Hi everyone. Mr. Spring and I are really excited because we are hosting our first family Thanksgiving at our house this year. We will have 15 folks chowing down on all the goodies. Even though the two of us are a great team in the kitchen, when you are cooking for an army a lot of people, you always need some help – especially at the last minute when a million things need to be done at once.
My mom came up with a great idea a few years ago to take some of the pressure off of the cook around meal time. She even wrote a blog about it here. This also serves as an ice breaker. Well, this year I am following her lead, but I decided to make it a little fancier.
First, I bought a package of thirty foam turkeys at Michael’s for 50 per cent off. They also had glittered leaves that were cute.
Now here’s the thing, and you all know this already. Everybody always offers to help when they come to your house for a meal. And you probably always say, “Oh, that’s okay. Just enjoy yourself.” They really, really do want to help, but you don’t know what to tell them to do. I promise you, based on what I have observed at my mother’s, your guests will be thrilled to have a task to do – 99.9 per cent of them will, at least. There is always that one person (you know who you are) who thinks it’s a dumb idea and refuses to play. So, you need to come up with a list based on your needs and how you prepare/serve the meal.
MY LIST
1. Set the table. (I’ll ask two people to do this and have everything ready for them to just set out).
2. Put ice and water in glasses.
3. Open and pour wine.
4. Help put food on table.
5. Say grace. (I’ll rig it so my grandmother gets this one. She always likes to say grace).
6. Help clear table.
7. Take dessert orders and serve.
8. Prepare dessert orders.
9. Take coffee/tea orders and serve.
10. Prepare coffee/tea orders.
11. Help put food away.
12. Be on stand-by. (This person will do whatever needs to be done that I didn’t anticipate.
I didn’t make one for my mom, my husband, or me because we will be finalizing the cooking in command central. This will surely make your day go more smoothly. And by the way, you can use the extra turkeys as coasters.
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What a great idea! I love it. Thanks for the list.
I think you will love this, Patty.
Great idea! I love the turkeys, that would get my girls interested. Thanks for the idea.
I love your “helping” basket of Thanksgiving chores. It reminds of an article I read in Country Living over 25 years ago. I bet your dinner will be terrific and run smoothly. Visiting from Table Top Tuesday. Would love for you to visit me at Still Woods Farmhouse!
This is a darling and brilliant idea! I stopped over from Table Top Tuesdays and am so glad I did, thank you!
What a cute idea. Now, if I could just get someone else to do the cooking, too 🙂
This is such a great idea. I remember your moms post on this and thought that it would work great for our family as well. I really like the way you have “fancied” it up!!
This is such a great idea!
This is just awesome. LOVE.