Thanksgiving cocktail

HarleyP11

Anyone have a good Thanksgiving/Autum cocktail to serve guest at Thanksgiving?

Any other tips for hosting Thanksgiving?  This is my first year...should be interesting!

Thanks!

6fsn

T-day is the start of eggnog season in our family.  Another cocktail might be spiked cider.

For the meal- make ahead everything you can.  Mashed potatoes, dressing, even the turkey and gravy can be done on Wednesday and reheated.  Trust me that nobody will know.  Just have extra chicken broth on hand to keep the turkey and dressing moist, and butter and milk for the potatoes. You'll also still have a house of yummy smelling goodness too.

If oven space is limited crockpots work just as well to reheat.

It's okay to ask people to bring sides or desserts or apps. Remember this is your holiday too.  For a first time I'd say keep it simple.  See what works and what doesn't and you can add on from year to year.

Our family T-day went from a smaller event in either my mom or my aunts home.  Now it's a Wed-Friday extravaganza of close to 75 people.  We rent a church camp, use the industrial kitchen, drink, eat, hike, and play cards.  There are no tv's and pretty rustic beds and showers.  People come and go as they please without pressure.  A lot of people are even bringing the in-laws and anyone else "homeless" for the holiday.

SBS0628

I wouldn't actually drink this, but there was an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Barney made a "Thanks-tini" with potato vodka, cranberry juice, and a bouillon cube. Again, I'd never really drink it, but I'm still really really really curious to know how it tastes...

Anyway, to really answer your question: at our Thanksgiving, most people just drink wine (red and white) and last year when we were at DH's cousin's house they did a champagne toast after saying grace, which I thought was kinda cool. With heavy meals like Thanksgiving dinner, I don't really like hard alcohol. Maybe you could do dessert cocktails to have with pie, like the previously suggested spiked cider or an Irish coffee.

I agree with PP -- keep it simple your first year, and ask other people to bring stuff! I would suggest you tackle the biggest things which in my book are: turkey/main dish (we're vegetarian, so it's usually tofurkey or a casserole), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Let everyone else bring the additional sides/desserts. Also, don't be afraid of store bought! Buy big bags of rolls/bread rather than baking them yourself. Get frozen mini-cheesecakes or petit fours.  

Also, check out post-Halloween sales. Some decor may be able to be repurposed into a Autumn-themed centerpiece or table decoration.

northtamarack

I would do cranberry vodka w/ a lime garnish.  I'd also have some wine for the wine drinkers.  And maybe even some pumpkin beer (or harvest beer) for the beer drinkers. 

Get out all of your serving dishes and lable them - what food will go in what serving dish.  Don't forget serving utensils.  Also, get out your lines, if using and set your table well in advance (if you can).

GL and have fun!

leighanneh

Pumpkin Pie Martini

lsgarver

This was just featured in Bon Appetit and I think I might use it as our Thanksgiving cocktail:

The Autumn Orchard

One of my favorite tips for hosting a dinner is to set the table and decorate sometime the week before (unless you have pets or kids that might break or dirty anything left on a table) and choose the serving dishes you'll need.  Put a sticky note in each one with what will go in it.  If I don't it ahead of time, presentation is always sacrificed for better cooking.  By doing it all early, I have time to do the details and be thoughtful about the table without risk of getting behind on the cooking.  By designating the serving dishes, you'll know what needs to be washed, what needs that special platter you have to dig out from under the bed and there's no ripping the cupboards apart trying to find the bread basket.  Even better, you can easily hand out jobs to day-of helpers by telling them to plate the food--they'll easily know in which bowl to put the green beans and how to serve the bread.

Good luck!

kjvogelsang

Apple Cider with some butterschnapps in there.

Or, my favorite is Kahula and cream or Baileys and cream from Thanksgiving through New Year's.

Covelloj5201

I went to a party on Saturday where the girl did a spiked cider with apple cider, captain morgans, heated with a little bit of butter, ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. It was absolutely delicious! I also saw in a magazine little hollowed out apples you could use to make an apple cup + adding a cinnamon straw. So festive for autumn!

Trishes

No cocktail ideas.

 

For the tips - make pies and desserts a day or two ahead of time. Prep chopping and such a day ahead of time. Make a list of everything you're making, and the estimated time it'll take to make the items. This will help you figure out when to put something in the oven or on the stove so that it all comes out at the same time.

Make sure you have enough serving bowls and trays

Temp38995750004016

We usually have Kir Royales pre-dinner and then just serve wine with dinner.

I totally disagree with the poster on making everything ahead of time. Some things, like pies, yeah. But other things you can totally tell if they are reheated (mashed potatoes and other veggies). There are plenty of blogs and websites that will give you a timeline to get everything done in one day, or just have other people provide some of the sides.

HisCB

we always drink wine, whatever people bring, at thanksgiving so im not much help with the cocktail question, but i do NOT reccommend Mikes Spiced Cider my sister, aunt and i tried them last year and they made us all get tummy aches.

as for tips, ive thrown thanksgiving every year (some years 2 times) for like 6 years.

i make lots of lists(shopping list, to-do list, supplies list, potluck list), and i plan ahead everything that i can do the day before or so, is done ahead of time. decorate as far in advance as you can. 

Also, delegate. no one in my family likes to come empty handed, so i delegate out many items(canned cranberry sauce, rolls, drinks, desserts, veggie tray, green salad, etc.

oh and one thing i learned to do last year, wear comfy shoes and sit if you can, like when chopping veggies, sit at the table, when nothing needs attention, sit. your feet will thank you.

im in the process of organizing my plan for thanksgiving week for a blog post, i will come back and share when i am done.

wldktz10

I actually just made a blog entry about this. Hope something there helps!