It's November already and the holidays will be here before you know it.  When I was young, my mom would get up at 5:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning.  She would work in the kitchen all day until the turkey was served at 6:00 p.m.  When I became responsible for making Thanksgiving dinner, I knew I did not want to spend the whole day in the kitchen, but still wanted to host a nice dinner party.    So, I "organized" the planning and execution of my Thanksgiving dinner.  I realized that there were so many things that could be done ahead of time.  If you want to simplify your holiday entertaining, here are some tips that you can do starting now.

Prep Your Menu

The first thing you need to do is to determine your menu.  Create a list of everything you want to serve.  This should include: entree, sides, appetizers, desserts, and drinks.  Once that is complete, you can create your shopping list.  Actually, you should create 2 shopping lists: perishables and non-perishables.  Non-perishables can be purchased now.   This reduces your shopping time during the busy week of Thanksgiving.

However, before you start shopping,  you should make room in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for all of that yummy food you're going to buy.  Dispose of all expired food and other food that "looked good" when you bought it, but nobody is eating.  Also, make note of what is currently in your pantry to determine if it can be used for your Thanksgiving dinner or if it can be used before then.

Now that your pantry is ready, you can start purchasing items form your non-perishables grocery list.  Keep all of these items together in one place, so you can find them when you are ready to start preparing food for your dinner.

Can I Make This Ahead?

Take a look at your menu.  Determine which items could be made ahead of time and frozen.  Some good candidates for that are: rolls, muffins, many desserts, and many of the sides that are popular for a turkey dinner.  The more you can do ahead of time, the less work you will have on Thanksgiving day.  I make sweet potato biscuits, apple pie, and pumpkin rolls which all go into the freezer.  I take them out the day before and they are as good as the day they were made.

If some of your menu items cannot be made ahead, perhaps some of the steps of the recipe can be done ahead of time.  Some examples of this are: washing and chopping ingredients and browning meat (which can then be frozen).  I sauté celery, onions, and sausage for my stuffing ahead of time and then freeze.  On Thanksgiving morning, I mix it with my bread and seasonings and pop it in the oven when the turkey comes out.

I guarantee that if you follow at least some of these tips, your Thanksgiving day will be easier.  If you want more ideas, just search the internet for  "Thanksgiving Planning".  There are many articles that go into more detail that what I have covered here.  There are even extensive checklists that will guide you through the entire process.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving.