We love homemade food in our family. We like things simple, but we are not about to sacrifice taste for simplicity. Last year we were trying to come up with ways to make things simpler, but many of the suggestions, we were not willing to take as they compromised the taste.
We did find some things that worked for us though, and last Thanksgiving was wonderful, when it came to being simple.
#1 thing that helped:
Make as much ahead of time as you can!!!
I baked several pies on Wednesday or Tuesday and had them in the fridge or cold for the day of the dinner. We peeled the potatoes on Wednesday, put them in a bucket of cold water with cream of tarter and they stayed beautiful for the meal. Since we serve a lot of people, it was a 4 gallon bucket full of potatoes.
Toast the bread for stuffing the week before even. The day before, cut up all celery, etc for the stuffing.
Make a detailed list of what everyone is bringing!
Use pan liners for the turkeys- eliminates dishes
Bring containers for leftovers. It helps to organize the first and for the people who are leaving, and want to take some with them.
Thanksgiving can be a ton of work, but it also can be very relaxing and enjoyable with the right preparation, with prep ahead of time and careful planning!
Great tips, Martha! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the link. 🙂
Very nice blog! Your picture is beautiful!!
I agree with keeping things simple for Thanksgiving (or any holiday.) Last year I went so far as to bake and serve several oven dishes in foil pans; less dishes to clean afterward. “Fancy” can be a lot of work.