58 THE QUEENS COURIER • THANKSGIVING • NOVEMBER 14, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
thanksgiving
Try these stress-busting strategies
to get the feast on the table
Th e date is circled in red: the day of
the big feast. Th is year, everyone’s coming
over to your house for the big event.
But just the thought of getting ready raises
your pulse and sends a surge of stress
through your system.
Th is time, bring a new mindset to your
holiday gathering. You’re putting so much
eff ort into it because you care about your
family. Th is is, aft er all, a time of year
when making memories matters. Which
means you deserve a chance to enjoy
yourself. But if the night-before preparations
of cooking and cleaning keep you
up past midnight, you’ll show up feeling
stressed and tired at your own party!
Th is time, show up feeling just as
relaxed and ready to enjoy the food as
your guests. You don’t have a team of servants
or magic elves to help, but the next
best thing is smart planning. Implement
these time-saving strategies to take the
stress out of the frantic fi nal hours before
the feast.
Get assistance from the freezer
Experienced cooks know there’s no
need to save up all the cooking and baking
for the day of the feast. A week before the
big event, set aside a day or two for a marathon
cooking session, because things like
sides, sauces, gravies and desserts can all
be put together ahead of time and placed
in the freezer. Th en you can save the baking
and roasting for the day of the feast.
Tip: For things that will go from freezer to
oven, be sure you have high-quality bakeware
that won’t shatter. For example, OXO
Good Grips Glass Bakeware is made from
borosilicate glass, which is engineered to
withstand extreme temperature changes.
Be your own sous-chef
Cooking for a crowd means there will
be lots of cutting, slicing, chopping and
measuring. Before you start, do all that
prepping at one time and consolidate
where you can. For example, if you have
three dishes that require chopped onion,
do all the onion chopping at once. When
you’re done, just store it in a glass lidded
container. Th e OXO Smart Seal glass containers
can keep your dishes and ingredients
fresh and neatly stacked in your
refrigerator.
Round up your helpers
A family feast begins with a good plan
... and lots of delegation. At least a few
weeks beforehand, draw up a master
to-do list of things you need to do to get
the house ready for guests, from cleaning
to decorating to setting the table.
Hand out tasks to diff erent family members
so everyone plays a role. One easy
way to do this is to put each family member
in charge of a room to clean and prepare.
For example, one can take bathroom
duty, making sure it’s clean, stocked
and company-ready, while another takes
on the family room. Hang this list in a
common area, so tasks are crossed off as
they’re completed.
Order the food
Th is year, skip the hours of shopping at
the grocery store, and try ordering everything
on your list online. Whether you
opt for a delivery service, or try a grocer’s
curbside pickup option, you’ll miss out
on the stress of fi nding parking, nudging
your cart through the crowded produce
section and waiting in long lines. Th is will
save you time and stress.
The night before, set the table
Nothing beats waking up the morning
of the big feast and seeing that your
table is ready for company. Th e place
settings are arranged just so, the wine
glasses are shining and the serving dishes
and utensils are laid out. All you have
left is baking, warming and roasting,
leaving you with plenty of time to get
ready. You may even have time in the
morning to relax over that extra cup of
coff ee!
Courtesy BPT
/WWW.QNS.COM
