Have a Beautiful (and Tasty) Thanksgiving

If you've accepted the responsibility and fun of hosting this year's Thanksgiving gathering, let Dummies help you prepare! Check out these helpful articles on planning the meal (even on a budget), decorating, carving the turkey properly, and much more.

Articles & Books From Have a Beautiful (and Tasty) Thanksgiving

Article / Updated 10-25-2023
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. ©Africa Studio / Adobe StockIn this recipe, the stuffing is baked separately, not in the turkey.
Article / Updated 10-25-2023
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.
Article / Updated 10-25-2023
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: ©Lordn / Adobe Stock Make a plan: Poor planning is probably the greatest stressor when you're trying to execute a large meal, particularly Thanksgiving dinner.
Article / Updated 10-25-2023
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? Try these following tips for adding flair to your Thanksgiving table. ©Evgenyb / Adobe Stock 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.
Article / Updated 09-29-2023
If you are serving dinner to a Thanksgiving crowd you will need to include room in your budget for drinks. Plan on offering hot and cold drinks, decide whether you will serve alcoholic beverages, and always be sure to offer water. Also, don’t forget to have plenty of ice on hand. ©Mark Stout / iStockphoto.comWhen serving soft drinks, it’s important when planning your menu and looking at your budget to decide whether to serve them from cans or 2-liter plastic bottles.
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.
Video / Updated 10-26-2022
Carving a turkey yourself can make Thanksgiving (or any holiday) even better. Turkey carving requires cutting with the right knife to enjoy meat from the drumstick, wings, thighs, and breast — no matter how you cook your turkey.
Article / Updated 10-26-2022
Cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd can be expensive, so it’s important that you start out with a firm look at your budget. If you’re the one making Thanksgiving dinner, ask yourself the following questions: How much can you spend? You may be thinking goose or duck, when your budget calls for turkey. What are the ages of the guests you’ll be cooking for?
Article / Updated 10-26-2022
Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is a big endeavor, but you can take a lot of the stress out of the holiday by preparing some foods in advance. Take some time to go over your menu and determine which dishes you can make ahead of time. Read on to see suggestions for tasks you can perform before the big day arrives. ©Thomas John / Unsplash.
Article / Updated 10-26-2022
Cooking for a crowd on Thanksgiving is always a little stressful. But with a little planning, your Thanksgiving dinner will arrive on the table without incident. Keep these tips in mind to run a smooth kitchen, which is especially important for a big holiday meal: Check what you need before you start cooking: Nothing is worse for a cook than being halfway through a recipe and realizing that you’re out of a key ingredient.