Time-Saving Tips for Preparing Holiday Meals
By Amanda Knoles
In your zeal to provide a special dinner for family and friends, try not to lose sight of the fact that a holiday gathering is supposed to bring people together for a good time. That includes you. Don’t plan a meal that is so fancy or difficult to prepare, you will spend all your time running back and forth to the kitchen.
Do as much as you can ahead of time. Good planning and advance preparation will allow you to relax and spend more time with your guests. If cooking isn’t really your forte, order a turkey and all the fixings from a local supermarket or caterer. Many restaurants also offer family-style holiday meals.
Organize special recipes that you want to use in a folder. Shop for tablecloths, napkins, extra glasses and utensils well in advance. If you wait until the day before the holiday to buy a seasonal tablecloth you may be out of luck.
Allow friends and family members to help. Don’t be such a perfectionist that you can’t turn over salad or mashed potato preparation to someone else. Concentrate on the main entrees and side items that are your specialty.
If you have a large family contact relatives ahead of time and ask them to bring something. Most families have an aunt who is well known for her fantastic potato salad or an uncle who excels at roasting meats. Don’t ask people to make dishes they’ve never cooked before.
Plan to serve your feast buffet style unless you have a dining room large enough to accommodate everyone. Buffet style meals can help reduce the stress of planning a sit-down dinner. Instead of worrying about whether you have enough complete plate settings, you can opt for paper plates and plastic utensils or use mismatched sets and no one will care. Rent extra chairs or ask guests to bring folding chairs to provide extra seating. No one wants to eat turkey and cranberry sauce standing up.
Assign tasks to family members who aren’t cooking. Put someone in charge of ice and drinks, others in charge of heating the dinner rolls, someone in charge of cleanup, etc.
Organize your cooking utensils, pots and pans, baking pans and potholders within easy reach so you won’t have to spend time looking for things during meal preparation. Most people who cook frequently have already taken this step, but those who cook only occasionally may find themselves searching for gadgets and cookware they use infrequently.
Set up your kitchen like restaurants do. Use food stations for meal preparation. When certain areas are assigned for chopping veggies, heating things on the stove and cleanup, people are less prone to get in each other’s way. If you have a large gathering, create an assembly line to make cleanup more efficient.
Make a list of items you need for the holiday meal before shopping at the grocery store. Write down everything you need for each part of the meal to make sure you don’t forget anything. Check your pantry and fridge to make sure you have staples like flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, etc.
In the days before the holiday feast do advance preparation by chopping onions and celery, grating cheese, baking pies and cookies and thawing meats like turkey or ham. Use see-through containers so that when you reach for something while you are cooking, it will be easier to spot.
While you are cooking, clean the dishes and workspace as you go. For example if you are making lasagna, you can clean the pans and spoons used in preparation while the dish is baking.
Prepare beverages like iced tea, lemonade and fruit punch in large size pitchers. If you are entertaining a big group, borrow or rent a large coffee service so you won’t have to keep brewing fresh pots of coffee.
Buy more meat than you need. Since you will be roasting it for several hours you might as well choose a turkey and ham large enough to provide leftovers for meals in the days after the feast.
If your refrigerator is small and you don’t have room for all the leftovers, send guests home with doggy bags. Let them choose the items they would like and wrap them in foil covered paper plates or disposable containers. Your bachelor uncle or your grandparents can enjoy heating up turkey and cranberry sauce the next day and you will have more room in your refrigerator.
Use a calendar to plan your holiday feast. Mark off days for food shopping, baking, assembling pans and utensils, assigning foods for guests to bring, renting or borrowing chairs and tables, etc. The more organized you are before the big day the easier it will be to enjoy yourself when your guests arrive.
