Thanksgiving Tips

I love hosting Thanksgiving! I come from a close, extended family and our regular ‘ol Sunday gatherings easily exceed 15 people. I embrace family gatherings and it warmed my heart last week when Dude said Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday, because “it was strictly about family and giving thanks.”  I always like to go the extra mile for Thanksgiving and add extra special touches that I hope the kids will always remember about our family dinner. Here are a few tips to make your Thanksgiving special too:

If you are cooking:

I got this tip from a Food Network Thanksgiving special several years ago. Bobby Flay said don’t be afraid to write out a cooking/baking “schedule” on paper (he had me at “schedule”) and to write down the time you intend to serve the meal and work backwards from there. For example, you write down 1:00 as your meal time, then calculate back 5 hours for “turkey in the oven at 7:00 am,” and so forth. Once you get it on paper, you will have an hour by hour schedule to follow and check off as you go. Believe me, this is almost fool-proof to making sure your mashed potatoes don’t get overlooked in all of the chaos. I now do this for all big family dinners and it works like a charm!!

This is my actual “schedule” from last year. Most of the prep work was done a day or two in advance, so Turkey Day prep itself was only 5 hours long!

Kids love table decorations:

I purchase several little pumpkins and dried corn with husks to scatter on the table (I’ve always been able to find them at Whole Foods).  Not only are they reminiscent of the “first Thanksgiving” for the little ones, but they are also kid proof when little hands must touch everything in front of them. If you are crafty, buy or get inspiration from these adorable kits from Paper Source for your Thanksgiving place cards or napkin rings. Another super simple, cheap, and kid friendly table decoration is to purchase a package of turkey napkins and place one in each glass on the table. It has a big impact with little effort.

I scored these turkey paper napkins at Hobby Lobby several years ago on clearance and I use them every year for an extra special touch.

Making the most amazing turkey:

Summon your inner Martha Stewart with her great tips in this turkey prep video.  Although Martha always have great advice, I recreated this AH-MAZ-ING turkey last year from a blog I stumbled upon. If you are a foodie, but still want simple and straightforward recipes with easy to follow tutorials, please follow Our Best Bites! It’s in my Top 5 for everyday reading, especially with the holidays approaching.

Involve the kids:

I think Dude has come to love Thanksgiving with us because the kids are an integral part of the family gathering. No kids’ table here. My big dining table seats 8 and that’s not nearly enough. So instead of sitting the kids elsewhere, I break out a card table and use it to extend the main table. Throw a nice tablecloth on top and now there is extra room for everyone. Dude also lead us in the blessing last year and the kids use the same china and silver as the rest of us. This is not to say we have a fussy, formal meal at which the kids are expected to be on their best behavior. It’s a regular family dinner (we always serve kid friendly mac & cheese at our Turkey Dinner), but with those extra special details.

I hope your Thanksgiving is as wonderful as I know ours will be! If you have any great entertaining or cooking tips, especially involving your little ones, let me hear them!

Bridget
Bridget was born and raised in San Antonio and moved back here after college and law school. She is a wife, full-time attorney, wrangler of four kids ages 15, 13, 3 and almost 2. As both a stepmom and mom, her life and house is always full and she loves to share about blended family life. Bridget is also passionate about infertility advocacy after having suffered multiple miscarriages and multiple rounds of IVF. Now with her stepkids, rainbow baby, and surprise baby, her family is complete and she is soaking up every minute of motherhood!