Fall is our favorite time of year. We say sayonara to summer and good day to the season of back-to-back non-stop celebrating. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah... there is so much to enjoy (despite our dismay over the extra pounds we pack on due to all that candy, stuffing, and eggnog!). But without a little pre-planning, the holidays can become a stress-fest. This year, save yourself the angst by getting a jumpstart on the holidays. Here's our Foxy how-to:
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Discuss holiday plans with friends and family now, rather than waiting until holiday time is upon you. Get a sense of how many people are going to attend Thanksgiving dinner at your house. Even send out an email invitation through Evite -- it's free (sweet!) and a great way to get people to commit. Give them a deadline, so you'll know well in advance how many will be on the guest list.
- Flip, Find, File Spend a half hour flipping through your favorite cookbooks or surfing online for recipes. Collect ideas in a file folder, and one night while you're enjoying your favorite TV show, make a menu. Keep it simple and don't overdo it -- many people make the mistake of cooking too much. Look for dishes that can be made ahead of time and frozen. Those will make life even easier down the road.
- Divide & Conquer Share the workload! Hosting a holiday doesn't mean you have to do all the work. Dole out responsibilities to family members or friends, whether it's asking them to make dessert, bring extra ice, or supply wine.
- Get Mean & Clean Yeah, it's not our favorite thing to do either, but carve out a half day to do some cleaning. Wash and iron your good table linens, if necessary. Polish the silver. Clean the windows in your living and dining rooms. Give the kitchen a good thorough scrubbing (and while you're at it, you may want to pull out some of the baking dishes and other things you'll need at holiday time).
- Sharpen Up Make sure your slicing-and-dicing knives are sharp. Use a knife sharpener to spruce them up, so that your holiday cooking will be easy and breezy.
- Fill the Freezer Make one side dish every week or two and freeze it. Many casseroles and soups can be prepared ahead of time and then baked or reheated when you're ready to serve them. Another goody to bake-and-freeze: Christmas cookies.
- Make Your List & Check It Put together a gift list. Separate it into people that you can make gifts for and those that you need to purchase gifts for. You may want to offer teachers, delivery people, or others a token of thanks in the form of homemade banana bread, holiday cookies, or handmade holiday ornaments. Photo gifts make a great gift for grandparents and other family members.
- Mellow Out Your Mail If you're like us, you have a love/hate relationship with holiday cards. It's a thoughtful way to stay in touch with people you don't talk to frequently, and it brings cheer to loved ones around the holidays. But writing, labeling, stamping, and sending can be a huge ordeal. Make it easier by ordering cards in advance. We love the inexpensive, adorable holiday return address labels available on Etsy. And save yourself a long wait in line at the post office by ordering stamps online.
- Save For Santa Put aside five or 10 dollars a week to put towards that painful credit card bill that comes after the holidays. Think of it as your extra "hidden" savings account.
- Jingle All The Way Create CD mixes of your favorite music to play during the holidays. A nice jazz mix for Thanksgiving dinner, a retro holiday mix for Christmas Eve, or some laidback, clubby alternative tracks for a cocktail gathering.
Check out these ready-to-go Thanksgiving menus.
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