Holidays
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Hosting Thanksgiving for the 1st time ideas??
Ok so the H and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the 1st time ever. We are having my family and his so all together 24 people. I am really nervous about serving sizes becuase I am making the main food dishes and people are bring pies and bread and random mix in's. Also what should I do to get the kids (5) to stay in one area I was thinking coloring and a dvd? Any advice from anyone who has hosted a party this big would be great! Thank you!
Re: Hosting Thanksgiving for the 1st time ideas??
My mom always hosted the holidays at her house since it's a good size. When my sister and I were little she'd put a table up in the living room for all us kids (cousins, neighbors etc.) to sit at for dinner, that way we could put the TV on and have cartoons or what not. Sometimes my cousins would even bring a movie for us to watch. And on top of that my mom would usually pull down a few games for us as well.
Are you making a turkey or a ham for the main dish? I have to admit I never bought either since we still attend dinner at my parents' house & usually just bring desserts, but too much is always better than not enough. I'd say get the biggest one you can and remember to start cooking it as early as needed. My mom gets up at like, 6 am and starts cooking so she can have dinner ready by 3 or 4-ish. Maybe check online with Ehow.com or Allrecipes to get some ideas on how much ingredients to get for stuff such as cheesey potatoes, green bean casserole, etc. in order to have enough to accommodate the appropriate number of servings. I swear by those sites because it allows you to change the amount of servings when pulling up a recipe! Even if people get "1 cup" of mashed potatoes, there's still going to be plenty of other dishes as well as different desserts, plus not everyone is going to eat every dish on the table, so hopefully you should be OK.
GOOD LUCK!!
Lots of wine, for yourself, to cope with the stress!
In addition to that just make sure everyone has enough space, a kids table or area is a great idea. We always do that at my large family gatherings. Lots of nibble food and pray the weather is nice so maybe the kids can go outside a bit. Rented kid's movies are a great idea, when they loose creativity or until the get comfortable with the surroundings they can just enjoy the movie(s). Oh, and give your self plenty of time. Start setting up a few days before and go to bed early and get up early so you have plenty of time to cook/clean/decorate.
And HAVE FUN!!
We are having 23 people over this year. It's really easy once you get the hang of it. We always do a turkey and ham, usually a 15 lb turkey and 10 lb ham. But, we are doing 15-20lbs of both. We have an conventional oven where we cook the turkey and a convection oven/microwave in the basement where we cook the ham.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/three-tiered-oven-rack/?pkey=cthanksgiving-cooks-tools%7Cthxctlsde
We bought this 3-tier rack this year so we can stack our side dishes in the oven and still fit the turkey.
We make 2 kinds of mashed potatos: plain and cream cheese. For this many people we are making 10lbs of each kind.
Start cleaning out your fridge early, use up bulky items that take up shelf space. I clean and peel potatoes the day before and put them in a large stockpot with water and a little lemon juice to keep them from browning (this eliminates some day of work).
Check your recipes and find things you can prep and make the day before. We make a few things that can be cooked and covered with foil and heated through before the meal.
Sorry, this is long. And, don't be afraid to ask for help, delegate someone to set the table. Have someone set out the nibble tray (pickles, olives, nuts, etc.) While you focus on getting the food in the oven. Oh and try and wash cooking utensils as you go, make's clean up easier. : )
Although not enviromentally appropriate.. I recommend paper and pastic for the dishes, forks and knives, You can find the nice chinette sets in the supermarket or at any local family dollar. Second, was pots and serving spoons etc as you go.
As for the kids..maybe you can set up a little craft center for them. (depending on their age) make your own turkey, (draw your hand, glue the feathers) make your own christmas tree decoration, write out your list for santa complete with the envelope to mail it. Coloring and then a DVD.
what do you mean by the main dishes b/c in my family that would mean antipasto, pasta, meatballs, then turkey, etc. ...