It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and for whatever reason you’ve been caught...a little off-guard. Maybe your original plans fell through, maybe your family is coming to your place after all, maybe you’ve just been too busy to really think about it.
Whatever your reasons, here you are, waiting for the big day and caught suddenly off-guard with your need to make dinner and get the house ready. Never fear! We’ve got a few tips here to help speed the process along and get you as ready as you’re going to be for turkey day!
- Don’t be afraid to just use store-bought ingredients. The day before Thanksgiving isn’t exactly the right time to be trying to assemble grandma’s famous stuffing, and everything is going to be hard enough to find as it is. Grab a box of Stove-Top and do what you need to do to get ready!
- In a similar vein, don’t be afraid to branch out. It isn’t going to be easy to find a turkey the day before Thanksgiving, so why not experiment? Make a ham! Make your special macaroni and cheese! Make ribs! Your family and guests have been eating turkey almost every year for as long as they’ve been alive - maybe now is a perfect time to experiment!
- Don’t stress out about the appetizers. Especially when you’re dealing with what’s left over in the store, go ahead and make yourself a meat-and-cheese plate, or maybe make some fun finger food like mozzarella sticks or jalapeno poppers to tide everyone over until your pot roast (or whatever you wound up deciding on) is ready to eat.
- Don’t worry too much about decorating. Now is not the time to stress yourself out about having cute paper turkeys and themed placemats everywhere. Just clean off a dinner table and make sure everyone has a fork, knife, and plate to go with.
- Don’t stress too much about cleaning. The place doesn’t have to be spotless, and you’re probably not having a lot of people over for a long period of time anyway. Just get some wire shelving or garage storage to throw all your clutter in and worry about it when dinner is over. (We know, you’re probably used to yelling at your kids for doing the same thing - but this is Thanksgiving, and you need to prioritize your time!)
- Finally: whatever happens, remember to not stress yourself out. We know people get a lot of pressure this time of year to do the ‘perfect Thanksgiving’, but we think that if you manage to pull off any Thanksgiving at all, it’s perfect.