Holiday Meals & Entertaining Articles

Article / Updated 09-20-2023

It's Halloween. Either you're getting your kids ready to go trick-or-treating or you're preparing for the onslaught of little candy hounds at your door. Hopefully, you've read the following ten tips beforehand so you'll have a fun, triumphant trick-or-treating night! Stock up: You don't want to be known among the neighborhood kids as the people who ran out of candy early in the evening. It doesn't bode well for you next year. Need a formula? Divide the average number of trick-or-treaters you typically get by the servings in each bag of candy. Then, take into account how many pieces of candy you like to give per child and adjust your bag count accordingly. If you do run out of candy earlier than expected, follow these instructions carefully: Immediately turn out the lights and TV. Stay low and retreat to the back of the house. You might think that handing out toothbrushes or granola bars rather than candy is doing what's best for the kids, but they will hate you for it. They want candy. Determine ahead of Halloween night what your parent candy tax will be. This might take some calculation, depending on the number of children you have and whether you intend to levy the tax based on the volume of pieces overall, or perhaps, different values for different types of candy. And now just a tad of seriousness about safety: Before your kids go out trick-or-treating, make sure they will be visible in the dark. Pick bright costumes or add reflective accessories and glow sticks to their ghoulish garb. Also on the safety side, make sure your kids' costumes fit properly and don't restrict their mobility or hamper their vision or hearing. Know the basic Halloween etiquette: Only approach homes that have their outside lights on. Add the color teal to your Halloween decor and help kids who have food allergies enjoy the holiday. A teal-colored pumpkin placed outside your door signifies that you'll have non-food treats (stickers, small bouncy balls, art supplies, etc.) available for kids with food allergies. Also, a child carrying a teal bucket signifies food allergies. Check out the Teal Pumpkin Project for more information. While you're considering the color teal, also consider blue — watch for trick-or-treaters with blue buckets, which can signify that they are autistic individuals. These trick-or-treaters (and some could be older than you'd expect) might seem hesitant and may not be able to say "trick-or-treat!" So, hand out some candy, and give them a warm Happy Halloween greeting. Want to have some fun with the older teenagers you know in your neighborhood who still go trick-or-treating? (This does not go for the trick-or-treaters with the blue buckets in the last tip.) Ask them to answer a quiz question before they get a treat, like "What's the square root of 49" or "How do you spell intelligence?"

Article / Updated 09-18-2023

Bûche de Noël is French for Christmas log. This dessert with the fancy name is found in every pastry-shop window in France during the month of December. It’s simply a yellow sponge cake rolled around a white chocolate and cherry filling. You can start this the day ahead and let it sit overnight. Preparation time: 45 minutes; 8 hour cooling time Cooking time: 20 minutes Yield: 10 servings Yellow Sponge Cake for Bûche de Noël 1/4 cup whole milk 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 cup cake flour 1 teaspoon baking powder Pinch salt 3 large eggs 3 large egg yolks 1 cup sugar Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a jellyroll pan with pan coating, line with parchment paper, and spray again. Place the milk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat to melt the butter, or melt the butter together with the milk in a microwave. Stir in the vanilla extract; set aside, keeping warm. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixer's bowl, beat the eggs, yolks, and sugar on high speed using a balloon whip attachment until the mixture is light and fluffy and a ribbon forms, about 2 minutes. Resift the dry ingredients onto the egg and sugar mixture in three batches, folding after each addition. Start folding with a whisk, and finish up the last batch with a large rubber spatula. Drizzle the warmed milk and butter mixture over the batter a little at a time, folding all the while. If you add the liquid too quickly, it will sink instead of becoming incorporated. You’ll end up with a rubbery layer in your cake. Pour the batter onto a jellyroll pan, using an offset spatula to spread evenly. The cake will be thin. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating front to back once during baking. The cake should be puffed and light, golden brown. A toothpick will test clean. Do not overbake or the cake will loose its flexibility. Place on a wire rack and allow the cake to cool completely while still in the pan. Use immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Whipped White Chocolate Ganache Filling and Frosting 3/4 pound white chocolate, finely chopped 2-2/3 cups heavy cream Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a medium-sized pot and immediately pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 3 minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If many unmelted chocolate pieces remain, let sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally; the residual heat will melt any remaining chunks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Cherry Filling 14-1/2 ounce-can sour pitted cherries, water packed 3 tablespoons cherry liquid (from the canned cherries) 3 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons kirschwasser liqueur Drain the cherries, reserving 3 tablespoons of the liquid. Place the liquid in small saucepan. Place the cherries in small mixing bowl; set aside. Add the sugar to the cherry juice and stir together. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add kirschwasser. Pour over cherries and reserve until needed. Begin assembly the day before serving or very early on the day of serving. Have ready a large, flat serving platter. It must be at least 18 inches long and 6 inches wide, and must be able to fit in your refrigerator. You can also create a tray by covering cardboard with aluminum foil. Per serving: Calories 627 (From fat 369); Total fat 41g (Saturated 24g); Cholesterol 229mg; Sodium 140mg; Carbohydrates 58g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 8g.

