Here at StoneGable the Countdown has begun.... 23 days till Thanksgiving!
We are having a house full of family for Thanksgiving Dinner and the extended weekend. Sharing great food, fun and a gamut of activities builds memories. And I don't want to miss out on one!
So I'm starting early to get ready for Thanksgiving. By being organized and working a little every day, I won't get bogged down, tired or stressed. Thanksgiving should be a wonderful time for everyone... including the hostess!
Join me as I count down to the big day! Each post I will have a timeline, tip, tidbit or tutorials of how I get ready for "the busiest cooking day of the year"! I hope this will help you too.
But wait a minute! I'm sure you have great advice and tips for a happy Thanksgiving too So please share them. Use my comment box as a forum and share, share, share every day until Thanksgiving. That means you too~ if you visit, leave a great tip behind. Even if you do not have a blog or google account, leave your tip under the anonymous heading ( but sign your name).
Let's all help one another. What fun!
Thanksgiving Countdown~ 23 Days To Thanksgiving!
1. Make and print out a large calendar of November. Use this to write down tasks each day.
2. Make lists and keep them organized in a notebook. Designate one piece of paper for each heading~make bold headings. Spend a little time each day adding to and going over your lists.
Check off items as they are completed.
Use your list~ What good is a list if you don't look at it!
Suggested Lists:
Menu
Guest for Thanksgiving
Who's Bringing What For Thanksgiving Dinner
Things To Make
Things To Buy or Borrow/ Not Grocery
Food and Spirits Shopping
Things To Do
Tablescape/Dishes To Use
Recipes
Cleaning Schedule
Thanksgiving Day Timeline
Thanksgiving Day Chore List
Clean-Up List
Start filling in your lists this week. Set a goal to be done the MENU and GUEST LIST by Friday.
The other lists are ongoing at this point. But make sure you are working on them!
Tip: Be neat BUT not obsessive. It is much nicer and more motivating if you keep lists neat and well organized. You may want to brainstorm on a sheet of paper or Post It (LOVE these) and make a final copy from them.
3. If you are having a fresh turkey order it NOW! I ordered mine today and will pick it up on November 24th. If you are getting a frozen turkey you can wait just a little.
I hope this gets you thinking about Thanksgiving! Everyone deserves a blessed Thanksgiving... especially you!
Yvonne, You are possibly even more organized than I am!! I am hoping that someone will invite us for Turkey Day dinner at their house, since we are empty nesting it this year. If not, I may have to whip up a simple dinner for us, just so we can have left-overs. Guess I should start my list now, just in case. LOL
ReplyDelete~ Sue
Love your pumpkin bowls/tureens, Yvonne! So pretty! My Thanksgivings have been very different than the traditional the past 5-6 years as my husband works in retail now and Black Friday he is up and out of the house by 2 a.m. That means he's going to sleep by 3-4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. That means instead of rushing a meal, I am doing things different this year and having Thanksgiving a weekend or two after the official Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteOh Yvonne! This post gets me excited to continue my goal to be an organized person! I will enjoy watching the comments. I took a moment to blog and see what others are up to today in between "our" wedding and the reception which is Fri. night. I see you are still posting great ideas and pictures for us!! Love it!
ReplyDeleteDonna
Guess I won't be joining in on these good ideas...all our kids go to their in-laws this year! So hubbie and I are taking a few days away, where it's warm! Your hand writing is so beautiful! :D
ReplyDeleteThis is just the inspiration I needed to get organized. We will have a house full too.
ReplyDeleteNancy
Very delicious! Love it!
DeleteOur family takes turns having Thanksgiving at their house. Next year is my turn again so I get this year off. I do have to carry food to my sister's though since it is her turn. Great idea getting stuff together a little each day.
ReplyDeleteBonjour Yvonne,
ReplyDeleteJust the extra push I needed to get better organised this Holiday season. Great ideas that will help everyone enjoy the time with family and friends even more.
