How to Take the Stress Out of Making a Big Christmas Dinner

The Holidays are a great time for family. Keep the times happy and the stress low by making your meal preparation more organized and not letting it take you over. My article will help you keep your head over the holidays and help you relax with more time to enjoy on the holiday.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 2 crockpots (one large, one small)
• Turkey
• Large family
• Other foods to serve

1. Write a quick list of what you served last year.
   The list will serve to make this year better.
2. Ask family members what their favorite holiday food was last year.
   If your family uses email; email everyone to save even more time. Send out a quick and easy pole to your family members.
3. Eliminate a few foods that just were not popular last year.
   This saves time by not spending it on the ho-hum stuff.
   Now make a new list for this year with a few less items no one will miss.
4. Buy 2 items from a quality deli instead of making them from scratch.
   Your time is valuable and this move will save you time and guarantee a quality job on those hard to make items. There is always one or 2 things that are time consuming and hard to get perfect.
   My top choices are Gravy and Stuffing.
5. Mashed Potatoes:
   This is a huge time-saver.
   * Peel and Boil all the potatoes the day before
   * Drain them
   * Store them in the fridge in covered bowls.
   
   1 to 1.5 hours before the meal...
   * Turn on your crock-pots #1 and #2.
   * Put the gravy in the small crock-pot #1 and set it to LOW.
   * Dump the potatoes into a pot on the stove.
   * Add milk if you like (Use rice-milk or soy-milk as an option for those intolerant to cow's milk)
   * Mash the potatoes over a heated burner.
   * Put the mashed potatoes into crock-pot #2 to keep them warm until mealtime.
6. Delegation.
   Every good manager knows delegation is key.
   Ask some of the better cooks and bakers in the family to bring a pie, casserole, or vegetable dish. I suggest not asking for volunteers but rather ask the person you trust to do a quality job.

Tips & Warnings

• Know how long your turkey, Roast or Ham needs to cook and plan to start with time to spare.
• Once the turkey, Roast or Ham is in the oven, get the dishes, glasses, and silverware out by the table.
• Account for chairs and make sure you have enough days before.
• Try a fresh turkey (not frozen) from your local butcher. You can order the bird ahead of time and pick it up the evening before the holiday. A fresh turkey tastes better and there's no stress over the thaw time.