Effortless Entertaining: No-Stress Thanksgiving
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Thanksgiving, along with the other holidays of the season, should not be the cause of stress yet every year, friends and family lose their minds with the planning, preparation and practice of the masses converging for the big meal.
I, on the other hand, love preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I completely take over, will not let a single helper in the kitchen (until clean up), and handle the feast from beginning to end.
While I find the preparation relaxing, most people do not.
So, we've put together a no-fail, no-stress planner to make Thanksgiving, or any other big meal for that matter, manageable and possibly even enjoyable.
- My mantra:
Food is to be enjoyed, so if any part of the preparation
process makes you want to scream, it's not worth it.
- Pre-made meals:
Most gourmet and chain supermarkets offer a menu of
Thanksgiving entrees and fixings mix and match with these
prepared choices with your own signature dishes or just order
the whole dinner and the most you'll have to do is figure out
presentation.
- Prepare ahead: Casseroles, pies and other baked treats
can be made in advance and frozen. Take advantage of freezer
friendly foods and stash away! I make the stuffing and
cornbread, brine the turkey and lay out my kitchen the night
before Thanksgiving so I'll be ready to roll the next
morning.
- Family fun:
Make the preparation fun for all: turn on some great music, open a bottle of wine, assign various friends and relatives to tasks, and start the party in the kitchen!
Before you know it, dinner will be served.
Finding new recipes is a cinch with the Internet log on to Epicurious for an enormous database of fabulous choices culled from every issue of Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines as well as a variety of well-known cookbooks. Don't forget to check out our recipe database too.
And, after you've fed the troops, stick those who sat out to watch the game with clean-up duty.
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