Article / Updated 09-15-2023

This cake is a fun centerpiece to any Halloween party. After you bake two recipes of the Chocolate Cocoa Cake and whip up three batches of stiff decorator frosting, follow these steps to finish a ghostly Halloween creation. For the decorations you will need: 1 pound of black licorice Four 2-x-4-inch squares of chocolate (from a 7.5-ounce chocolate bar) Black food coloring gel Red food coloring gel Thirty-six red and purple square-shaped sour hard candies, broken into jagged pieces with a meat tenderizer 14.4-ounce box chocolate graham crackers, finely ground in a food processor Four skeleton pops Two ghost cupcake picks Two pumpkin cupcake picks One plastic glow-in-the-dark skull-and-crossbones ring One witch cupcake pick Prepare a cake board that’s approximately 18-x-24 inches in size. Use plywood or fiberboard that’s wrapped with cake foil or Halloween wrapping paper covered with clear heavy cellophane wrap. Stack the cakes toward the back of the board as follows: Set the two square cakes one on top of the other to form the bottom floor of the house. Center the loaf cake on top of the bottom floor; set the half-loaf on top of that floor; and set the one-eighth piece on top of the half-loaf to form a witch’s perch. Lay lengths of licorice around the top and base of each level, except for the witch’s perch. Using chocolate frosting as glue, affix chocolate bar squares to the center of the bottom layer to make the mansion’s door. Mix 2 cups of chocolate decorator frosting with black food coloring gel. Outfit a pastry bag with a coupler, a #7 tip, and black frosting. With black frosting, pipe a square window on either side of the mansion door. Pipe four square windows on the second story of the house, three square windows on the third story, and an oval-shaped window on the witch’s perch. Also pipe a doorknob and an awning on the door. Mix 1 cup of white decorator frosting with red food coloring gel. Outfit a pastry bag with a coupler, a #4 tip, and red frosting. Along the top edge of the first three floors (not the witch’s perch), pipe a string of pointed red drips to look like seeping blood. With an icing spatula, spread 2 cups of untinted chocolate frosting in front of the house. Outfit the black frosting bag with a #10 tip, and, over the chocolate frosting yard, outline a crooked walkway leading to the front door. Fill in the walkway with crushed hard candies. Spread the chocolate graham cracker crumbs on either side of the walkway. With the black frosting bag, pipe frosting onto the candy tops of the skeleton pops. Scatter the skeleton pops to resemble trees in the mansion’s yard, sticking them into the frosting in the front yard, and mound chocolate crumbs at the base of each pop. Refit the black frosting bag with a #67 tip, and pipe drooping black leaves on the skeletons’ hands. Stick the ghost picks and pumpkin picks on the second and third floors of the mansion, and push the skull-and-crossbones ring into the oval-shaped window on the witch’s perch. Insert the witch pick into the very top of the house.

