Planning for Big Meals & Celebrations
I love to cook, but I don’t love spending all day in the kitchen—I have family and friends to socialize with! (And puzzles to put together—that’s my holiday thing.) But when you’re cooking big feasts or multidish meals, it can be challenging to get out of the kitchen. How do you find the balance? And how do you get everything on the table at the same time while it’s still hot?
The secret, which I learned from Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust, is to have a cooking game plan. Before the big day, think about the components of each recipe, as well the total cook time, and consider what, if anything, can or should be made ahead. For example, when I’m making potato salad, I know I have to cook my potatoes first and that they need time to chill before I can prepare my salad. This means I tend to make my potatoes a day or so before or, if nothing else, first thing in the morning so they can chill all afternoon and I can assemble my potato salad just before dinner. Similarly, at Thanksgiving, I always make cranberry sauce a few days ahead. Cranberry sauce needs several hours to chill anyway, so making it a few days ahead takes one more item off the list. Garten also recommends getting as specific as possible in your game plan (e.g., noting “5:30 p.m.: preheat the oven”) and laying out every recipe and component step by step.
Although planning ahead sounds tricky, once you follow my steps and implement the game plan system, you’ll see it makes cooking—and entertaining—a breeze.
By thinking about each dish and the components involved, you can organize the cooking so every delicious dish is ready at the very moment you want to serve dinner. I have to be my own chef, sous chef, dishwasher, hostess, and server (okay, my husband helps sometimes!), so getting my plan organized on paper and out of my head makes entertaining infinitely less stressful and way more enjoyable. Try using a game plan once and I promise you’ll never cook a big meal without one again!
My master plan for Thanksgiving
CREATING YOUR GAME PLAN
- Choose your recipes. What are you serving? For ease, I’ve included comprehensive menus for a dozen special occasions as well as menu suggestions for everyday occasions (see “Dinner Party Menus” in the appendix) in this book. You’ll also find additional recipe suggestions from my other cookbooks for holidays and events all year long (see “More Holiday Menus” in the appendix). Build your perfect menu!
- Examine the recipes, paying close attention to the steps required for each component. Is there anything that can, or should, be made ahead to save time? For example, grains, such as rice or quinoa, can be made in advance. Potatoes, for mashing or potato salad, along with many desserts, can also be made ahead. The same is true for squashes—you can roast or cook any squash a few days in advance. If you aren’t able to make these items a day or two before, schedule them first thing in the morning.
- Once your components are taken care of, look to the total cook time of each recipe. Which recipes take the most time to cook or prep? The least time? For those going in the oven, are the temperatures different or the same? Can anything go in together? Generally, you want to list dishes in the order of longest cook time (e.g., vegan meatloaf) to shortest cook time (e.g., gravy).
- Once the recipe order is complete, work backwards from when you want dinner to be ready, writing down the time you’re going to prep and make each item. It can also help to add estimates for prep time, cook time, and finishing time next to each step. (e.g., 5:00 p.m.: assemble vegan meatloaf, prep time: 15 minutes, 5:15 p.m.: bake meatloaf, cook time: 50-60 minutes, finishes: 6:10 p.m.). Throw-together dishes like salads can usually be worked in wherever you have a gap of time, or assemble them quickly before serving.
- Lastly, clear extra space in your fridge for the big day. You’ll need room for foods requiring time to chill.
PRESENTING YOUR BOUNTY
There are a few different ways you can serve your guests, and which style you select may depend on the type of occasion, the party space or venue, the total number of guests, or who the guests are. (For example, are you dealing with picky eaters or an array of different dietary needs?) If you want to be ultra–fancy pants (and your guests can generally eat the same foods), serve each person restaurant-style, either in courses or with their plate containing a serving of each item at the onset. This is my favorite approach (it’s so classy!), but it does take a little extra work, since you’re doing all the plating and serving. You also may need to do a little more thoughtful planning with your menu, making sure all of your dishes are suitable for everyone’s dietary needs.
If you find yourself with a limited amount of food (maybe something went awry or you suddenly realized your food shrank during cooking . . . or you grossly underestimated how much you’d need—been there done that!)—pre-plating can save the day. Serving restaurant-style will ensure that every guest gets a serving of each delightful dish you make. (Plus I know I’m guilty of taking gigantic portions when serving myself. My eyes are absolutely bigger than my stomach.)
An additional benefit to the restaurant- style approach is that it helps with space: if your seating area is small or you’ll be cramming a lot of people around a table, serving restaurant-style saves table space and keeps things comfortable. However, another option for small dining spaces is serving buffet-style, where guests take a plate and go through a line of your goodies, helping themselves to whichever menu items they want. This is great for big parties with lots of guests, or when you’ll be entertaining people with many different dietary needs. Each partygoer can create his or her own perfect plate. (I’m especially fond of buffet-style serving at outdoor parties, and it’s a necessity at potlucks.) Buffet-style can be elegant or very casual—see the Party Bars section in this book for ideas on what types of food to include in buffet lines for different occasions.
Color equals satisfaction. The more color on a plate, the more abundant your meal feels. (A plate of beige may be delicious, but it doesn’t feed our eyes.) This is a sneaky trick to keep in mind with skeptical guests. We eat with our eyes first, so always take care to pick recipes with different colors. One of my mantras (and hashtags) is #tastetherealrainbow.
Another option is family-style dining. Having your bounty in the center of the table makes your table colorful, and it allows guests to easily reach for seconds. Having guests passing serving bowls and plates around the table to each other also makes for a more special and intimate experience—the perfect ambiance for the holidays.
And of course let’s not forget the most fuss-free option of all: grazing-style, where you have finger foods and other easy grab-and-eat snacks in serving dishes throughout the party area. See the Tailgating & Appetizing Parties section (p. 66) for ideas on what to prepare for parties with this type of food presentation in mind.
GOODY BAGS
Remember childhood parties where you left with a present? I’m all about “goody bags” at my parties—send guests home with a meal for the next day! (This is also a great way to make sure leftovers leave your kitchen!) If you want to impress, serve soup in a mason jar, then tie a colored ribbon around it that captures the holiday you’re celebrating!
HOW TO USE THE ICONS IN THIS BOOK
|Q | GF | SF | MA | PA | P |
QUICK Recipes that come together in 30 minutes or less. Some recipes may require multitasking to complete in 30 minutes.
GLUTEN FREE Recipes that don’t require wheat or barley. I can’t vouch for every ingredient, though, so if you have an allergy or sensitivity, please make sure every ingredient you use is certified gluten free. For example, while oats themselves do not contain gluten, they may be cross-contaminated. Recipes with an asterisk next to the icon can be made gluten-free with simple substitutions. For example, use gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. In non-baking recipes, rice flour is a fairly good replacement for whole-wheat flour.
SOY FREE Recipes that don’t require tofu or tempeh. Recipes with an asterisk next to the icon can be made soy free with simple substitutions. For example, use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce, chickpea miso when miso is called for, and almond milk instead of soy milk.
MAKE AHEAD Recipes that can be made ahead for easier planning and prep.
PREP AHEAD Recipes that can be started (or prepped) ahead, but need a final step (such as baking or heating) the day of for best results. A STOP icon is included with each recipe to indicate where to stop your prep work.
PORTABLE Recipes that will travel well by car or train.