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If you've been here for a while, you know- Thanksgiving is one of our absolute favorite days of the year!

We think hosting it is a badge of honor. What a wonderful blessing to be able to gather and host a meal for your favorite people on a day dedicated to gratitude. However we know that this "blessing" does not come easily, and that there is a lot of work and sacrifice that goes into a hosting a night like this.

One of our goals here at Abuela's Counter is demystifying the urban legends of the kitchen one recipe at a time. We feel like Thanksgiving has a lot of lore around it, and we are here to help anyone out there who wants to give it a try!

When we were thinking of our 5 absolute tips to hosting a stress free yet very yummy Thanksgiving, we wanted to be as honest and helpful as we could be. A big meal has so many moving parts, and you want to figure out the best way to manage everything that you need without taking on too much at your given level.

Here are our 5 Quick Tips for Hosting a Perfect Thanksgiving!

1. Be honest with yourself about what you can take on. If you’re a new cook, keep it simple. If you’re a little more advanced, you can take on the challenge but never overdo it. It has to be about enjoying the day.
2. Delegate based on your strengths. If you are good at Turkey and Dessert, then delegate the sides and appetizers. If you are great at sides, but terrible at Turkey, assign it on or even buy one. Remember it’s about enjoying the day.
3. Make Your Plan. Go through each course, each moment of the day and plan what you will need and when it should be done. This will take a lot of stress off leading up. While making sure everything gets done. So that you can ENJOY the day.
4. The Turkey- Listen! It’s easier than it seems. Keep it small, grab a great recipe, don’t worry about a brine and when in doubt make extra breasts. Because then there are leftovers which are part of enjoying the day!
5. Variety- You want to make sure you have something for everyone. From the appetizers, to the sides, to the wine and everything in between. So that everyone can enjoy the day!

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1- Be honest with yourself and what you can take on.

Deciding to host this event or take a dish to your loved one’s house feels like a big decision. There is an added pressure to it, whether we like it or not. The pressure that it has to be delicious, or it has to be perfect. This leads to you being nervous in the kitchen, or even intimidating enough that you decide you don’t want to take it on. However, if you are honest with what you’re capable of and the time you have, then hosting a Thanksgiving dinner or bringing a delicious side to your aunt’s house is totally within reach.

Thanksgiving Story Time

The first time Cristy decided to host her family for Thanksgiving was a total disaster. She had never made a turkey before or most of the sides that were set on the menu. The only thing she delegated was an appetizer. She was set to make the Turkey, three sides, a dessert and all the set up. It was ambitious for even an experienced cook. To say that the meal was a disaster would be a severe understatement. The Turkey was not fully cooked, one of the sides charred a little and the cake was dry. The best part of the whole night was the appetizer that she delegated. Luckily her family pitched in and eventually the turkey cooked, and they saved some of the sides together. Thanksgiving was salvaged from the wreckage.

You can’t let ego get in the way, and need to be honest with yourself. Is this your first time? If it is, then pick what you want to focus on. Maybe it would be a perfect time for you to learn how to do the Turkey and do one side, or make a dessert (We have a great Apple Pie Recipe with all our Tips in the Course). If you are a little more advanced, then you can take on a little more of a challenge. If you really just love making the sides then delegate out the Turkey or order it from a store. The point is that you have to ask yourself these questions to avoid taking on too much. You can’t enjoy your Thanksgiving if you’re stressed and overworked.

​We have an amazing Brainstorming Worksheet Available in our Thanksgiving Ebook! ​

2- Delegate Based on Your Strengths

Once you have decided to take on hosting Thanksgiving, you become the boss. Now, don’t let this go to your head. All this means is, that once you have been honest with yourself in regards to your level and what you are going to take on yourself, you then want to delegate the remaining tasks to the family. After all, for the most part, everyone wants to feel like the contributed or participated to the family meal. It’s another thing that makes this holiday so special, there is so much generosity and kindness involved in bringing a dinner like this together. The key to delegation is in being strategic in what you are assigning and who you are assigning it to as well as clear in what you want your guest to bring.

The importance of being strategic cannot be overstated. You want to be stragic in what tasks you are deciding to keep for yourself, as well as who you are assigning the task to. Let’s paint a scenario, let’s say you know that you are very good at making a Turkey (We are breaking down our special Mojo Turkey in the course if you want something new) and love to bake, then you know you are going to need to assign out the appetizer, sides, bread and alcohol. When deciding who you are going to assign to, take in that person’s strengths. If you have a Tio who loves picking out wine, than he is your go-to for this task. Let’s say your mother-in-law makes the best Sweet Potato Casserole, then she is a shoe-in for this assignment. This is how you have to think. If not you end up with a Tia showing up with a box of wine, or a cousin who made vegan Mac n Cheese.

