IT'S EASY

My house is the place everyone comes for Thanksgiving. I'm not going to say I don't get a little stressed around this time of year, but it is so much easier to host a large crowd when I am organized. I start preparing about a week in advance. I plan my menu and although most of the time it is the same menu, occasionally there are variations that must be accounted for. Guests arrive anywhere from a week to a few days before the major event and it helps that I keep sets of sheets, towels, and other guest essentials ready to go. I have a prepared grocery list for the entire menu including additional meal plans for guests and that helps tremendously. Grocery shopping  for all the meals happens at least a week prior to the festivities and once completed, cooking, chopping, slicing, and dicing begins!  This step is known as "mis in place." a French phrase for getting everything set up. I assign everyone a job and that not only makes everyone feel important and involved, it also helps to lessen the workload. The important part of any plan is to remember something can and will go wrong! And if it does, grin and bear it. Like a FB post I saw earlier from my friend Kelly B., "Just remember peeps, this week is not about the china you set, the silver you place, the centerpiece you order, it is about the family and friendships that will create your most important tables cape." Happy Thanksgiving.

xo, jan
@janmccarthy
www.janmccarthy.com