· Accept Offers- say yes for offers of others bring food especially if they are accommodating their own diets.
· Assign Your Serving dishes – decide what serving dishes you’ll use for each dish the day before.
· Decorate with food – What a better way to celebrate the season’s harvest than to display a fresh bounty of fruits and vegetables. Than use them the next day for salads.
· Save a step with fresh-cut veggies – let the supermarket salad bar help with the cut up fresh vegetables.
· Embrace the five- ingredient recipe – your guests won’t know or care how elaborate your recipes are.
· Get back to flavor basics – you can do a lot with salt and pepper.
· Contrast textures for lively dishes – Put crunchy with tender: crunchy almonds with tender green beans.
· Line the trash can with two bags so you can take out a full one and have the second in place.
· Clean the Kitchen as You Go - Don’t wait until you've served dinner to tackle the dishes or you'll be stuck in the kitchen all night. At the least, wash big items—the roasting pan, large pots—and scrape plates and place them in the sink or a large bin filled with soapy water. Don't forget to designate a few helpers (your teenage kids, say!) to assist with the cleanup.
· Keep Kids Busy on Thanksgiving - Avoid the stress that comes when little ones jump on the couch or wash their dolls in the punch bowl by designating a room where they can watch a movie and munch on snacks. Other options: set up an easy craft, such as tracing their hands to make turkey-shaped place cards, or put out sugar cookies with sprinkles and tubes of icing and let them decorate their own treats.
· Let dessert come out of its shell – People are skipping the crust and just eat the filling?
· Take a hike/walk – get the guest out of the house in between the meal and the dessert.
· Use Chinese restaurant-style takeout boxes to distribute leftovers – pick up some boxes at a local craft store or stop by the local Chinese place and buy a few.
· Encourage your children to see how important it is to have a thankful heart.
· When the table is set and everyone is seated for the meal, take turns expressing the things that you are most thankful for.
· You want to do as much ahead of time as possible.
· Get yourself and your table ready first.
· Remember: it’s about the people, not the food.
