Did I ever tell you about the time I served still-frozen salmon to a group of 12 paying guests?! Cooking for 8, 10, or 12 guests is way different than cooking for just one or two. You rarely get practice cooking for a large crowd, so it’s difficult to know what problems to anticipate.
I hope this list helps you navigate your Thanksgiving prep with more ease, joy, and deliciousness!
1. Start with a clean kitchen: On Wednesday night, clean your kitchen and leave your dishwasher EMPTY. Cooking is more fun when you don’t have to first clean.
2. Mise-en-place: A brilliant trick we can credit to the French! This phrase directly translates to put in its place. Before you begin any recipe, measure, chop, slice, dice, and peel all your ingredients. You’re way less likely to miss a step or forget if you already added the sugar.
3. Don’t try a new recipe: Recipes vary based on your oven temperature, the ingredients you’ve sourced, and your pot size/material etc. Don’t wait until you have ten hungry people salivating for crispy-fried onions to learn that your pot isn’t actually big enough for those onions to swim around and crisp.
4. Accept help: There’s nothing wrong with getting a little help. Supplement your spread with a few store-bought dishes or accept offers from guests (they want to feel helpful!) There’s no prize for doing it all yourself!
5. Practice “The Dance”: Close your eyes and walk through the dance of what needs to be made and reheated. Things like oven space (and competing temperatures!) and available burners can easily cause mayhem. Visualize which sauce or side dish will be heated in which pot, and on which burner, so you don’t have to choose between cold green beans or undercooked mashed potatoes.
6. Embrace the faux-pies: But really – if your pumpkin pie is pudding-y and doesn’t set?! Scoop it out of the pie, spoon it into individual ramekins and call it pumpkin pudding.
7. Get yourself ready: My best friend’s mom once told me, Gather your ingredients in a big bowl then get yourself dressed. It’s much more welcoming for guests to arrive to a dressed hostess still chopping onions, than it is to arrive to a host with a crazy-hair bun and PJ’s splattered with mashed sweet potato. You’ll at least look like you’ve got it under control, even if you know otherwise.
8. Take note: Scribble them down whatever you can: less vinegar, chop the bell pepper into smaller pieces, cook it for fewer minutes. You think you’ll remember next year, but I promise you won’t. My dad is the king of Thanksgiving notes – he adds on to them every year! Dad—if you got this far in this post—I LOVE YOUR THANKSGIVING NOTES!!!
9. Run a load: I’m not usually a fan of starting dishes while guests are still over, but if it’ll let you roll into bed an hour earlier, get those salad plates and soup bowls in the dish washer so it’s workin’ while you’re eatin’.
10. Save the bones: My god! Save the bones! As much as breakfast pie, I love post-Thanksgiving turkey broth. Toss the bones, some apple cider vinegar, peppercorn, bay leaf, onions, garlic, and ginger (don’t go crazy here – just scraps of whatever you already have!) then fill with filtered water. Store it in your fridge overnight, then in the morning pop it on the stove, bring to a boil, and simmer for 4-6 hours (and if you have a slow cooker or Instapot, even better!)
And if you need a little inspo, here are some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes: