You spend every Christmas slaving away in the kitchen. From sunup to sundown, you’re chopping, dicing, frying, baking, broiling, cleaning and putting things away. You eat and rest little until night falls and your family is off and about, leaving you to your own devices. Not this year. You’re taking it easy this Christmas and spending less time in the kitchen and more time in the living room with your family and friends.
To ensure you reach your goals, you need to start the planning early. Sit down now and decide what you want to serve. When possible, select less time-consuming dishes or ones you can buy or make days before. If you can stand the thought of it, you might want to have a potluck. You provide the main entrée and beverages and leave the rest to your guests. This will save you considerable time in the kitchen, especially if you use disposable dinnerware.
Shop for ingredients a week before and don’t be afraid to take some shortcuts. Instead of making six pies by scratch, make three and buy the rest. If you absolutely must make all six pies, use some ready-made ingredients, like canned fruit or frozen piecrusts. Your family and friends won’t throw a fit just because there aren’t six pies completely made from scratch sitting on the dessert table. They might actually enjoy the change of pace and additional time with you.
Prepare as much of the food as you can in the days before. Make casseroles and freeze them. Peel, slice, dice, chop and refrigerate vegetables and fruit. Bake all of the desserts on Christmas Eve and anything else that can be warmed up and served.
Accept all offers of help. Should anyone offer to bring something, let them. That’s one less dish you’ll have to worry about making. Should anyone offer to help you out in the kitchen, let them. You’ll get more done in less time. If you need help, enlist it. Grab a friend and have them help you finish preparing the meal. They won’t mind, and you’ll get in some good one-on-one time.
Serve food buffet style. Forget setting the table. Line the buffet with plates, silverware, food and beverages, and let your family and friends dig in. Use disposable dinnerware and save time cleaning up afterwards. Your guests won’t mind, and again, they might even like the change of pace.
Fuss-free holiday meals are possible. Work to keep things simple this year, and you will be all smiles and spend more of Christmas Day enjoying time with your family and friends.
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