Article / Updated 12-02-2022

Ideal latkes (potato pancakes) are lacy and crisp — and this recipe delivers. Delicious potato latkes are a Hanukkah tradition in many Jewish families, but they're always a hit at any kind of party, at dinners, or as a savory snack. Serve them with applesauce, sour cream, or yogurt. In kosher kitchens, sour cream is not served with latkes if they accompany meat or poultry dishes, but you may find applesauce on the table. Usually, you don’t need additional toppings for latkes when they are companions for main dishes like stews or any that come with a sauce. You simply spoon some of the sauce over the latkes, too. Light and Crispy Latkes (Potato Pancakes) Special tool: Food processor with large grating disc or hand grater Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Yield: 4 servings (12 to 15 pancakes) Keeping kosher: Pareve 1-1/4 pounds large potatoes, peeled 1 medium onion 1 egg, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup vegetable oil, more if needed Using coarse grating disc of a food processor or large holes of a hand grater, grate potatoes and onions, alternating them. Transfer the mixture to a colander. Squeeze mixture by handfuls to press out as much liquid as possible; discard liquid. Put potato-onion mixture in a bowl. Add egg, salt, pepper, flour, and baking powder. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a deep heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet. For each pancake, add about 2 tablespoons of potato mixture to pan. Add 3 or 4 more pancakes. Flatten with back of a spoon so that each measures 2-1/2 inches. Fry over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Using 2 pancake turners, turn them carefully. Fry second side about 4 minutes, or until pancakes are golden brown and crisp. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Stir potato mixture before frying each new batch. If all the oil is absorbed during frying, add 2 or 3 tablespoons more oil to pan. Serve hot.

Article / Updated 11-18-2022

Listen to the article:Download audio Hosting Thanksgiving this year? Guess what? It’s actually possible to host a fantastic Thanksgiving meal and not get completely stressed out! Try these Thanksgiving hosting tips, which come from several excellent articles on Dummies.com. And, have a happy, fun, yet peaceful, holiday. Find even more great advice in our “Have a Beautiful (and Tasty) Thanksgiving” collection. Carefully determine your menu: Start planning as early as you can and consider what you’d love to do versus what’s actually feasible. Plan to have a couple of items that are more difficult and take more time, and a few items that are quick and easy. Include room in your meal budget for beverages: Don’t forget the soda; wine, beer, spirits, and mixes; and maybe some hot drinks, like cozy hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks (maybe even spiked with some rum for the adults). And don’t forget the ice! Prepare some items in advance: The more side dishes and appetizers you can prepare in advance, the easier the big day will be. Here's a solid list of make-ahead Thanksgiving dishes you can prepare before the holidays. Follow a tried-and-true recipe for your turkey: There’s a time for experimentation in cooking and a time when you’re having 10 people over for dinner and you need to get it right. This would be the latter. Don’t be a hero: Ask for help, and the trick is knowing when you need it. Be realistic; if you simply have too much to do, make some calls. Can a family member make one of the side dishes or pick up the soda? People love being needed, and the goal is to have a fun, delicious Thanksgiving! Add color and style to your platter: An easy way to create a beautiful turkey platter presentation is to garnish around the edges with a few different types of fruits and vegetables, such as: cranberries, small apples, a pomegranate sliced in half, piles of leafy greens or fresh herbs (like whole basil), and red and green grapes. Set up early: If possible, get your decorating done and table set at least a day before Thanksgiving. It’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about on the holiday. Ensure you have the essentials: Your shopping list should include supplies for your dinner party, including paper napkins, paper towels, disposable dinnerware (if you don’t have enough glasses, plates, silverware, etc.), pot holders and trivets, and containers for leftovers. Take a timeout: On Thanksgiving Day, build some downtime into your preparations. Your mind and body will work better if you can take a break. For 15 minutes or a half hour, put your feet up, watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, read an article, or just stare out the window. Involve the kids: Getting your kids involved in preparing for the holiday is good for you and them. Depending on their ages, kids can help with setting the table, decorating, helping guests, and cleanup. Older children can help with cooking tasks and the drivers can help with shopping.

