Ready to Get An Early Start for Thanksgiving?

Yesterday I gave you my ordinary cleaning routine. You can tell from that list that next week I am suppose to give the extra attention to the bedrooms. With the holidays coming up, I have learned to take the week to spend extra time in my kitchen. I thought this year as I start to tackle my holiday plan, I would write about it hoping you can pick up or share some tips.

Most of the steps will not only help me to get a jump on the season, they help me to organize my kitchen. All of the articles next week will be about basic kitchen cleaning and organizing. Then we will talk a little more about Thanksgiving.

Before we jump in to the kitchen, there are just a few things you need to consider to make the plan effective for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Fall and Winter Planner Holiday Jump Start

There are several things I do well in advance to prepare for the holidays. I mentioned a few of them when talking about Fall and Winter Maintenance. Have you taken care of these?

• I begin addressing envelopes for Christmas cards. I actually prefer newsletters or making my own cards if I can, but the point is to decide now and do a few a night so I don’t get writer’s cramp in my hand. Cards should be a moment to connect, not a chore. If we are doing professional pictures to send in the cards, I schedule the appointment with the studio.
• I start a list for Christmas Gifts. I have a list of everyone we typically give to, then I ask the hubby and kids if there is anyone they intend to give to this year. I once got caught trying to find a few kids’ gifts late, late the night before the last day of school before Christmas break. Whether you choose to make the attempt or to explain to your child it is too late to shop, you lose. It is much easier to just ask about it now.

I now have more than half of the envelopes addressed. So far I have come across a few names that I need to get updated addresses. Another bonus to starting early.

The Next Steps – Food Plans and Grocery Lists

This is when my kitchen begins to play such an important role. Consider all of these items.

1. Decide now how you intend to spend all of the holidays. Get an overall schedule in mind. How many places will you go? How many times will you be having people over?
2. On your Christmas gift list, how many gifts will be coming from your kitchen? In addition to friends and family, some people make up items for teachers, group members and special service vendors such as hair dressers and mailmen. If you do, include them.
3. What extra treats or snacks will you be making for your family during the holidays?
4. Do you intend to make food contributions to food banks?

After you have answered all of these questions, maybe all you need to worry about is making sure you have some fettuccine alfredo for Christmas Eve. But if your list is long, having a plan now will enable you to spread the food budget over several weeks.

Go ahead and make complete menus for each event you will be hosting. Pull out all of the recipes you will need for everything in the menu and the items above.  Include any recipes you will use to change up the leftovers. Make a complete grocery list including specific amounts needed from all of the recipes. Keep Thanksgiving and Christmas separate since you will have a few extra weeks for Christmas.

Now you will see early planning can also helps you to see if you need to downsize your intentions to keep from going bankrupt. Rework these steps until you get a final grocery list for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Some of the items will be duplicated. If you will have plenty of amounts of non-perishable items that will be leftover from Thanksgiving to cover Christmas, mark those items out on the second list.

I tend to go to the grocery every week. I take the list and split it into eight starter grocery lists with the perishables being purchased just before I need them. I have also learned that some specialty items such as the candied fruits and frozen whole cranberries are harder to come by the closer you get to each holiday, so I make sure to have them on earlier lists. If I need a ton of something like pecans, I add a bag or so to each list. I will add regular weekly groceries as I need them to these starter lists.

Next Year

Now that all of that work has been done, make a planner for yourself and start a Thanksgiving and a Christmas section. Add the menus, the recipes, and the starter grocery lists to those sections. After doing the holiday follow up, you may need to make some adjustments, but you have already made next year easier for yourself.  We will add more pages as we go.

Other things to keep in mind as we jump into the kitchen next week.

Freeing up food space. As we are going through the kitchen make an inventory of the foods you already have on hand that you will not need for the Holidays. If you will be doing the event cooking you will need the space. Try to plan your meals to use it up. Do the best you can to get your refrigerator completely empty except for needed ingredients before you start cooking that bird.

Every penny counts. Take those grocery lists and start looking for specials and coupons. The same goes for gifts on your gift list. Sign up for the discount cards. Sometimes if you can find the corporate sites for department and chain stores, you will get a hint of promotions before they are advertised locally. Find the websites for your grocery stores and sign up to get the flyers sent to you. Whether they come by post or email, they usually include additional coupons as well as the specials. Find out if they have a special coupon mailer for frequent shoppers. One of our local stores sends out customized coupons with many free items, but only if you spend an average monthly amount in their stores.

photo credit: Thanksgiving table Nov. 2006 by katiescrapbooklady