Hope you are having a fantastic week so far,
Mimi
you are so darn organized, even your penmenship is gorgeous... even if i made a list, i can't read my own writing!
ReplyDeletelove your tablesetting~
First of all, I love your handwriting, Yvonne! Second, I'm impressed with your organization. I am a list maker for sure, but I usually end up making multiple lists because I misplace them. I'm a work in progress, what can I say.
ReplyDelete:)
ButterYum
Yvonne,
ReplyDeleteI love that you make lists..I'm a list maker too, but mine don't look as pretty as yours! The older I get the more I have a need to be even more organized. ( or maybe my memory is getting more rusty) What inspiration you give to others. I love your tablesetting with the white pumpkins..so elegant! Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas!
Miss Bloomers
Since I work full time I try to clean the house and the dining room silver the week before by cleaning one room each evening. The weekend before I finish up shopping and start cubing the bread for homemade stuffing. Tuesday evening after work I clean/wash collard leaves since it takes a ton to make a pot that needs to cook most of the day and I bake sweet potatoes and put them together first thing in Wednesday morning (I take Wednesday off from work) Cooking usually goes late into the night!
ReplyDeleteIt is going to be kind of crazy this year since I need to put my Christmas tree up early and may have to do it the weekend before Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to all the tips to help me get through this hectic time!
Mary
From Virginia
You are more than Martha:)
ReplyDeleteYvonne..enjoy every minute of these preparations..It is a gift to have the health and happiness to do it:)
You are right memories that will last a lifetime..Do you get Good Housekeeping? With Kelly Rippa on the cover? The last page..about a man asking his 80 yr old mom for her turkey recipe and all her Thanksgiving meal:) So tender.. he asks if he can have her roaster one day..I loved it..
Anyway..back to you..
Nice handwriting also:)
I do this on a smaller scale somewhat but I am ALWAYS a list maker:) This year we will have our "new" family, (my daughters new in-laws) so it will be wonderful!!! They were here last year too so I am going to try to make it even more special! I am planning my table and menu now, especially because I am also hosting a surprise birthday party here for my new son-in-law on 11/20!!!!!!!!!! Whew!!!! LOL! I know you will have a fabulous weekend and so will your family because of your palnning and execution, which is always flawless! XO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteP.S. I just saw on your menu "Stuffing in slow cooker". I hope you will tell us about this!! Thanks!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always so beautiful. Love all your wonderful pumpkin bowls and you have layered them so beautifully! Love the lighting on this table too. Oh and the napkins, I think I could go on forever!
ReplyDeleteTips? humm... I like to clean out all the cupboards before hosting Thanksgiving. I find that organized cupboards help me to feel relaxed and when others offer a hand it helps them to be able to find things quickly. And I like to make things as far ahead as possible so I am not doing all the cooking on the day of Thanksgiving.
Love that you are asking for tips, I will be back to read them all!
Indeed, I must get to thinking about Thanksgiving right away! I will be out of town for almost two weeks leading right up to Thanksgiving - just 2 1/2 days out! So I will plan my menus, do all my shopping before I head out of town, and consider my tablescape. However, I'm sure that since I'll be spending time with my mom that my plans will change a little before I get home. We love to talk recipes and table settings, etc.
ReplyDeleteAfter drooling over that beautiful table, the second thing I noticed is how pretty your handwriting looks! Mine looks like chicken scratch & is getting worse every year!LOL
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea to gather the tips from everyone!
I start buying supplies for my holiday preps now. Butter goes on sale, sugar & other baking needs are featured in center aisle displays. I have an over-stocked pantry but I hate to have to run to the grocery store for one item that I've forgotten. You can buy the things that won't spoil NOW....like a special coffee or the stuffing mix & the canned goods...cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes if using canned, etc. Spreading out your purchases helps the budget, too.
One nice thing is that our Turkey day menu hasn't changed much in over 30 yrs. Tradition!
Thanks for doing this, Yvonne. I'm sure I'll pick up some great ideas.
