Image by Momma C
This Thanksgiving was not our first time hosting the holiday - we hosted our families the second year we lived in Charlotte and a few of our friends the following year because we didn't make the trek back to Ohio. However, this was our first holiday meal in this home and it was certainly the biggest at 17 dinner guests. We've held a larger sit-down meal once before, but there is just something so intimidating about a cooking a turkey. . . stupid turkey! Anyway, more on that later - here's a sneak peek into our first Ohio Home Thanksgiving, complete with lessons learned and general tips on entertaining a large group of people.
This is what my grocery list looked like - Krieger's is a local Health Foods Market here in Cuyahoga Falls where I prefer to get my fresh fruits and vegetables (they offer a lot of locally grown produce, which is always my preference), Giant Eagle is our local grocery store chain and GFS is Gordon Food Service - I wrote prices down from their most recent flier so I could ensure I was getting the proper deals. It really pays to be organized before going to the grocery store, it cuts down on the extra trips back to pick up stuff you missed. Although, I wouldn't know anything about that because Ilario always heads back out for me since I always seem to be in the middle of making something before I realize I'm out! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful hubby!!
This is what our menu looked like, complete with the items other people were bringing and the serveware we needed to clean/locate. I promise you this is the only way to keep your sanity those few days before and the day of your party. I keep an Excel document, titled with the type of party/holiday and the year, so I can see what I did the years prior - it makes prepping the next time around so much more simple. I also print this out and bring it into the kitchen with me so I can cross stuff off and make notes as I go along.
Here are Five Basic Tips I have for hosting large parties:
1. Start preparing several weeks ahead. The earlier you plan, the less extra stress you'll have to deal with the week of. It's just like wedding planning :o)
2. This one is Holiday specific - when purchasing a frozen turkey, be sure to allow ample time for it to thaw. A frozen turkey requires about 24 hours of thaw time for every 4 pounds of meat. Do not count the roasting day as thaw time. All this means is that you need to buy your turkey and put it in your fridge several days before you plan to cook it. Proper planning should make this no problem at all.
3. Go through the list of serveware you will need and actually count the pieces you think you have. This will prevent any unneeded freakouts on the day of when you realize you only have 16 sets of silver instead of 18 like you though. A day or two before get it all out, make sure it's clean and sit it somewhere covered with a tablecloth - this way you're not having to locate, clean and dry dishes just to put something on them right away.
4. Be sure to allow time for yourself to get ready the day of your event. Nothing is worse than a hostess who is still in the shower when guests are arriving. I learned this the hard way the first time we held our Annual New Year's Eve Party. . . I was upstairs still curling my hair while poor Ilario had to greet our guests and take things out of the oven. Get ready early, or at least partially (I usually shower, dry my hair and put a makeup base on then I finish my hair/makeup and get dressed about 45 minutes before people are to arrive) - trust me.
5. Have a glass of wine while you cook. No matter how well you prepare and plan, something will go wrong (take this Thanksgiving as an example, I put the turkey in the oven an entire hour early than it needed to be for us to eat at 1:30 pm and it still wasn't done until an hour after we were supposed to eat. . . stupid turkey!) and the booze will help calm your nerves. I don't mean get drunk, but a little drink never hurt anyone ;o)
Here is a glimpse of the table set up and ready to go! Please forgive my crappy point and shoot photos.
Image by baci
My favorite element of the tablescape was the fruit place cards. Oh, and the fact that I got to break out my Vera Wang Wedgewood China and our Recycled Wine Bottle Glasses!
Images by baci
Ilario's Mom took a photo of me amongst the hungry madness :o) Look at all that food - it barely fit on the table!!
Image by Momma C
Ok, I know you all are reading all this looking for the recipes, so here are some of the favorites from the day! First off, you must know that Ilario's Mom made a double recipe of the awesome Corn Casserole I've previously given you a recipe for and it was nearly licked clean - we may start calling it Corn Crackerole.
As an appetizer I made Foolproof Mushrooms from a Taste of Home recipe - super simple and so tasty!
Image from Taste of Home
I had to incorporate Martha into the holiday, after all, she is my idol :o) I made Big Martha's Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese using Yukon Gold potatoes. I used fat free cream cheese, but it didn't make much a difference with the whole milk, sticks of butter and heavy cream - lol! Next time around I'll use skim milk and Earth Balance to cut back on the calories a bit.
Image from Martha Stewart
I took a leap with a Sweet Potato Bourbon Mash, which was super tasty, but I don't think we'll be making it again - everyone seems to love the old reliable Sweet Potato Casserole better. I will, however, be making the Spicy Praline Pecan Topping over and over again. It was insanely delicious - we snacked on them the entire day and it ended up being one of the only things we didn't have leftovers of! Here's the recipe:
Spicy Praline Pecans
(Recipe by Elizabeth Karmel)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 t. kosher salt
pinch of cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 pound pecan halves
1 egg white, room temperature
1 T. water
1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2) Mix together sugars, salt, cayenne and cinnamon; set aside.
3) Beat egg white until frothy, but not stiff, add water and stir until combined.
4) Add pecans and stir to coat evenly.
5) Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture and stir until evenly coated.
6) Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with a SilPat liner or Parment Paper ( this is SO important - you will never get your pan clean if you don't line it).
7) Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally as needed.
8) Remove from oven and separate nuts as they cool. Let cool for at least an hour before storing them in a tightly closed container.
Another huge favorite of the day, were the Vegan Snickerdoodles that I made - the kids devoured them! I got the recipe from VeganYumYum and they seriously rocked!!! I don't even like regular Snickerdoodles, but these were delicious. These were the other no-leftovers recipe of the day :o)
Image from VeganYumYum
The final thing I will leave you with today is this: if you're going to host a holiday or a large party, you are going to have leftovers GALORE! So be prepared to eat the same thing over and over again for several days or to get creative like I am. With the leftover Peas and Mushrooms (a specialty that Ilario's Aunt makes and everyone loves) I made Tortellini with Mushrooms and Peas. With the leftover turkey, I simply substituted it in place of the chicken in the delicious Chicken Tetrazzini recipe. I also was able to use up the heavy and whipping creams in these which was super helpful in getting things cleared out of the fridge before they go bad. You could also replace the chicken with turkey in the Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas recipe - I'm going to do this tonight with the leftover mushrooms I have that didn't get put into the gravy on the big day. Ilario and I aren't much for leftovers, so this is the perfect solution to use up the rest of the food in the fridge. Bonus: we don't have to go grocery shopping this week :o)
I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I look forward to taking you through the rest of the holiday season with some of my favorite seasonal recipes!
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