Hopefully by now you have been making some real headway with your holiday organizer. Maybe you’ve come up with your own ideas on what to include inside.
Today’s blog is going to look at preparations for the meals. We have just over a week until Thanksgiving and if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to start planning what you will cook.
I like to carve out an hour or two, sit in a comfy chair with a hot glass of tea and look through all of my recipes and recipe books to come up with a meal plan. In my binder I will write down the entire meal, so then next year I can see what I cooked.
It helps once Thanksgiving is done to make notations about each dish. Was it a favorite, something you anticipate family requesting again? Or was it a dud?
If you try to rely on memory, forget it…this is your opportunity to write down how well the dish went over and other information, such as maybe doubling the recipe next year. It’s up to you.
Then write a list of the ingredients you will need. But Thanksgiving is just part of the holiday.
I also spend this time writing down the baking I will do. I make a list of ingredients for that. And yes, I even plan out my Christmas meal…well in advance.
This allows me to slowly start getting items off the baking and Christmas lists, so that I’m not purchasing everything at one time. Of course, meal planning for the holidays is something you could start much earlier…like the beginning of November.
The point is to set up a binder or whatever system you use and improve on it the following year. You will be amazed at how much smoother things go when you are organized.
Related Articles:
Holiday Preparations: Planning
Holiday Preparations: Cleaning
Kitchen Organizing for the Holidays
Photo by CarbonNYC in Flickr