Tips for Hosting a Large Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. When I was younger, it was a tradition for everyone to go to my grandparent's house to eat dinner. Now that they have passed, I've began to start cooking my own Thanksgiving dinner and over the years I have came across many recipes that I've found useful and my cooking has grown more and more better over the years.

When you have a large group of family and friends that you are inviting to your dinner on Thanksgiving, most people assume you are going to be stressed out. There are many things that you can do to prevent yourself from having a stressful Thanksgiving, and you will be "thankful" you had everybody over this year.

One great idea when throwing a big Thanksgiving dinner is making sure you get a head count of who all is coming so there won't be too much or too little food. Everyone would rather leave stuffed than still hungry, and leftovers get boring after a while so you don't want to cook too much. It's also a very good idea to begin cooking a day ahead of time so that you won't be rushing on Thanksgiving to get everything ready, you will already have planned this.

Another great tip I've found useful is to have some kind of seating arrangements. It's too stressful the day of your dinner to be running around wondering where everyone is going to sit at, so make sure you've got enough room at your table for everyone so no one will feel left out. If children are coming to the dinner, it's a good idea to get an inexpensive small plastic table for kids so that all the children can sit together and catch up on their little lives.

One thing I've always found useful when cooking for many people regardless of the holiday, is that when a food item is done cooking I take it out of whatever I cooked it in, wash that dish, and place it into something that's either plastic with a lid, or that can be throwed away. After a big dinner, no one really wants to clean, so it's always a good idea when you can throw a lid on it and pop it in the fridge or send it home with someone else.

Try to invite people over a little early so that you all can get together and watch a Thanksgiving parade on television. Or invite them over a little later to watch the big football game. Another great idea is to have a sleepover and have everyone get up early the next morning to get the best sales for Christmas, on the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday.

Plan some activities for the kids. A great, easy little game I've found is, Pin the Feather on the Turkey. Find a cut-out of a turkey and some feathers and play this game just like you would Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

No matter what your religion is, I think it's always tasteful to say what you are thankful for on Thanksgiving. When everyone sits down and is ready to eat, go around the table and have everyone tell what they are thankful for. (Have some tissues ready for the one's who get a little too emotional.)

Thanksgiving is a great holiday to spend with loved ones who mean the most to you. Yes, at times it can be hectic, but overall it's worth it.