Article / Updated 11-01-2022

Thanksgiving really lends itself to inexpensive decorating, which is nice because we all know what a chunk the upcoming holidays can take out of the old budget. It's also a wonderful holiday to share decorating with kids. Nature provides the most wonderful decorating materials for free. A quick trip to the backyard, a farmers market, or the park can sometimes give you everything you need to decorate gracefully and sufficiently. Infuse a little color into your world by decorating with an artist’s canvas! Purchase a few pre-stretched and primed canvases at your local arts and crafts supply store. Use these as your seasonal accent pieces! Kids can finish them in several ways: Wallpaper them: Have you ever seen abandoned wallpaper books at your local paint and wall coverings store? Often, these retailers pile up discontinued wallpaper sample books available free to any takers. Here’s your chance to use small samples for a big effect. Choose a few wallpaper samples in complementing colors and let them cover the canvases. Depending on their age, you might have to help with the measuring, cutting and pasting.! Attach objects to them. A spoon, knife, fork, pine cone, leaf, or other objet d’art can be tied or glued to the center of a blank canvas for a three-dimensional piece of art. Change the objects to reflect each season. You can paint, paper, or attach and reattach findings to them for each season. Because canvases are inexpensive, you can replace them when needed or add to your collection as desired. Use these little pieces of art to color block a wall or use where you’d normally place a picture. Children would also enjoy the following holiday decorating projects: Gather autumn leaves: Rake and create! Freshly fallen leaves are perfect for spreading out on a table around candles and centerpieces or stringing one on top of the other for a stacked leaf garland. To help get everyone psyched up, be sure to rake up a separate pile of leaves that the kids, and the kid in you, can take a tumble in. The plus? You get your yard raked. Create centerpieces: Gather an assortment of mini pumpkins, gourds, nuts, candles, and baskets or plates for each child. Place a large pillar candle in the middle of the basket or plate and then let each child start placing the items around the base of the candles until her she gets the desired look. Frame your children’s art: Find some simple frames that complement your décor and give the frames a special place in your home, which can be a corner in the family room. Decorate the infamous “children’s table” at Thanksgiving with children’s art. Better yet, display it on the dessert table.

Article / Updated 10-31-2022

Holiday meal planning often includes a main course of roasted turkey, a Thanksgiving favorite baked to a golden bronze and served up with richly flavored and piping hot stuffing. Cooking and carving your turkey can be simple tasks, with these easy-to-follow instructions. In this recipe, the stuffing is baked separately, not in the turkey. You can also choose to stuff the turkey with stuffing and bake it. Just spoon stuffing loosely into the cavity right before cooking, and then tie the legs together. Increase the cooking time (as shown in the accompanying table) to allow time for the stuffing to heat thoroughly. Before serving, scoop the stuffing into a serving bowl. Roast turkey recipe Tools: Chef's knife, vegetable peeler, large roasting pan, roasting rack, meat thermometer (unless the turkey comes with one), kitchen string or twine, carving board Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 3 to 3-1/2 hours (for a 12-pound turkey) Yield: 12 servings Ingredients: 1 fresh or thawed frozen turkey (about 12 pounds) 1 medium yellow onion, quartered 2 carrots, peeled and quartered 2 large cloves garlic, crushed 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Salt and pepper Instructions: 1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, with the oven rack on the lowest rung. 2. Set a wire roasting rack in a large roasting pan. Remove the giblets and neck from the turkey cavity and reserve for the stock; discard the liver. (While the turkey is roasting, you can prepare a quick turkey stock with the giblets and neck if you're making homemade gravy). Remove any excess fat from the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold water and pat dry. 3. Place in the turkey cavity the onion, carrots, and garlic. Tie the legs together with kitchen string. If desired, bend the wing tips back and fold them underneath the turkey. 4. Set the turkey, breast side up, on the roasting rack. Rub the turkey all over with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup of water to the roasting pan. If using a meat thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the thigh, close to the body, without touching any bone. 5. Roast for about 3 to 3-1/4 hours, or until the thigh temperature registers 180 degrees F. Add another 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan if it gets dry. To brown the turkey evenly, turn the pan laterally about midway through the roasting. If the turkey turns brown before the roasting time is over, cover it loosely with aluminum foil to shield the skin. Start checking for doneness during the last 30 minutes of roasting, and baste with the pan drippings two or three times during the last hour. 6. Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer it to a carving board, and cover loosely with aluminum foil, letting it rest for 20 minutes while you make the gravy. Remove the vegetables from the cavity and discard. Carve as shown. For an attractive presentation, garnish the turkey platter with fruits and other attractive produce. Try a heap of fresh cranberries, piles of leafy greens or fresh herbs (such as whole basil), a few kumquats or orange slices, or red and green grapes dusted in sugar. Nutritional information: Per serving, with gravy: Calories 505 (From Fat 173); Fat 19g (Saturated 6g); Cholesterol 204mg; Sodium 598mg; Carbohydrate 2g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 76g. Per serving, without gravy: Calories 404 (From Fat 122); Fat 14g (Saturated 4g); Cholesterol 171mg; Sodium 206mg; Carbohydrate 0g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 66g. How long should you cook your turkey? Turkey roasting times vary by weight of the bird: Weight of Turkey Turkey Cooking Time (Unstuffed) Turkey Cooking Time (Stuffed) 8 to 12 pounds 2-3/4 to 3 hours 3 to 3-1/2 hours 12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3-3/4 hours 3-1/4 to 4 hours 14 to 18 pounds 3-3/4 to 4-1/4 hours 4 to 4-1/2 hours 20 to 24 pounds 4-1/2 to 5 hours 4-3/4 to 5-1/4 hours Every year, hundreds of thousands of people wind up in hospital emergency rooms as a result of kitchen accidents involving knives. Many injuries have resulted from time-pressed, hungry people trying to pry apart frozen hamburgers, slicing through hard bagels, or using dull blades that slip. Don't make their mistake! Slice away from your hand, keep your fingers clear of the blades, and don't ever use the palm of your hand as a cutting board. Keep your blade in peak cutting condition by keeping it sharp. Carving your turkey Learning how to carve a turkey properly is important to ensure that you get the most meat and that the portions can be distributed to your guests in an aesthetically pleasing way. For additional tips on carving a turkey, see Carving a Turkey or How to Carve a Turkey video and the illustration below.

