Shake a Tail Feather! There are only 15 Days Until Thanksgiving!

Here we are again, at our battle stations preparing for Thanksgiving.  Menu discussions have started. Guest lists are being written. Carpet cleanings and household “honey do’s” are underway. Getting ready for Thanksgiving is always a huuuuuuge job but somehow in the end, it all works itself out.

But, what if I told you Family & MWR could make your job hosting Thanksgiving more streamlined and simple? What if I told you we could help you save some time here and there? Oh, yes, my friends! We’ve done the hard research and found a few ways to help you succeed at Thanksgiving without tiring yourself out, getting on your kids “most hated” list or arguing with your spouse.  Ok…you may still argue with your spouse but it won’t be because the turkey isn’t thawed.

We’ve come up with a list of things you can do to help with Thanksgiving prep, cooking, serving, and activities for all ages. If you think you can use a little shortcut, keep reading! Some of these ideas just seem so obvious but until now I’d never even thought of them!

Prepping for the Big Day

 

This makes perfect sense! Use your coolers as small refrigerators! You can either store Thanksgiving ingredients in there or store other foods so there is little traffic at the main frig.

 

You mean, I can go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving one or two weeks before Thanksgiving to buy the canned goods, frozen foods, and household items?? …and by doing so, I won’t have to spend a long time in the store as they become more crowded? I may even be able to complete my shopping a week before Thanksgiving?  Mind. Blown! 

 

Prepare the pie…crust, filling, and top crust then freeze it. Just wrap the pie in plastic wrap and foil before freezing and add twenty to forty-five minutes of extra cooking time to your recipe on bake day.  Voila!

Cut and label your veggies days before they’re needed. Store them in plastic baggies in the frig (or cooler) and enjoy the convenience of prepped veggies on cooking day.

 

Cooking for an Army

This is actually a great idea! I’ve done this! Tape your printed recipes to your kitchen cabinets. The recipes will be at eye-level making reading the recipe a breeze. Another benefit to this is that you save counter space…and your cookbooks from ingredient spills.

Using any normal cheese grater, grate frozen butter directly into pie crusts or biscuits. Keeping the butter cold makes everything tender and flaky, and grating it is much easier than cutting it into flour.  Who knew?

I take my potatoes seriously so I feel it’s my civic duty to get this information out to the masses. All potatoes are NOT created equally and each variety has its own purpose.  For me, the Yukon Gold or Butter potatoes make the best mashed potatoes!

Using a tiered oven rack to bake more than one dish at a time is brilliant! …and if you have two ovens… Wowzers!!! Getting dinner ready should be a breeze!

Activities to Keep Folks Out of the Kitchen

Who doesn’t like a good scavenger hunt? The game can take place inside or throughout the neighborhood.  Pair a younger child with a teenager and give each pair a list of things to find. Set a time limit and let them go a-hunting. They can either bring the actual item or a picture of the item to the finish line. The winning team gets a prize!

 

The objective of the game is for a player to have their partner/team guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card. Use words that are related to Thanksgiving, have a timer and a buzzer handy and make sure someone is recording the fun!

For this game, you’ll need a big floor-sized easel, flip chart paper and markers. Write Thanksgiving themed words on little pieces of paper or popsicle sticks and put them all in a bowl.  The objective of the game for each team to guess the word or phrase being drawn by their team-artist.  At the end of the playing time, the team with the most correct guesses wins!

There are hundreds of websites that offer free Thanksgiving themed printables (crosswords, mazes, coloring pages, word searches, etc.). Print a couple of pages per child, get crayons from the dollar store, carve out a space for them to spread out and let their little creative juices flow.

Serving

How many times have you done the Thanksgiving Serving Dish Dash? I’ve seen my parents do this. Run from the pantry to the basement to the china cabinet looking for the “big bowl” or the gravy boat. Spend a few days before Thanksgiving finding and labeling your serving dishes so you know what you have and which food goes in which dish. Don’t forget to place a serving utensil with each serving dish.

 

…another brilliant idea! Use crock pots to keep food warm. That way the mac and cheese stays appropriately gooey, the mashed potatoes don’t turn into snow balls and that second and third plate is just as comforting as the first.

 

Whether you serve a seated Thanksgiving dinner or a buffet, how you display the flatware can add a festive touch to the meal. Not only will the flatware be used during dinner but it will serve as decoration before dinner.

You’ve cooked for an army. They’ve eaten all they could (probably more than they should have) and there’s still a ton of food left. How’s about sending each family home with a bag of leftovers? Make a stop at the local dollar store and get the foil carryout/take out containers. As you’re cleaning up after dinner and preparing to store food, you can scoop out leftovers for guests ensuring that everyone can enjoy your meal at least one more time.

It’s not easy to do all that you do so your family and friends can have a nice holiday. We hope these few hacks and short cuts will help take some of the stress off of you this Thanksgiving so that you, too, can have a pleasant holiday! …at the very least, maybe you’ll be able to sit and take longer breaks.

Happy Thanksgiving!