Thanksgiving is a hectic time planning Thanksgiving Dinner is key to help your Thanksgiving holiday run smoothly.
Organizing a Thanksgiving meal can arise fear in the heart of even the most organized homemaker. Anyway, you all want to celebrate with your closed ones. Having a preplanned list can make things easy for you. In this post, you’ll learn all about planning Thanksgiving dinner successfully.
Since we all know how stressful planning Thanksgiving dinner is, I’ve created a free planning Thanksgiving dinner planner to help you with your Thanksgiving dinner. This will also help you with how to manage time at Thanksgiving.
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Planning Thanksgiving dinner by meal planning
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List out on a piece of paper
, who is going to bring what and the dishes you are going to prepare. Accordingly, distribute it amongst the family members. It’s a celebration for all, joining in the preparation is also a part of Thanksgiving. The whole family gets together to enjoy this occasion. When you have guests coming, they have their list of favorite dishes such as sweet potato pie, then that’s the dish they will bring.
Planning Thanksgiving dinner by deciding what is left for you
Now that you know what is leftover and how you need to put them into the sequence. Decide the dishes, take a printout of the recipe, clip them together for an easy retrieval.
Planning Thanksgiving dinner by sticking to the basics
Yes, there will be guests who like to enjoy basic things on a thanksgiving, if you are throwing a party. Basic dishes that people love to eat: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pie. Make sure you have everything to offer, on top of that if you still have time and mood, go creatively. You can try adding up side dishes, that will spice up the game. Try grilling the vegetables with any twist of spice, or opt for grilled corn rather than steamed corn. This won’t take the kitchen stove, no worries about crowding the kitchen.
Planning Thanksgiving dinner by making a grocery list
Once you are done with the recipe, now you can make the shopping list. You know what to buy, put it aisle by aisle. Pick a store that sells everything, meat, dairy, canned goods, grains, sweets, and snacks. Keep the list with you and tick mark anything that’s done. This will help you avoid the “oh! Crap, I forgot this” moment. You might need more than one trip, running to a farm if you are making a turkey. So, to avoid rush buy and store it in a freezer, brine it 4 days before the main meal.
Planning Thanksgiving dinner by getting everything ready
Now, it’s the time for decorations, all of you enjoy this part. Doing it with family is even more fun. If you have guests coming, don’t prepare the bed yet, just do the bed lining and check if towels are in right shape and place. This will consume less of your time when you are hosting them. Make sure the bathrooms are deep cleaned which will obviously affect your reputation, you won’t be worried about finding something before or on the Big day.
Planning Thanksgiving dinner by decorating
Try to keep decoration minimum, simple and classy. This will help you assemble the stuff after the big day. The idea can be pretty much like a tablecloth with an extra hint for flowers in a ball jar or edibles like fruit, nuts, small pumpkins and gourds in a glass bowl.
This is all you’ve been working toward so that you can sit down to enjoy your meal, play games with your guests, and feel happy on this Big Day!
To help you enjoy a stress-free Thanksgiving you can download the free Thanksgiving planner below.
Hopefully, the tips will help you with planning Thanksgiving dinner for you and your friends and family.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Have an amazing day.
Jenn
I have a small binder that holds lists for each holiday. It starts with the menu for that particular holiday and who is making it. Next, I list those who attended. After the fact I add what was a success, if the amounts were right, etc. Growing up in a big Italian family, our celebrations always started with an antipasto, then a pasta course like lasagna or stuffed shells. The last course was turkey, filet of beef or some other meat along with many sides. Over the years I’ve trimmed the menu because there are fewer people attending. The menu currently reflects food allergies of family members such as celiac disease, pepper allergy, etc. I definitely will incorporate your list to help me get organized.
That’s such a great idea keeping a list of allergies! What a wonderful tip, thank you for sharing!