Article / Updated 10-26-2022

You’ve worked hard deciding what foods to serve on Thanksgiving and have chosen the finest ingredients. On Thanksgiving Day, why not create some visual impact with the food you’re going to serve? Here are tips for adding some flair: Make your own dip bowls: When serving a vegetable tray with dip, try making a bowl out of a red, yellow, or green bell pepper. Simply wash the pepper, cut off the top portion (about 1/4 to 1/2 of it from the top), and remove the insides. Wash the pepper thoroughly with water and allow it to dry. Then fill her up! Likewise, when you serve a fruit tray with dip, try using an orange, grapefruit, small cantaloupe, or honeydew melon. Carve holes in your bread: Breadbaskets or bread bowls are great for serving dips, soups, sandwiches, and individual servings of bread, such as muffins and sliced bread. To make a breadbasket, take a large loaf of bread, cut a circle in the top, and remove its insides. You can also use smaller round loaves of bread, preparing them as you do the larger loaves and using them to serve soup. Garnish: Fresh mint sprigs, cilantro, and parsley are the most common garnishes. Place them in the center of the food item, and you won’t go wrong. The addition of the small piece of greenery can have a huge visual impact. Make special garnishes: To make a tomato rose, first wash and dry a tomato (other than a cherry or grape). Take a sharp paring knife and, starting at the top, gently “peel” the skin off in the same manner you’d peel an apple. Then gently take one end of the peel and start rolling it up to create a rose shape. The end result is a beautiful garnish that will make you look like a pro! To fashion a strawberry fan, take a washed and dried strawberry (with the green stem still attached) and, using a paring knife and starting at the bottom, cut thin slices into the strawberry. Slice up to the green stem. Gently fan the pieces of the strawberry out and place it on the food as a garnish. Break out the baskets: When serving bread, rolls, muffins, chips, or crackers try placing them in a basket that you’ve lined with a color-coordinated napkin. Cookies are also a good choice to serve out of a basket, as long as they’re of the crunchy variety, not chewy. The chewy kind is best served on a platter so they don’t break apart. Eating utensils and napkins can also be served in baskets. Mask your dishes with leafy greens: Leaf lettuce and kale cover a multitude of ugly platters, plates, and the like. Make sure you thoroughly wash and completely dry each piece of the greens, then line the platter with them and place the food on top. Borrow Grandma’s paper doilies: When you’re serving a food such as chips, cookies, or anything else that doesn’t belong on a bed of lettuce, line the platter with foil and then place paper doilies on top. Use baking pans as big platters: Have a large piece of meat to serve and no platter big enough? Use a cookie sheet or a jellyroll pan lined with lettuce. Vary the heights of food: You can greatly boost your table’s appeal by using various heights with your dishes. For example, use a cake pedestal to serve cookies or a tiered serving dish to serve snacks. With just a little planning, you can give the food a whole new look.

