Preparing for Thanksgiving is an exercise in chaos management at best and anxiety-producing at worst. You spend hours planning, shopping, cooking, decorating, and cleaning and then the meal is done in 20 minutes.

 

What’s my biggest tip for making food prep and presentation easier for you and for your guests? Setting out the serving dishes(with labels) and utensils ahead of time.

 

This will help you to not only figure out where everything goes but is also a reminder of what dishes you are preparing vs. those other people will be bringing. This is one preparation task you can do well ahead of time without feeling like you’re wasting time or having to repeat it later.

 

Matching up your utensils and serving pieces means you won’t be scrambling at the last minute to find the right fork or spoon to serve a dish. You can inspect each piece to determine if anything needs to be cleaned or polished. If you won’t be using your table or sideboard until Thanksgiving Day, put down the tablecloth or sideboard cover before setting out the serving dishes and utensils and leaving everything out.

 

When setting up, I put sticky notes on the serving dishes and place the utensils right next to them. If people are bringing food, this will help them to see clearly where their item goes.

 

Once you’ve mapped everything out, everyone can see what goes where and you don’t have to think about it again. Happy Thanksgiving and happy organizing!