The holidays can be both the most fun and the most stressful time of year. If you’ve agreed to host a holiday meal such as Thanksgiving, the scale can quickly tilt towards the stress end of the spectrum. It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Many people simply sit back and accept that they holidays are stressful, especially when you are hosting them at your house, but with the right planning and attitude along with these five tips, you can keep the holidays fun and focused on family – even when your in-laws are coming to town.
Tip 1: Host a trial-run with friends. It’s no secret that preparing a holiday meal and gathering for your in-laws can be uber stressful. The hostess often feels that expectations are high and the last thing she or he wants to do is disappoint anyone. By inviting your friends over a week or two before Thanksgiving and preparing a similar meal for them you can practice your dishes and your timing with real people. The biggest mistake people make on Thanksgiving is cooking a dish for the first time the day of. By going through more than just the motions beforehand you can figure out any changes you need to make in order for Thanksgiving Day to run smoothly.
Tip 2: Less is more. Just because holiday dinner tables always seem to be overflowing with food, don’t feel like you have to make 15 different dishes for Thanksgiving dinner. Depending upon how many people you are hosting, you can easily make 1-2 main course options, 2-3 sides, bread, and a dessert and still satisfy all of your guests. The fewer dishes you try to make the less likely it is you’ll get overwhelmed and the more likely it is that the dishes you do make will taste even better.
Tip 3: Serve dishes you can prep in bulk beforehand. By serving a soup as your starter course you can make a large amount of it before Thanksgiving Day and then freeze it. This way you’ll have a dish ready to go right when people start getting hungry and this will definitely impress your in-laws. Simply place the frozen soup in a slow cooker on Thanksgiving morning and it will be piping hot whenever people start getting hungry.
Tip 4: Serve some cold or room temp dishes. The less you have to rely on good timing the better. Take the stress out of Thanksgiving Day prep by making sides that can be served cold or at room temperature so you can make them ahead of time or at any time during the day and you don’t have to worry about them being lukewarm when you serve them.
Tip 5: Allow your in-laws to help you. This may seem counterintuitive, but if your in-laws offer to help, let them. If your mother-in-law wants to bring a dish, then allow her to do so, even if it doesn’t fit with your overall menu or tastes. You can even go one step further and ask them if they would like to bring anything – this will make them feel more involved and they’ll appreciate the offer, even if they decline.
Though having your in-laws over for a holiday dinner can seem like a daunting task, there are tons of websites out there such as Relationship Gold and Tokii.com that can help you turn a seemingly daunting holiday dinner into a fun game that will also help strengthen your relationship with your family and your partner. Tokii.com has more than 250 games and apps for your phone that will transform your relationship by sparking fun and open communication.
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