Hosting Thanksgiving can be quite stressful, especially if it is your first time hosting. Do not panic yet! There are ways to plan out the weeks and days leading up to Thanksgiving to make sure everything runs smoothly and as stress-free as possible!

This year is a little different due to COVID-19, the CDC recommends a Thanksgiving feast with the members of your household, but you can still make it special nonetheless.

If you start planning your Thanksgiving meal in the beginning of November it is sure to take a load off of your shoulders instead of last minute planning a few days before.

Here’s a few tips to prepare:

Beginning of November:

About a month or so before Thanksgiving, it is a great idea to get your meal planned and make a shopping list of the things you will be making for your dinner. You should take note of the perishables and non-perishables, you do not want to buy something too early and it is no good by the time you need to use it on Thanksgiving day. However, the non-perishables can easily be picked up during other grocery trips to start gathering the meals instead of running around to find these things in a rush days beforehand. Plus, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner is very commonly used: mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, gravy, biscuits, etc. so the chances of finding these items will get harder to locate the closer Thanksgiving gets.

Two Weeks Before Thanksgiving:

Make sure you have all dishes and linens that will be used ready and available and make sure you have enough for all of the guests attending. You also want to make sure you have enough silverware.

If you plan on decorating, this would be a good time to get the decorations together, whether you are buying decor or making a DIY decoration.

By this time, you need to finalize the guest list and the meal you are planning to make. You also want to take note of food allergies or intolerances, and make substitutions if it is necessary. Some substitutes could be difficult to find or cook with if you are not familiar with them, so it is best to get familiar sooner rather than later.

Mapping out a cooking time will help ensure all food is getting cooked at appropriate times so at dinner time everything is fresh, hot and ready to eat. There also may be dishes you can make beforehand and store in the fridge, making those early lessens the load the day of.

5 Days Before Thanksgiving

This is when you want to gather the last bit of groceries you need to complete your meal. Turkey should be ordered now, if it hasn’t been already. Take note of the “best by” dates to ensure your food will still be fresh by Thanksgiving.

If you’re purchasing a frozen turkey to cook yourself, allow the turkey to thaw in your fridge for 24 for every 4 pounds of turkey. For example, a 12 pound turkey would need 3 days to thaw in the fridge. A good rule of thumb to stick to a thawed turkey is usually good up to 4 days completely thawed in the refrigerator. Anything past that, you are risking Salmonella.

Plan for leftovers. This is a great time to go through your refrigerator and get rid of any food that is going bad, or other leftovers that most likely will not get used. Making room now makes it easier for the clean up later.

Doing a deep clean of the house is great to get it out of the way so the day of you can lightly clean up and put your attention on more important things.

Day Before Thanksgiving

Now is the perfect time to make desserts that you have planned. You can either freeze them to ensure they stay fresh or just simply put them in the refrigerator, but they should definitely still be good the next day.

This is also a great time to set the table with place mats, plates, silverware, etc. Instead of doing it the day of, the night before makes everything easier so you can just put the fresh food on the table in designated spots, it will also help you ensure you have enough room on the table for all of the food you plan on cooking.

Thanksgiving Day

This is what you have been preparing for! Try to stay calm, and if you followed the preparation timeline, some of your stress should be eliminated by being prepared in advance.

Take the turkey out for an hour or two before you’re ready to cook it. Make your stuffing, gravy, etc. and get the turkey ready for cooking. Once it’s in the oven, make all the side dishes while it is cooking because it will take the longest. Make sure you keep an eye on the time, and occasionally bask the turkey to ensure it comes out nice and juicy.

Enjoy your meal!

Happy Thanksgiving from Kevin Szabo Jr Plumbing!

Guest Contributor: Tiffany Powell