In June, the Ottawa Mommy Club had the pleasure of being invited by Maytag for a sneak peek at Canada’s Home, a home that honours our country by displaying dependable products for Canadians to use such as Maytag appliances that stand for durability and reliability! At the event, we picked up some amazing tips on how to be the ultimate dependable host on Canada Day. This time around, Maytag wants to showcase their commitment to dependability by asking me to share dependable hosting tips to Canadians for Thanksgiving! You will find below 6 dependable hosting tips for Thanksgiving that will help you stay calm, organized, and have fun.
Maytag offers a full range of kitchen appliances built with dependability and power in mind and they know how much your family depends on you to run a well-organized household. You can depend on Maytag to help with a range of features:
- Maytag dishwashers with the Power Blast cycle,
- Maytag refrigerators with the PowerCold option, as well as
- Maytag ranges and ovens with Power Preheat options.
1. Make lists with timelines
It’s very helpful to write down a grocery and guest list, a meal plan, a cooking schedule, and a preparation list with timelines. I still use the old-fashion method of writing everything down on a piece of paper, but you can use apps to help make meal planning super simple.
2 weeks before Thanksgiving:
Now is the time to plan for Thanksgiving! To make it easier for you, I created a Thanksgiving Planner Printable that you can download for free. You will find:
- a guest list
- a grocery list
- a meal plan
- a cooking schedule
Simply click here or on the photo below to download the PDF!
A week before Thanksgiving:
- Bake the pies, desserts, and casseroles and freeze them
- Take out the Thanksgiving decorations and choose the ones you will be using
2-3 days before Thanksgiving:
- Shop for fresh produce and the meat
- Clean your refrigerator and oven
- Clean glasses and dinnerware
- Make the cranberry sauce and the rolls
1 day before Thanksgiving:
- Cook the turkey/meat and store in the refrigerator
- Cut the vegetables and store in the refrigerator
- Take frozen pies, desserts, and casseroles from freezer to the refrigerator to begin thawing
- Make the gravy and store in the refrigerator
- Set the table
- Clean the kitchen, living/family room, foyer, and bathroom
Thanksgiving Day:
- Prepare easy-to-make appetizers or store-bought
- Reheat pies, turkey, gravy, casseroles
- Cook the vegetables and make a salad
- Enjoy a glass of wine!
2. Prepare the Food in Advance
You can definitely ask for lots of help on Thanksgiving Day and have everyone prepare part of the meal, but for my guests to enjoy themselves, I prefer to prepare the food ahead of time! I now even cook the turkey the day before, which frees up time to accomplish other tasks the day of. I cut it in halves and save it in plastic containers with its juice in the refrigerator.
Maytag Front-Control Range offers Power Preheat so your oven is ready for cooking in as little as 8 minutes, which is ideal for cooking or reheating the turkey. The warming drawer of the range is also used to keep some of the food warm such as the pies. Also, with the Maytag Four-Door Refrigerator PowerCold comes with a feature that chills the refrigerator compartments quickly – even if you have been browsing with the door open while preparing the food.
3. Cleaning
Your home should look presentable and clean before your guests arrive, but they won’t be going around your entire house. Ideally, focus on cleaning the washroom, the living room/family room, front entrance, and the kitchen. Clean the glasses, dinnerware, and cutlery, and most of all clean your refrigerator and oven. As you clean your refrigerator, take out all unnecessary food items or eat them soon to make room for all the dishes to come. With the Maytag kitchen appliances, you don’t have to worry about cleaning fingerprints all over them since they have Fingerprint-resistant stainless steel. It doesn’t matter how many times you open the oven, refrigerator, or dishwasher doors on Thanksgiving, no fingerprints will show on them!
4. Set the table the night before
This is definitely one of the tasks that can be done the night before Thanksgiving. Take out the tablecloth and iron it, and add the decorations, glasses, napkins, dinnerware and cutlery on the table. It’s time-consuming to decorate the dining room table, so this is the perfect time to ask your kids to help you set it up and put their personal touches such as creating handwritten place cards and flower arrangements.
5. Cooking
On Thanksgiving, it’s not the time to experiment with new recipes as they can come out totally amazing or be a bust. Make your favourite dishes and stick to the meals you know best. After cooking such a big feast, it usually means cleaning lots of dishes and pots and pans! Rely on/Depend on Maytag Top Control Dishwasher with the PowerBlast cycle that removes stuck-on food with high pressure spray jets, increased temperature, and hot steam to finish the job. Your dishes will be sparkling clean!
Don’t stress out with baking pies, rolls, and other Thanksgiving desserts if you are a novice baker or simply don’t have the time to make them. Head out to your favourite bakery and purchase them. This also applies to the cranberry sauce and the gravy that can be bought at a grocery store. What’s important is to enjoy a meal with your guests!
6. Embrace the moment
As the busy day goes by, it’s important to remember the meaning of Thanksgiving and find moments to be grateful and thankful for all the blessings that we have received throughout the year. It’s the perfect time to enjoy the company of family and friends with many laughter and smiles while you eat a delicious meal together.
Preparing a meal for a large number of guests can be stressful and hosting a themed meal like Thanksgiving can also be very demanding, exhausting, and time-consuming! Planning ahead will be your best option, so you can actually enjoy spending time with your family members and relatives instead of being cooped up in the kitchen cooking for them all day. With these dependable hosting tips for Thanksgiving, you will definitely be on top of the day!
Do you have any hosting tips for Thanksgiving that you would like to share with our readers?
Please leave a comment below!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Disclaimer: Whirlpool has compensated me for my services and my posts, but all posts represent my own opinion.
Wow that “Maytag Front-Control Range offers Power Preheat so your oven is ready for cooking in as little as 8 minutes” sounds so helpful! Like something we’d use a lot
Thats a beautiful table!!! When we decided to do turkey day at my sons place in the city, one of the things is COOK THE DAMNED TURKEY EARLY lol..another is, BRING CHAIRS lol (there was 10 of us in total, my son was in college so did NOT have that kind of seating) We have FUN!!! (pretty important to make good memories) Also crock pots are great if you are bringing stuff to a get to gether like that
Great tips! Yes, cook the turkey early!! Thanks for sharing!
Great tips, thanksgiving is a great time of years
Doing anything the night before sure helps so much. I am also a list maker.
I love the table setting, it looks beautiful. The Maytag appliances sound fantastic, love the quick preheat on the oven too.
All great tips and they make it sound so easy and stress free, if only that would happen in real time for me..Ha!!
I’m lucky now-a-days it’s my son and his wife who do all the holiday cooking, I’m just a guest. 🙂
These are all awesome tips. Lists are literally my lifeline.
Lots of great tips here! I know lists really help me out a lot!
Me too! Thanks for commenting!
awesome tips – thank you !!
My pleasure!
I’m very lucky and grateful that my mother has done all of the holidays for many years but we all do a pot luck now because my mother is in her 70’s.