At the Blackbook/Stoli Vodka party at My Studio in Hollywood with Jessica Hall.

Thanksgiving Party

Decorations:

Thanksgiving Decorations are a little more rustic looking than other holidays.  It is great to use a lot of natural, earthy things for this holiday.  I love using burlap or potato sack material (available at your local fabric store) as table coverings; I’m even going to try it as window coverings this year.  I will post pictures if it works out J

Wheat, corn and orange-colored flowers make beautiful arrangements.  You can buy real fresh stuff at your local grocery store, or I prefer to buy fake versions at my nearby craft store.  I tie arrangements together with raffia or cute brown and orange plaid ribbon (also from my local fabric or craft store), creating super cute bouquets.  I decorate my stair balustrades, dining room table and fireplace mantel with these bouquets.

If you have any pumpkins (un-carved) left over from Halloween, don’t dump them!!  They are a perfect decoration for Thanksgiving as well!  Large colorful Gourds placed on the table and mantle and even at the front door make sweet decorations.  Scarecrows and hay bales at the front door are fun too.

I also love using Fall colored leaves to spread around the table.  These leaves can be real or fake.  I prefer fake so I can reuse them and they wont get dry and crumble up creating a mess but fresh real leaves would work just as well and be very impressive.  Anything associated with harvest will work well for a creatively decorated Thanksgiving event.

Turkey:

The quintessential Thanksgiving holiday icon. Most people make what I call a “traditional turkey,” stuffed and roasted in the oven, which is great and yummy and most people seem to love it, but why not try cooking it differently? There are so many different ways…deep fried, barbequed or smoked, stuffed, unstuffed, marinated, etc. I’m not going to pretend to be an aficionado on all turkey cooking styles, but I did research different cooking styles and methods for my personal turkey this year and for this blog, and I found tons of recipes, help lines and suggestions online. I want to do a deep fried one ☺

Food:

Traditional Thanksgiving food consists of stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry, yams, rolls, etc. But if you are like me, I get tired of the same exact food every year.

Try switching it up! Think outside the box. What about Macaroni and cheese or homemade chili? Or, one of my favorites…cheese fondue!
Here are a few recipes that I have found and enjoyed!
P.S. don’t be afraid to make your substitutions! I always do!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Formula-Three-Cheese-Fondue/Detail.aspx

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2008/09/mac_and_cheese_with_pancetta

Theme:

Instead of the traditional turkey meal, try something different! Pick a theme–Mexican, Italian, Indian, Chinese, etc. We did this one year and it was really fun. It actually encouraged everyone to work together even more than usual and be more interested in the meal and sampling things along the way. Everybody wanted to be involved and in the kitchen. This will bring everyone together, create a fun environment and bring freshness to the traditional meal.

Desserts:

Pumpkin pie is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Thanksgiving dessert. It is fun to have a variety of desserts on hand…like a dessert bar! I recently made pumpkin empanadas that were very yummy! I’ve also made apple turnovers that were so dreamy.

Here is a recipe I tried and enjoyed:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pumpkin-Turnovers/Detail.aspx

Top them all off with whipped cream!!! It is the best topper for all of the above-mentioned desserts. The other day, in my search for Vampire wine (lol) I found alcohol infused whipped cream in a can!!! They had a variety of flavors…vanilla, chocolate, caramel, etc. I thought I would give it a try. Alone, it is a little potent, but on top of drinks and desserts it is incredible!!

I looked it up online and found there are at least two companies making this delectable cream: the one I tried is www.givemecream.com and the other site is www.whippedlightening.com

Cocktails:

I made a couple of new discoveries this year—in addition to the alcohol infused whip cream, I found pumpkin spice liqueur. Adding a dash of this to your regular hot chocolate or coffee with a squirt of alcohol infused whip cream on top can be an amazing dessert drink.

I was looking for other ways to use the pumpkin spice liqueur and developed a cocktail with hollowed out mini pumpkins as the glass.  They are a little work but if you like the effect and the theme as I do, it’s worth it.

Games:

Keep things exciting, fun and interactive for Thanksgiving.  Throughout the day ask Thanksgiving themed trivia questions and keep track of who gets the answers right.  Perhaps they win a small prize, like a bottle of pumpkin wine or a six-pack of pumpkin beer or maybe just first place in the dinner line if you do it buffet style.

Since Thanksgiving is also a big football day make it more fun by having a football pool.  Write your name down in a square or two and have fun rooting!  Having the game more interactive like this keeps everyone involved, even the non-football fans, and keeps your holiday from being segregated when the games come on.  Betting with money is illegal in some areas, but if it is cool where you live, it is even more exciting to put in a few dollars for every square you put your name in.  When a jackpot is up for grabs at the end of every quarter it makes the day and game even more exciting!

Exercise:

The family that works out together, stays together!  With all that food consumption throughout the day people get a little lethargic.  Although Thanksgiving is meant to be a time for eating, family and relaxing, why not plan a little after lunch/dinner walk? It doesn’t have to be anything extensive–even just a nice walk around the block.  Bundle up and enjoy the fresh air.

Snowing?  Go outside and make snow angels or have a snowball fight.  Anything to burn off a few calories, energize the group and make room for the dessert! J

If you have a lot of kids in your family, look into a jumping castle or some form of physical entertainment for them.

Be flexible:

We all know Thanksgiving is on a Thursday but does it have to be?  Everyone has “the other side of the family” that they are constantly battling to spend the holidays with.

Don’t allow the actual date cause drama among the families.  Most adults and kids have the entire long weekend off…Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  So, if the “other side” is dong theirs on Thursday think about doing yours on Friday. Afraid you will miss all the shopping?  Then what about Saturday?  Then maybe the following year you can swap dates with the “other side”.

If you can compromise and be flexible like this not only will you have a better turnout, but it also enables people to stay longer, get comfortable and spend quality time rather than feeling like they have to “not eat or drink too much” because they still have to go to someone else’s house.

Also, be flexible with the timing.  Thanksgiving doesn’t always have to be dinner.  It can be lunch too…just something to think about.

Guest list:

Change up your guest list.  Invite new people and be open to people bringing other people.  Thanksgiving is all about sharing and togetherness and having new people can bring life and freshness to your traditional Thanksgiving experience.

Budget and Time saving tips:

If you don’t have very many decorations, don’t feel the need to run out and buy more.  I have very few Thanksgiving decorations so I concentrate them in one area…my fireplace mantel and some bouquets on my stair balustrades.  As I gather more decorations I will add new areas like entry and dining room.

If cooking is not your favorite thing to do don’t feel guilty about having the meal catered.  I’m not denying that Thanksgiving is about the food, but more importantly, Thanksgiving should be about spending time with your family and friends and not about who can prepare the best meal.  I have had pre-cooked grocery store meals and they are pretty darn good!

Don’t worry about doing everything yourself…why not try a potluck?  That could make things fun and really switch up your traditional dinner!  If you are insistent about doing the whole meal, have everyone bring desserts.