Do you love to entertain? Are you known for your well-organized dinners or will this be your first holiday hosting? The holidays are fun as long as you relax and have a plan.
When I first started having family and friends over for the holidays, I nearly pulled all-nighters as I wanted my entire house to be immaculate and make everything from scratch. I got up on Thanksgiving morning at 5:00 a.m. to get the turkey into the oven so it would be done by 11:30 a.m. for a noon meal. I set an elegant table with fancy folded cloth napkins and real silverware. I loved every minute of the preparation as I saw it as a way to express my love for my family. I still do, but now I have a more relaxed approach to holiday meal planning.
Here are some tips to make the workload easier around the holidays.
I always bake the turkey the day before the festivities. This eliminates the work of carving the turkey with all the ensuing mess. I debone the turkey and slice the turkey breast after resting the bird for 30 minutes before carving. Resting the bird is sometimes hard to do on the actual day of the meal since hungry masses typically want to eat “RIGHT NOW”. I place the turkey in multiple 9×13 pans and pour some of the pan drippings over the meat to help keep it moist. If you want lots of gravy, save the pan drippings for that and use chicken broth instead. I cover with foil and clean up all the mess of the roasting pan. Make sure to allow the meat to cool slightly before you place the pans in the refrigerator overnight. Freeze the bones to make bone-broth later.
I also make the gravy in advance. The real advantage to that is if it is a gravy disaster, you have time to pick up a couple gravy packets and save the day.
A couple of hours before our dinner I load the pans of turkey into my oven set on warm or put it in a large electric roaster I purchased from Buchheit.
I also make and freeze the mashed potatoes. Since I harvest my spuds, I mix up substantial qualities of mashed potatoes and freeze them in casserole dishes. The trick to this is using only real cream and butter. The fat from the dairy protects the starches in the potatoes from crystalizing, and they taste freshly made. Same with sweet potatoes, mashed and made ahead, all that’s left is to warm them up.
I keep my part of the meal simple. I make the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, steamed cake and pies; okay that is still a lot of work, but I love to cook! This is when all that summer canning comes in handy as I open some canned applesauce and get the sweet corn out of the freezer. Almost forgot to mention the pickles, canned peaches, jams and apple butter for the hot rolls.
If you stick to the basics and allow your guests to bring their signature recipes, you will have an incredible meal.
Be sure and check to see what each guest is bringing. I forgot to do that one year and everyone brought a dessert! We laughed and enjoyed our meal, but now I make sure the meal is more balanced.
The thing you need to remember is to relax and don’t take on more than you can chew. You don’t have to have both pie, cake and homemade ice cream if it’s going to make you crabby and exhausted before the day is over. Take time to sit and visit with your family during the holidays. Make memories! Be blessed!
Ann May
