Dear Blog Friends,
However, this year we came to Utah for Thanksgiving.
Unless you have hired help to prepare your holiday meals, I think you will find these tips helpful too.
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1. Set your table or tables early .
Loni folded all of the napkins and was my good helper setting the tables.
Lynell was expecting 31 for dinner. In her house there is room to bring in extra tables and by using the kitchen bar area we were able to set 31 places.
However, no matter how many tables you are setting, it takes time so start early.
I always set my tables a day or more before the event. If that is not possible at your home set your table several hours before you plan to eat. That relieves a lot of the stress of doing it at the last minute.
It also gives a nice impression when your guests arrive. Even if some come early and you are still working in the kitchen, the guests think you are prepared and "on top" of the situation when they see nicely set tables.
If you don't have enough table room for all of your guests you can improvise. Here we bunched up a table clothe on Lynell's kitchen bar and made an attractive setting for 5 guests
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At home I've put boards on top of our game tables to make food tables. Have fun and be creative.
2. It is o.k. to use simple center pieces.
For Lynell's tables we topped green material with silk fall leaves and little pumpkins. Then I tied green bows around glass candle holders (or you could use vases) and put in candles. Candles add warmth and charm but remember that if you put candles on the table they should be lit during the dinner. This made very inexpensive center pieces but I think that they looked quite nice.
If you are having a lot of guests this is a life saver. It prevents confusion and delay when you want people to be seated to start dinner. It can also prevent contention about whom will sit by whom. By setting the tables early and putting on place name tags you can thoughtfully sit people at the tables where they will be most comfortable. While you don't want to sit people together who may have friction between them, don't worry about only sitting people by their best friends. Sitting by someone you don't know gives you a chance to get acquainted.
Name tags don't have to be professionally made or fancy. Here Lonica glues a silk flower on our place tags for the finishing touch and they looked cute.
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There are some dishes that require your personal expertise and attention.... but there are many jobs that you can delegate to others. Don't be too proud to assign some jobs to others. It will save you time and energy that you will need later in the day.
Even my oldest grandson, Jordan takes out time to help his grammy...
In my younger years of fixing turkey dinners I have been stressed by the turkey not getting done when it was suppose to. The simple way to eliminate this problem is to give yourself at least an hour more cooking time than you need. It is good to let the turkey set in it's juices before you cut it anyway. If it gets ready on time just cover it to keep it warm and let it sit until you are ready to carve it. It is better to have it ready early than to be waiting on it to finish cooking when you are ready and waiting to eat....
Here Lynell asks her guests to find their places at the tables and tells them we will have one table at a time come to the buffet line.
If you are having a large group or more than one table to serve, consider having a buffet instead of trying to put the food on the tables. That will save you lots of energy and extra dishes to wash.
7. Make food assignments for your guests to bring.
The friends and family that are invited to your dinner will be happy to bring a dish or two to help with the dinner. ...
8. Roll with the flow. Don't get upset at unexpected changes in your plans.
None of your guest are perfect and in spite of what you think they don't expect perfection from you either. Pay attention to your guests and don't fret about what they are thinking about you. You will have a great time and so will they.
We got to visit with Dathan's family we know pretty well and got to know a lot of of them we were not as familiar with. I was happy that we got to sit with our Erin and Patrick and with Lynell's sister-in-law and my blog friend, Tricia.
Young and old alike had a good time.
We set our dinner tables with our best dishes and glasses or stemware but we use paper goods for the desserts. We also let people serve themselves. That way they can get a variety and as little or as much as they like. They enjoy serving themselves and it makes it way easier on you.
John and Jalen enjoy the pumpkin pie.
Grampy and Dayne start doing the dishes.
Many hands make the work easy. No one is stressed out by having to do it all and we have fun working together to get the job done.
Lynell amazed us with her karaoke singing abilities.
Dathan's mom showed us her sassy dance moves while Patrick sang his karaoke heart out.
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Planning activities for the family and guests to do before dinner keeps them out of the kitchen while you are finishing up with dinner preparations. Having activities after dinner brings the group closer together and is a great way to end the holiday. Plan several different things that people can choose to do but don't force anyone to participate that does not want to.
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Today we had a choice of football, ping pong, wii games or karaoke ...and then watching a movie.
Games do not have to be fancy to be fun. Simple, inexpensive games can be as much fun as any.
The important thing is spending time laughing and having fun together. That is what makes memories that last a life time.
Later this evening Patrick set up his LCD projector for us to watch Ironman on Lynell's family room wall. Those who wanted to, gathered around to enjoy the movie.
However, some of the kids wanted to continue playing on the wii. So, we let them play a soundless game on the wii while we watched the movie.
It cracked me up that we had both a movie and the wii going at the same time.
I was glad that Erin and Patrick came up to spend the day at Lynell's with us. We surely did miss Mindy and her family who had to stay in CA. (This was the first time since Mindy was born that I've been away from her at Thanksgiving....sniff....sniff) Even though we are rarely with David and his family for Thanksgiving, we miss them just the same. I'm glad that we got to have an early Thanksgiving with them when we went to visit them early in Nov. (I surely wish that they didn't live so darn far away. I would love to be able to see them more often.)
By the end of the day we were all tired but happy. We will cherish the memories of this wonderful Thanksgiving holiday for years to come. We certainly have lots to be thankful for!!!
I hope that your day was happy too.
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Following these 12 tips made the day easy, fun and stress free for Lynell and me. I hope that they will help you with your next holiday gathering.
What tips do you have for making holiday events easier? Please share them with me.
Thanks and hugs, Grammy Lura
p.s. One more tip is you should not try to publish a blog post on the night of the holiday. This post has given me nothing but problems and has been the only stressful event of my whole day...urggg!..... but I love ya'll anyway.
Erin found this old picture of our family among her things. I know that it is a silly one but I just love it. It reminds me of the fun times we had together when our kids were growing up. It makes me smile to think of my family.
This is a picture I took at our last Women's Club meeting. I have many sweet friends that do a lot of good in our community through this club. They volunteer at the Settlement House, the homeless shelter, the library and for other worthwhile causes throughout our city. They read to the homeless children and tutor them with their schoolwork. They raise money for scholarships given to each of the high schools. They busy themselves all year long doing good and giving service where they see it is needed. I am honored and blessed to serve with these ladies. They do not share my faith but they share my love. It makes me smile to follow the good examples that these dear women set for me.
Then I can fill up the dinning room with chairs.
That is what I did this week when we had the Young Women in 
Since most of our girls graduated last June and went off to college we only have a small group of young women left....but they are the 
After the spiritual part of the meeting (in the front room), we adjourned to the buffet room (the game room) to look at the girl's project displays and chowed down on goodies.
