I was asked, recently, how I made a Holiday meal by myself for the whole family and still had time to enjoy the day. Here is the basic process. Everyone does it differently, but you don’t have to make a big deal cooking a huge dinner. It only takes a few hours and actually Saves time because I don’t end up cooking again for, like, two days.
Well, admittedly, the whole family is usually only 5 people, but I do like to be extravagant and make as much of it myself as possible. Once you are already cooking, most dishes can be upsized. Actually, having a bunch of people is easier because they can just bring sides to add on.
Over Thanksgiving I took notes on how the day(s) went, play-by-play in my (little apartment) kitchen. It’s kind of interesting. If you’ve ever wanted to make a big Holiday Meal to feed a bunch of people, you can look over how I do it and adapt as necessary. I didn’t take timestamps, but just the basic order of operations with a bit of advice I’ve picked up from doing this for a while.
This is Thanksgiving, but Christmas is Very Similar. I’ve included Kid Helpers occasionally, but it’s optional. Only include the kid helpers if you have kids available and want to be a good influence and teach them life skills AND have the extra time. Anytime kids are helping add an extra 10-15 minutes.
Generally speaking, except for Turkey, you can save a bunch of time by just going for boxed and store-bought. Don’t want to bake a pie? Just buy one.
Our American Thanksgiving is usually turkey, hot sides, rolls, jello salads, and pie.
Just a Note on Christmas: We try to mix it up so that Christmas isn’t Turkey. Last year I did a leg of lamb. I’ve made Cornish Game Hens. No one is wild about Ham here, but I know people make it. Do Prims rib, pork ribs, fish, duck, rack of lamb, whatever. One year I plan to make a goose. Arrange your plan accordingly, but roasting meat is pretty similar. It can be slotted in for when I do the Turkey prep pretty easily.
Just a Note on Christmas: We try to mix it up so that Christmas isn’t Turkey. Last year I did a leg of lamb. I’ve made Cornish Game Hens. No one is wild about Ham here, but I know people make it. Do Prims rib, pork ribs, fish, duck, rack of lamb, whatever. One year I plan to make a goose. Arrange your plan accordingly, but roasting meat is pretty similar. It can be slotted in for when I do the Turkey prep pretty easily.
Here’s how it’s done:
(Warning: it’s a bit long-winded, but only because I’m describing all the steps. Sometimes it takes more time to tell how to do something than to actually do it.)
