Thanksgiving at both of my grandma’s houses were extraordinary!  We hung out with family and friends, ate loads of turkey, potatoes, and pie.  One thing that as a kid I never noticed but as I look back on it now as an adult and it stuns me…both grandma’s stayed in the kitchen to ensure that everyone was fed.  I don’t remember them sitting in on all the fun but go to the kitchen for a drink or to swipe a cookie or roll and there they would be.

When my children were little we started having Thanksgiving at our house to make it easier on us.  My kids didn’t ride well in the car together, but what siblings do?  Hosting Thanksgiving made it easier on us but made things much harder on me.  Not once, until recent years, that we’ve had Thanksgiving at our house (except for the time we had BBQ from a local restaurant) was dinner ever on time.  I also didn’t get to enjoy my guests.  Why was this so hard?  I planned for weeks, shopped ahead of time, ensured I had everything I needed for the big day…what was I doing wrong?

Here are 5 tips for the day before that I implemented that has made things so much easier for me.

1. Chop all your vegetables and refrigerate until you need them.
2. Peel and cut your potatoes. Cover them with water and put in fridge until you are ready to cook them.
3. Make any sides that can easily be reheated without  tasting reheated and refrigerate.
4. For stuffing cut up your bread, place on cookie sheet, place in oven overnight.   For dressing, cut up your bread and put in pan you plan to cook it in, then add your other ingredients and refrigerate until you are ready to bake.  I bake mine for all but the last 10-15 minutes then pull it out and refrigerate and finish baking the next day.
5. Set your table.
6. Have all your serving dishes out and labeled with what you intend to put into them.  This saves time digging through a cabinet only to find you are missing an item.

Hopefully this will help you as it has helped me to host Thanksgiving AND enjoy it.

What are some tips that you use to help save yourself time while entertaining?