Holiday Tips from Some of My Favorite People

I come from a long line of holiday hosts and hostesses with the mostest-es, so I reached out and asked my family and friends for their best holiday planning tips. Here are a few of the great submissions I received:

Aunt Wendy:
”I create a calendar for everything for Thanksgiving, and keep it from year to year. It starts with polishing silver and kitchen copper two weeks ahead, through when to pick up the turkey, brining it, preparing pies and fixings, etc.

I also have a schedule of Thanksgiving day that ends with cooking the peas just before we sit down. I assign jobs to everyone, including guests. Platters and bowls are labeled with what will go in them.

My shopping list is a master list of everything I need for Thanksgiving day. I just cross off what I already have in stock. It helps that we do pretty much the same thing every year.”

Aunt Leslie:
”I assemble my Christmas recipes early and add two or three ingredients to my weekly shopping list. I watch for coupons and “specials” each week as I amass the supplies for the holidays. (I generally start in October to spread the costs over approximately 10 weeks).”

Karen, my good friend since way back in my Brooklyn days:
”We pull (sometimes secret) Santa names for all the adults on each side of the family. It seriously cuts costs, and each adult gets one something that’s a little nicer than lots of little things. Plus, none of us really *need* anything at this point, so it cuts down on excess as well.”

What are some of your favorite holiday tips? Shoot me an email and let me know!