving Dinner! Here are some tips on preparing your Thanksgiving feast:
  

  Get all of your ingredients laid out beforehand to save time. (Creative Commons photo by Sam Felder)

1. Prepare as many dishes as possible ahead of time. Cranberry sauce, for instance, can be made up to a week in advance and stored in your refrigerator until needed.
2. If you're using a frozen turkey, make sure that you give it plenty of time to defrost before you begin cooking.
3. Save yourself some time by chopping and refrigerating your vegetables the day before Thanksgiving.
4. You don't have to do everything yourself. If there is a particular dish that you know you won't get around to making, see if one of your guests can bring it. There's nothing wrong with a potluck Thanksgiving.
5. Feel free to ask your guests for help in the kitchen if you need it. In many households, cooking the food is almost as much of a communal activity as eating it.
6. The hardest part of a large meal is getting the timing right so that all of the dishes are ready at around the same time. Keep in mind the time it will take to cook each dish so that you can prepare appropriately.
7. Put some festive music on while you cook. This can help ease some of your stress and really put you in the holiday spirit.

Mahalo Food How Tos

• • We've been working hard here at Mahalo on a variety of Thanksgiving food-related How To articles. Check out these resources for tips and advice on how to make some of the most popular Thanksgiving dishes.

Turkey How to Cook a Turkey How to Pick a Turkey How to Deep Fry a Turkey How to Make Turducken

Side Dishes How to Make Sweet Potatoes How to Make Stuffing How to Make Gravy How to Make Biscuits How to Make Cranberry Sauce How to Make Green Bean Casserole

Dessert How to Make Apple Pie How to Make Sweet Potato Pie How to Make Pumpkin Pie

Manage Stress

• Planning and executing a successful Thanksgiving Dinner can be an extremely stressful process. From planning and cooking your meal to cleaning and decorating your house, the high expectations that people have for Thanksgiving can cause an inordinate amount of stress for whoever is organizing it. Don't let this happen to you. Here are some tips on how to manage stress during the Holiday season.

1. The best way to avoid a stressful Thanksgiving is to make sure that you don't leave everything to the last minute. Trying to get everything done on Thanksgiving day is a recipe for stress. Good preparation is the key to a stress-free holiday.
2. Don't let your relatives stress you out. Tensions between family members can sometimes put a strain on an otherwise wonderful holiday gathering, so try not to let it stress you out. For additional tips, see Mahalo's page on How to Survive Thanksgiving Dinner with Your Family.
   

   Come and get it! (Creative Commons photo by Tammy Green)
3. This may sound cheesy, but focusing on what Thanksgiving is really about (Giving Thanks) can help put all of the stressful situations in perspective.
4. If one of your dishes doesn't come out exactly how you imagined it, don't freak out. There will still be plenty of good food to go around, and your guests will be more likely to talk about everything that tasted great, rather than the one that didn't.

Conclusion

• Once all of the smoke clears and you are sitting down to a fabulous feast with your friends and loved ones, stop to think about why you went to all the trouble of putting together a Thanksgiving dinner. Although planning a Thanksgiving dinner party can often be a stressful, exhausting and time-consuming process, it can also help make for a wonderful holiday experience that you and your family will remember for the rest of your lives. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the meal!

Resources

• eHow: How to Plan a Thanksgiving Dinner Timetable
• How To Do Things: How to Plan Thanksgiving Dinner
• About.com: Organize Your Thanksgiving Entertaining Plans
• Homemaking Organized: 10 Tips for Planning Your Thanksgiving Dinner
• Associated Content: Thanksgiving Dinner on a Budget
• Ezine: 7 Secrets for a Stress-Free Thanksgiving
• LSUAgCenter.com: Thanksgiving Dinner Costs Less This Year (2007)

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