Article / Updated 10-26-2022

To decorate for Thanksgiving, you can choose from a variety of colors and styles aside from the typical, traditional theme for decorating. Choose from the many colors, items, and accent pieces in the following table to get ideas or inspiration for your Thanksgiving decorating. Because Thanksgiving is centered around celebrating a bountiful harvest, preserved flowers and displays of fruit fit into the decorating scheme. Although you may not like the idea of decorating with potatoes or rhubarb, you can refer to their colors when choosing accessories or accent pieces. Of course, if you want to decorate with sweet potatoes, don’t let anyone stop you! Inspiration Pieces for Thanksgiving Colors Fabrics Botanicals Accent Items Deep tones of reds or wines Velvets Pumpkins and gourds Woven baskets Browns Chenille Autumn Leaves Wreaths made of natural materials such as vines, wheat, leaves, twigs, or berries Purples in eggplant or grape Heavy cottons Twigs Metals in antiqued gold, bronze, or rust finishes (pewter is pretty for this holiday as well) Greens: from deep sage to light pear Fleece Sheaves of wheat Earthenware Golds: from bright yellows to antiqued gold Tweeds Nuts Candles in pillars, tapers, or votives Creams: from ivory to white Flannels Chrysanthemums Pilgrims Oranges: from pumpkin to sweet potato Wools Roses Native American Indians Tapestries Fruit: pomegranates, cranberries, grapes, blackberries, kumquats, apples pears Cornucopias Vegetables: corn, rhubarb, sweet potatoes, beets, squashes

Article / Updated 10-26-2022

Even the cook should get to enjoy a stress-free Thanksgiving. So, if you're hosting this year's holiday festivities, follow these tips to help take the stress out of getting ready to cook a Thanksgiving meal: Make a plan: Poor planning is probably the greatest stressor when you're trying to execute a large meal, particularly Thanksgiving dinner. If you want your holiday meal to run smoothly and keep you from aging ten years over the course of a week, you must plan the event carefully, well in advance. Organize: Make lists of everything you need to keep organized (ingredients, dishes, kitchen gadgets and accessories, guests, tablescapes, activities). Once you know exactly what you’ll need, you can round up the items, and organize them in a way that makes them accessible. Keep a general head count: Crowds tend to be ever-changing. At first, Uncle Joe and Aunt Juanita plan to come, then they decide they can’t, then they decide they can and ask if they can bring Joe's brother. Especially around holidays, the reality is that crowds often shift, so it’s up to you to keep an accurate head count as you move forward. However, don’t spend all your time trying to keep a solid count or you'll drive yourself — and your guests — crazy. Expect some changes on your guest list, just always err on the side of too much food than too little. Just try to keep a general head count running at all times so you know what you’re up against. Carefully determine your menu: It’s easy to get excited about a holiday meal and go overboard with your menu. Keep your head out of the clouds and think carefully about everything you must do to create each dish. Plan to have a few items that are more difficult and take more time and a few items that are quick and easy. Prepare some items in advance: A vital trick when cooking for a crowd is preparing as many items in advance as you can. The more items you can prepare in advance, the easier the big day will be. Here's a solid list of make-ahead Thanksgiving dishes you can prepare before the holidays. Don’t be afraid to borrow: Just because you're the host of a holiday dinner doesn't mean you should have all the pots, pans, dishes, and supplies on hand. When you cook for a crowd, borrowing items is perfectly fine. You don’t need to buy everything you may need, and you don’t need to suffer in silence, either. Create a workflow: A workflow will help you manage your tasks and ensure that everything gets done. Eat well, exercise, and sleep well: Everyone has gone into panic mode at some point. In those times, reality seems to go out the window, and you zone in on one particular task. As you’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, try to keep the same schedule. Eat the same kind of foods you normally do, get some exercise, and go to bed and get up at the same times as usual. If you keep your body in sync, you’ll keep a level head on your shoulders. Take a breather: Build some downtime into your Thanksgiving day. Your mind and body work better if they both can take a break, so don't feel guilty if you put your feet up, watch a parade, or read an article for 15 minutes. You’ll feel refreshed, and those overwhelmed feelings will remain at bay. Ask for help: The trick is knowing when you need help. As Thanksgiving day nears, be realistic. If you simply have too much to do, make some phone calls and get extra help. Your goal is to have a fun, successful Thanksgiving Day.