Holiday Hosting Hacks

Tips for Hosting for the Holidays

By Katie Bigley

Tis’ the season! The holidays are coming upon us quickly and whether you are hitting the road to attend a Thanksgiving gathering or a holiday party or hosting one yourself – it can be a busy, stressful time making sure you have all the boxes checked. This blog will hopefully help give some guidance for a few common questions you may have when it comes to planning, prepping, and transporting your meals.

               Picture this: Your mom calls you and suddenly you find yourself being told that you will be in charge of the cooking this year. Surprise! This is your first year holding this honorable privilege and you are in a panic.  “How will I ever be able to cook that much food by myself!” The holidays are a time for cheer, not stress, so here are some tips on how you can work ahead on tackling this large fea(s)t.

Make a plan/ menu and communicate. To fully wrap your head around this task, you need to first plan out what you will be serving your guests. Think of an array of items that can be served hot, cold and at room temperature. This will help you grasp just how much of your kitchen will be taken over and what appliances you will need to use. Once you have an idea of what you will be serving, the next step is to make a grocery list that you better check twice for those items you “know for a fact” you already have. This is the time to rummage through your pantry and really get a good idea of what you will need so you aren’t scrambling through the store trying to find those sought after staples.

Also, communication! If you know some of your attendees will be chipping in and bringing some sides, make this clear from the get-go of who is bringing what, so you don’t end up with three trays of green been casserole. This will help take some weight off your shoulders!

Cook ahead. Thankfully there are several items that you can make 1-3 days ahead of time. Items like mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, and deviled eggs can all be prepped the day before. For mashed potatoes, just boil and mash them the day before then store them in an airtight container in the fridge – all you’ll have to do is warm them up with some milk and butter! If you plan on making your turkey a day early, simply store the cooked bird in the fridge with some chicken or turkey stock on the bottom to keep from drying out. Break that baby out the day of and warm up in the oven at 350 degrees. For the gravy, just warm up on the stove 30 minutes before the start of the event. Deviled eggs can easily be made 2 days in advance, just keep the egg whites and filling separate until you are ready to assemble. Casseroles like green bean or corn can also be prepped the day before and stored in the fridge. Just pull them out and warm/cook them in the oven a few hours before the start of your dinner.

If you are serving cold items like salads, you can cut up all your veggies a few days before and store them in separate containers in the fridge and then toss together the day of. Avoid putting any dressings on as that can cause the lettuce/spinach to wilt and make the veggies not as crisp.

Items like stuffing (once cooked) can be kept for up to 4 days in the fridge, or for up to a month uncooked, if frozen.

For dessert items like pies – these can be made much earlier as you can freeze them for up to a month! Just pull out in time to thaw in the fridge before the big day (usually overnight does the trick.)  Items like cookies and cupcakes/cakes can also be made in advance and frozen until you are ready to pull them out in the fridge to thaw before the event.

               If you are the one in charge of cooking the food for your party, another question that may go through your head is “how much food do I make?” You may find yourself doing mental math in a grocery store trying to buy the right size of turkey or ham, number of rolls, and how many potatoes for mashed potatoes. It’s important to prep the right portion sizes so all your guests can enjoy the foods without worries of running out… or on the other end of things, you don’t want to prep too much food to where you are scrambling to get rid of the leftovers to avoid waste.

How do I estimate portion sizes for a holiday meal?

According to Southernliving.com, most caterers will estimate about 1 pound of food per person or a half pound of food per child. This can be broken down even further to about 6-8 ounces of protein per person and ¾ cup per person when it comes to the sides. If you are serving up appetizers at your gathering, plan to have enough for 5-6 bites per person.

When it comes to desserts like pies or cakes, it’s easy to say that each person will have at least 1 slice. One standard pie can serve 8-10 people depending on how big you cut the slices. If you are doing something like cookies – an estimate of 2-3 cookies per person should be enough.

If you are serving up drinks, Southernliving.com says that most people will have two drinks in their first hour of the party and then one drink for every hour prior. If you are serving wine, a typical bottle will serve about 5 drinks. For other drinks like beer or hard liquor – a 12oz beer or an ounce of liquor will count as one drink.

How do I transport my food and keep the cold items cold and the hot items hot?

If you are planning on transporting your food to a holiday party, it’s important to make sure everything stays at the correct temperature. This will not only play a role in the taste, but also food safety.

If you are transporting hot dishes, like turkey, casseroles, sides, etc. Here are some ways you can ensure they stay warm during your travels:

·        Leave the casserole in the dish you baked it in, wrap the casserole dish with tin foil and then wrap it again with plastic wrap. You can then also wrap the dish with tea towels to ensure extra warmth and to contain any spillage.

·        Consider purchasing an insulated bag to store any warm dishes.

·        If you have prepared your dish in a crockpot, ensure the lid is properly sealed and wrap the crockpot in tea towels to conserve heat and protect against any spillage.

For cold foods

It’s important to make sure your cold foods don’t get warm during travels to avoid any food-related illnesses. If you are finding yourself needing to travel with items that need to remain cold like salads, pasta salads, desserts, sides, etc. Here are some tips that can ensure they don’t become too warm on the car ride:

·        Pack a cooler with ice and store the food inside for the ride.

·        Purchase an insulated carrying bag that will help keep the temperature cool.

·        If you are planning on bringing desserts like pie, cookies, or cupcakes, consider placing them in the freezer a few hours before you plan to hit the road – this will not only help keep them cool for the trip (if you plan it out right, they can thaw by the time you arrive to your destination) but it will also help keep the form of any icing/toppings you may have.

General tips

·        Oven and stove space are prime real estate during this season. If you are able to, recruit other cooking appliances like crockpots, roasters, or instapots.

·        Clean out your fridge a few days prior to the big event. This will ensure that you have plenty of space to work with when it comes to storing the food and putting away any leftovers.

·        Stock up on extra aluminum foil and plastic wrap as this will make storing and sending home leftovers much easier.

Happy Holidays from Farm & Home Supply!

https://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/how-much-food-to-make-based-on-party-size

https://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/entertaining/food-drink/tips-transporting-food

https://www.thewinesisters.com/blog/post/make-ahead-holiday-dinner