The holiday season is a special time filled with joy, warmth, and shared moments with loved ones. However, it can also bring its fair share of challenges and stress. Holiday hosting, especially for Thanksgiving, can be a whirlwind of activity. Balancing a multi-course feast while accommodating diverse opinions on every dish can be a challenge. As someone who, for as long as I can remember for my adult life, has been making the holiday entertaining happen. Whether it’s Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day, I’ve taken it on (usually) all by myself. So I guess you could say over the years I’ve learned a few practical tips and creative ideas to make the holiday hosting experience one in a million. Okay maybe not one-in-a-million, but maybe just a little bit easier.

Whether you're a seasoned host looking to refine your skills or a first-timer seeking guidance, surely there is a tip that you can use to keep the festive spirit alive and the stress at bay. Happy hosting!

Make Things Ahead

Whenever possible, avoid doing all your cooking, setup, and cleaning on a single day. This is one thing I wish I had made more of a priority in the past. Not only did I spend most of my holiday family time in the kitchen but I was far more stressed than I probably needed to be which removes a lot of the fun from the whole experience. Choose dishes that can be prepared in advance which can reduce last-minute work. On the day of, organize a dedicated space in the fridge for event ingredients to avoid last-minute scrambling and to allow any kitchen helpers to find things easily. Another thing I wish I had done was incorporate the practice of getting dishes nearly ready before guests arrive. While everyone is socializing and having fun, it’s hard to be a part of the scene while in the kitchen, and eventually everyone starts to migrate to the kitchen which can make things all the more stressful. Luckily, holidays have a lot of staples that don’t really need to be made on the day of. For instance, prepare mashed potatoes ahead of time and reheat them with the creamy finish you desire when the time comes.

Follow a Plan

As an avid spreadsheet maker, you damn well know I work from a plan. Most holiday hosts just follow a plan when it comes to food shopping and a guest list, but I really like to schedule my time so I can try to use it wisely. I’ve seen a lot of professionals in food talking about how having a structured timeline can make all the difference in the world. Some of it sounds like a no-brainer like getting charcuterie, cheese boards, and wine bottles ready to go for when guests arrive, but others have been things I’ve never thought about. For example, preparing baked goods and other oven cooking tends to be more passive closer to when guests arrive so there is more time to interact with guests rather than being stuck in the kitchen. The best way to ensure more time with family and friends is a very well-thought-out plan!

Clean As You Go

If there is one thing I’ve learned from being in a relatively large Italian family growing up, is you really, really don’t want to be stuck doing a mountain of dishes after a meal. Not on a Pasta Sunday and definitely not on a holiday. One thing I always try to do, no matter what I’m cooking is cleaning up as I go along. Of course, this has its perks on holidays as you have tons of more time to socialize and entertain guests, but even every day you’ll feel a sigh of relief when you have very little to clean up at the end of a meal. This simple practice offers several advantages. It prevents stress and keeps messes at bay. By not allowing cooking equipment, pans, or your countertop to accumulate caked-on food, cleaning becomes much easier. More importantly, this approach prevents the dreaded giant mess at the end of your gathering, leaving you feeling far more relaxed after the last guest leaves. Which, at Thanksgiving, can be a blessing in itself. Turkey hangover, anyone? When in doubt, you could always rent everything from linens to glassware which eliminates the practice of cleaning up almost entirely!

Ask for Help

I’ll be the first to admit, asking for help isn’t my strong suit, and this is especially true while entertaining. I don’t know if it’s that I want to impress my guests or if I just like to challenge myself to be a Superwoman, but rarely did I ask for help. If there is one tip or lesson you take away from this post, it’s just asking for help. You really don’t need to take on any holiday celebration as a solo effort. When friends or family offer their help, accept it. They all have talents and contributions that can lessen the load and therefore the stress. Plus, when your guests are involved in recommendations from food to other little party details, they will feel like they are contributing and it makes the event that much more exciting. Delegating doesn’t always have to be a sign of weakness or lessen the effort put into the day. There is a reason we all signed up for certain parts of partying planning in elementary school, right?!

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