25 Holiday Serving Tips for Easy Parties

I have hosted holiday celebrations for extended family for the last 20 years running. I have a very small home, no dining room, no dishwasher and a small kitchen. Here are some sanity savers that I have learned along the way to make for some lovely holiday times. Here are some tips for having a memorable treasured holiday if you are hosting the dinner.

Cooking and Serving Supply List: Use disposable bake ware and pans for ease of storage and clean up.

Serve your beverages in disposable cups or cans and bottles. The sturdy nicer cups will go on sale. If you want to serve water with the meal in your good glasses, do so, but disposable cups will save a great deal of time in the kitchen for clean up.

Purchase sets of four or five Glad disposable, plastic bake ware. Family Dollar and Dollar General carry sets for about $4. The dishes come in 4 or 5 quart sizes. They are an attractive off white pattern. You can bake and reheat in a conventional oven with these baking dishes. You can serve in them and store leftovers in the same dish. They can go from freezer to oven. It makes leftover clean-up a breeze. People can easily heat up leftovers whenever they want.

For larger baking needs, look for large disposable aluminum pans when they are $1 each. I buy several turkey roasting pans for my sweet potatoes and white potatoes. The Easy Foil brand of disposable pans is usually on sale now.

Select square sized pans and cookware whenever possible. They fit better than oval in stoves and refrigerators. Check Glad.com for a $2 for you holiday baking needs.

Look for pans with disposable covers.

For wrapping leftovers, choose Glad Press and Seal Wrap. It's a little more expensive but well worth the cost as it sticks very tightly even to plastic containers.

For roasting your turkey, select a disposable roaster with lift out handles. They are much easier to remove from the oven and less likely to bend under the weight of the turkey.

Package leftovers to take home in zipping gallon sized bags. Place the food on a paper plate and slide it into the bag and zip shut. It will travel much better and not spill all over the car when you are trying to carry three sleeping children and all the post party stuff into the house.

Serving Set-up

Arrange your dishes buffet style along your counters. Be sure to put a serving spoon in each. Set out plates of carved turkey, light and dark, and each of the side dishes.

Set out plates, flatware in a separated basket or container, large dinner sized napkins.

Put everything away on your counter top to leave room for food.

Put a lazy susan on the table with all condiments (salt, pepper, butter, gravy boat, and extra napkins. If the table is very large, place a set of condiments at both ends.

Set up a self-serve beverage area with an insulated ice bucket, an insulated carafe of coffee, a carafe of hot water. a cooler of soda in cans, milk, wine, water, etc. Set out cups, I use my china cabinet counter. Set out cups, beverage napkins for coasters, creamer, sugar, tea, Splenda, etc. depending upon what your guests will drink. You can use a 30 cup coffee maker if you will host a very large crowd. Keep napkins out for spills.

Set out a separate dessert table. Place disposable dessert plates, napkins, pie servers and whipped topping. Pre-cut the desserts into servings. Cover desserts with plastic covers, linen or paper napkins over desserts after everyone has eaten and you want to leave the buffet open for nibbling.

If you serve wine, dry whites and reds (chardonnay, merlot, burgundy, shiraz, cabernet, pinot, etc.) do not need to be chilled before or after opening. Simply re-cork them. Sweet wines ( grenache, lambrusco, chabils, chianti,rose) should be refrigerated or chilled before and after serving.

For cans and bottles, place a cardboard box with a plastic liner on your back porch for cans.

If there will be several younger children, set out a child sized picnic table or card table. Give them a tiny centerpiece and salt and pepper so they feel like big folks. My grandmother used to do this for the grandchildren; we loved our own table.

May your holiday celebration be joyful and blessed.