Thanksgiving Dinner 101

November 13, 2019 | by amanda ryan

So, you’re hosting your first Thanksgiving…

The food, the mess, the entertainment, ah! It can all seem so overwhelming when you have never hosted Thanksgiving and you are trying to be a one-woman (or man) show.

While a ton goes into the Thanksgiving Day feast, there’s no reason why you need to wake up at the crack of dawn and stress out until the food is on the table.

This is why we’ve created a “Thanksgiving for dummies” guide that offers tips to make the day easier, especially if it’s your first time hosting.

So, without further ado, here are our tips for making your first Thanksgiving as a host go off without a hitch…

THANKSGIVING 101

Prepare Any Food that You Can Ahead of Time

With a large meal like Thanksgiving, food prep will be your best friend. Foods that are served cold or at room temperature like deviled eggs, a relish tray, or pie can be made the day before and served on Thanksgiving.

This will take a huge load off when you’re trying to prepare the food that needs to be served hot.

If you’re serving casseroles or bakes for the big day, it is also helpful to assemble them the day (or two) before so they can just be popped into the oven on Thanksgiving.

Let Your Guests Bring Passing Dishes

Thanksgiving is not a day that you want to let your pride get in the way of asking for help. Encouraging your guests to each bring a passing dish takes a huge load off of you. Just think about it, doesn’t it make more sense for six people to each bring one dish, rather than one person making six dishes?

Allowing your guests to bring food will give you more time to spend with them, which is probably a better trade for them anyway!

Use Disposable Baking Pans

One of the biggest stressors for Thanksgiving Day is the number of dishes required to prepare and serve the meal. I’m guessing you don’t just have 12 baking pans laying around your home, which leaves you washing tons of dishes in-between cooking.

Who has time for that?

This is why using disposable baking pans makes the day so much easier. You just bake your dish in the baking pan and throw it out when you’re all done! Not only does it make preparing food much easier, but the cleanup after the meal is easier too.

While hosting your first Thanksgiving can seem like a daunting task, there are plenty of ways you can make the day easier. With a little planning and help from family, your turkey day will be a total success!