Sister Marie Amata surely would have given you the handwriting award at the end of the year. I too, am a list maker and find it the easiest way to stay organized.I have already purchased the wine,spirits,soda and mixers. Looking forward to reading your tips each day. Love everything you do.
ReplyDeleteMary
This reminds me of the Organized Christmas plan which works!!! And yes, we must do it for Thanksgiving as well. You are just one more way of keeping everyone on track and organized.
ReplyDeleteSending a sweet hello from Frog Hollow Farm! I enjoyed reading this post and the comments so much! It's comforting to know that there are so many kindred spirits out there - the 'List Making and Organized Spirits' to be exact! I have my November calendar is front of me right now - I've combined by work calendar and Thanksgiving calendar so I see when and where I need to schedule less on the work front - I'm an independent consultant so I can make my own hours. Martha Stewart's November calendar was also helpful to me - and your ideas will just complete my list and schedule. I'd love to hear more about the activities and things to do that you and others are planning for the day. Our family just seems to sit around, drinking and eating and talking - I'm sure they'd love some fun activities! You continually inspire me to be a better blogger! Ciao, bella!
ReplyDeleteI have recently discovered your blog and find myself checking it daily! Love your beautiful tables, great menu's, which I hope to use and now this great idea to prepare for the holidays. We have 10 grandchildren under the age of 7so organization for the day is a must. Thanks for the nudge to get on it NOW! Running errands today, picking up a notebook and some sticky notes! Blessed day to you!
ReplyDeleteCan't function without lists. Like how you put yours in a notebook. Mine always end up in the bottom of my purse. Your handwriting looks like calligraphy! Pretty.
ReplyDeleteYvonne,
ReplyDeleteI'm having a houseful for dinner and extended weekend guests also. I love your ideas, I'll be getting started today.
Dana
Yvonne, even your organisation look beautiful like everything you do.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Johanna.
I am also a believer in being organized and I love lists ;) It really does help take the stress out of entertaining!
ReplyDeleteYvonne, as a former third grade teacher I just have to say...you have beautiful handwriting!
ReplyDeleteI made and froze my piecrusts this week but won't roll them until my daughter comes home from college for the holiday. She is a master and I just get frustrated! Next on my list is a trip to the wine shop (although I'll have to hide my purchases until Thanksgiving - ha!)
ReplyDeleteWe are doing things a little differently this year because of college schedules and a newly-married daughter who was torn between two families for the day. I volunteered to have our dinner on Wednesday evening, and I must say we are really looking forward to it! Hubby & I will spend Thanksgiving Day watching the parades (I'm a sucker for the Macy's parade!) and football and feasting on leftovers. Who knows, maybe this year I will have recovered enough to actually go out and get involved in the Black Friday fray!
One word of advice from a wise ol' Mom ... don't get so bogged down with the details and a vision of perfection that you don't enjoy the day and the time with your family. They really do grow up so quickly!
Kathy
I'm with Kathy re: not getting caught up in the details. You are extremely organized and I so admire that! Actually, I used to be ~ not sure what happened. :-) I think a lot of it is we have a very relaxed Thanksgiving and just enjoy being together, the parades and the football games. I'm not even sure who is going to be where this year so I'm no help here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your gorgeous photos and extremely wise suggestions! I hope you have a beautiful rest of the week.
xo
Pat
Lists are great to have.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be fun...reading and sharing tips for the most important meal of the year. I always buy one of the $1. Mary Engelbreit books at Michaels. I use it to make lists and record ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is fairly small so it lives in my purse and the lists stay all together in the book.
ReplyDeleteJanet@Housepeepers
You've motivated me to make a list(s). I'll stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteI notice that you cook your stuffing in your slow cooker also. I have been doing that for about 6 years now. Certainly makes it a lot easier and the consistency is great! No more worrying about it burning or getting too hard in the hot oven. Would love to see your recipe sometime.
ReplyDelete