Dear Henrietta,
My parents are getting older, so they’ve asked me to take over our family’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner. We usually have about 25 guests so I’m very anxious because I’m not a great cook. How can I pull off this celebration without getting super stressed?
Signed,
Nervous Turkey
Dear Nervous Turkey,
Good news: I have three possible scenarios to make the holiday easier!
Option 1: If you really want to wow your guests and do all the cooking yourself, start experimenting with recipes at the beginning of November. For some terrific Thanksgiving ideas, visit marthastewart.com for recipes and tutorials. Choose a couple of dishes a week and give them a try without any time pressure. Also, consider various turkey preparation options and try them out in advance so you feel confident and less anxious on the actual holiday.
Option 2: Take some of the pressure off yourself by turning the Thanksgiving celebration into a fabulous potluck! Create an account on signupgenius.com. and create a potluck signup sheet so that you don’t end up with everyone bringing the same thing. Then ask everyone to hoppity-hop on line and sign up to make their favorite dish! So easy! Now the only thing you need to take care of are table settings and decorations.
Option 3: Turn all the cooking over to the professionals and order from your favorite local grocery store or restaurant. This option could be very cost-effective. You could order a turkey or ham dinner for 8-10 people and the price from Harris Teeter would be $49.99. That includes turkey or ham, cornbread dressing or sweet potato dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy and cranberry relish. If you have 25 people coming, you’ll spend $100.00. Not bad for a big party! You could also put out a donation jar at the dessert table and count on some generosity from tipsy family members.
So there you are! Problem solved.
I hope this helps! May your pants be stretchy and your glass be full!
Enjoy!
Love,
Henrietta
Henrietta Craven was born and raised in New Bern and enjoys gardening, hunting bears and improvisational dance. She is a self-proclaimed expert on a wide variety of subjects including (but not limited to) fashion, mixology, and automotive repair. Henrietta resides in a lovely Victorian home in downtown New Bern with her five cats: Graffenreid, Bethune, Devereux, Stanton and Carraway. hat Henrietta’s advice should be taken lightheartedly, with a sense of humor, and then ignored.
If you have a problem, and would like Henrietta to give you some advice, please send a note to: henrietta@newbernmagazine.com