Hello Butterball Hotline?
How to avoid rookie mistakes and meltdowns when hosting a holiday meal
If you have signed on to host Thanksgiving, we salute you. Hosting a large holiday meal is a great service to humanity that often goes unrecognized. So first of all, we thank you for your service.
If you’ve always dreamed of the day you finally get to host and unleash your inner Martha Stewart, this day will probably be like the Super Bowl for you. If you’ve got new recipes you’re dying to try, bread you can’t wait to bake, and little turkey placecards you’re eager to craft, knock yourself out. I hope your hosting experience meets or exceeds your expectations.
If, on the other hand, you’re more like I was in my 20s, and you’ve signed on to host even though you’re not sure you’re really ready for this, we welcome you to the hosting club too. You’re brave. Perhaps nobody else was willing to step up, and you decided to rise to the challenge to ensure that there was a Happy Thanksgiving after all. I promise that this really doesn’t have to be difficult.
I’m gonna run down the key things your mom or someone should have told you about hosting Thanksgiving, especially if you’re a rookie.
Don’t let yourself get psyched out about hosting
IMHO, Thanksgiving is the easiest holiday meal to host because there’s a fairly standard menu. You don’t have to spend lots of time cruising the net for ideas about what to serve if you don’t want to. Everyone understands that the real purpose of the holiday is gathering together and giving thanks. So you shouldn’t feel pressured to come up with an innovative or impressive extravaganza.
Make a list of everything you plan to serve. Do yourself a favor and don’t deviate too far from traditional holiday menu items
Like it or not, most people expect to see certain traditional standards, such as turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, on the table. Sure you can sprinkle in an unusual side dish or two just because you want to, but I wouldn’t recommend deviating too far from what’s customary unless you’re confident that most of the people at your gathering will be down with that. If you need help getting started, check out Bab’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide. (But before you sign up to do dinner exactly like Babs would, see the next item.)
Don’t feel pressured to make everything from scratch
You don’t need to make this more complicated. Most folks find StoveTop stuffing quite tasty (and it’s easy). I confess that it’s my go-to. Canned gravy is a perfectly acceptable stand-in for made-from-scratch gravy (that’s what’s going to be in my gravy boat). Should you decide to make your own pumpkin pie from scratch, why not at least use a premade pie crust or canned pumpkin instead of scraping together your own pumpkin puree? Especially if this is your first time out of the gate, you’ll already have your hands full pulling a complete holiday meal together.
Take it easy on the appetizers
With all of the side dishes and the desserts you have in mind, you don’t want people to tank up on snacks and not have as much of an appetite for the main event.
Never turn down the offer of an assist, like when someone asks, “What can I bring?”
The Thanksgiving menu tends to be more extensive than most meals, so it would be silly not to offload some of the items. Plus it genuinely makes people feel good to be able to contribute something to the meal.
Don’t let the food shopping go until the last minute
Once you’ve nailed down your menu and determined who is bringing what, make your list and get to the store. While most grocery stores are unlikely to run out of cranberry sauce, the closer you get to T-Day, the greater the risk that the store will be out of the size turkey you want.
Before heading to the store, think through how large a turkey you need
My husband and I always argue about this. I tend to want to go bigger than we need because of my food quantity impairment (I think it’s genetic). Give the Butterball Plan Perfect Portions Calculator a try.
Paper plates and plastic utensils are fine, especially if you’re hosting a crowd
While it’s nice to have a reason to take the good china out of the cabinet, you’ll already have plenty of pots, pans, and servingware to clean up. You’ll may thank yourself later if there’s one less dishwasher load at the end of the day.
Do as many preparation tasks as you can ahead of Thanksgiving Day itself
Tidy and clean earlier in the week. Iron the tablecloth a few days in advance. Set the table the night before. You really will feel more on top of your game on Thanksgiving Day if you don’t let everything go until the last minute.
Plan ahead if you need to defrost your turkey
Those birds take way longer than you think to thaw out–like days, not hours. And it’s not safe to just leave them out on the countertop to defrost. You’ll need to allow several days for thawing to occur in the refrigerator. Otherwise you may find yourself giving your turkey a cold water bath in the sink on Thanksgiving Day (yes really).
Be sure to take the extra junk out of the turkey’s cavity before roasting
Many turkeys come with extra things, like giblets (you don’t really want to know what those are) and the turkey neck, stuffed inside their body or neck cavity. You’ll want to take those out before cooking. In fact, if it’s a frozen turkey, you should extract those as soon as possible during the thawing process (otherwise, it’s kind of like having an extra ice pack inside). Unless you’re feeling ambitious and making gravy from scratch, you can just discard those.
Consult the experts when you are unsure about something
If this is your first Thanksgiving rodeo, seek help when assessing whether the sweet potatoes are done or what’s the best way to carve the turkey. Chances are some of your guests are experienced and willing to help. And there really is a Butterball Hotline if you need it. The Turkey Talk-Line is open during November and December. Call 1-800-BUTTERBALL or text 844-877-3456 to chat with the turkey experts.
Do yourself a favor and don’t sentence yourself to cleaning it up all by yourself
You may feel like a hero when you wave off offers to help with the dishes and say you’ll take care of it later, but you’ll be sorry when everyone leaves and you’re the only member of staff available to handle it. Accept help. Plus doing the pots and pans in between dinner and dessert gives everyone a breather.
Send people home with some leftovers
Unless you really, really like turkey or a particular side dish, you’d be wise to parcel out what’s left so that you don’t end up sick of whatever you might have had too much of. Share the wealth. Stock up on freezer bags or disposable leftover containers when you do your grocery run so you’re prepared.
No matter how hectic it gets or what goes wrong, don’t lose sight of the main reason for the occasion
Your efforts are all for a worthwhile purpose–spending the day with loved ones and giving thanks. It would be a shame to allow minor-league stressors or mishaps to detract from this noble goal.
Happy Thanksgiving!