3- Make Your Plan

Taking on Thanksgiving without thinking out and making a plan is a suicide mission. There are so many ingredients, details and people involved that it really does require an elevated level of organization.

Ani will tell you that she has never once had an unsuccessful Thanksgiving. The thing she accredits most to this, is that she always has a plan.Ani knew from experience how essential the plan is to staying organized. Cristy has admitted that she did not make a plan that first Thanksgiving that ended in a total disaster. She thought she would be able to figure it out as she went. This almost never works!

The lack of a plan will end with you unable to properly time when you should make things, leave you missing ingredients, and staying up late looking for all these recipes for dishes you haven’tmade. You need a Plan that includes everything you want to make, what you will need to make it, when you should start making it, or if someone else is in charge of that item.

The benefit of having a written out Plan (we have a great template for one in our Ebook) as well as a Calendar (also available in Our Ebook) with all the reminders of when to start making each dish or when to follow up on tasks is crucial to a successful Thanksgiving. It will help you leading up to Thanksgiving to stay on top of the tasks as well as help you ensure that you have everything you need when you need it before hosting. This will lead to you being able to enjoy everything more. Thanksgiving that ended in a total disaster. She thought she would be able to figure it out as she went. This almost never works!

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4- The Turkey

The Turkey is one of the reasons people shy away from hosting Thanksgiving. It is intimidating. It’s something that one does not usually cook year round, and there are certain things about preparing it that do require some guidance or deep internet research. You have to know how many pounds to get so you have enough to serve. You have to be aware of how long it needs to defrost. There is cleaning it and getting it marinaded with time. There is also the other details. Things like how long it has to cook, so that it cooks all the way through but doesn’t dry out. What pan you should use, and all the other questions that come up. We know, a lot of things go into getting the Bird right.

However we are here to tell you- this is easier than you think! A turkey is just a big roast chicken. There is nothing extraordinary about making one. The reason they have such a bad wrap is because they have a tendency to be overcooked, and dry out. If you have ever had dried turkey you would understand- this is not good.

This can be avoided, with a great recipe and a little courage. We can definitely help you with the recipe part, Our Abuela's Mojo Turkey Recipe is a can't miss banger. The mojo perfectly penetrates the turkey, which helps you avoid any complicated brining situation. Another great tip, don't go for a big bird. If you need to feed a lot of people, try to keep the bird under 15 lbs and get multiple, or 1 with an additional breast.

As for the courage, we can only tell you that we believe in you! We know you can do this!

​We have our famous Turkey Math Formula available in our Ebook that can help you calculate how much Turkey to Buy!​

Thanksgiving Story Time Part II

On Cristy’s first Thanksgiving, you know the one where it went all wrong, this Turkey was the main event. Cristy had researched how to clean the Turkey, and how to marinate it and she thought she had it all figure out. So when that Turkey was cooking in the oven for it’s 4th hour, she thought she had nailed it. Maybe some of the sides had gone wrong, but the Turkey she had. Everyone was starving, and the Turkey had been in there for some time so she took it out. Naturally she let it rest, after all she had seen the Food Network special and knew it needed to rest. When they went to carve that bad boy, the bird was still raw on the insides. The drum sticks were not cooked through. There were parts of Turkey that had cooked but other parts had not. They had to take the cooked pieces off, and threw the parts of the Turkey that hadn’t cooked back in the oven. Eventually it all cooked through. But the disappointment was palpable.

While Cristy thought she had all her basis covered, she was missing how long it would to actually cook the turkey. Even though it had been 4 hours, the turkey was close to 20 lbs and had stuffing. This changes the calculation. She didn’t know that at the time. When cooking a Turkey you have to calculate about 13 minutes per pound cooking at 350 degrees. If you have anything inside the Turkey such as herbs or stuffing then you need to add a little more time. This means that Cristy’s turkey needed at least 4 ½ hours just to cook through. It needed a little more time. That’s why we wrote this book. Cooking a Turkey is not hard, but there are just so many l little things to keep in mind. We want to help even just one person out there avoid the look of disappointment when you cut into that turkey and see red.

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5- Variety

When hosting a Thanksgiving, variety is essential. This sounds straightforward, but having a variety is what is going to elevate your Thanksgiving to the next level. It is important to have variety in every area of the day. You want to ensure that you have a variety of things for appetizer, for your main dish and sides as well as with you are serving for drinks. The truth is that while you have your own taste in what you like for Thanksgiving, your guests may want or even need something different.

When laying out your plan for what you will need this Thanksgiving you have to consider that there may be people attending with different dietary needs. Whether this means that certain people can’t have nuts, gluten or are vegan/vegetarian. Every family has one. But you must be able to accommodate something like this. The last thing you want is to go through all of this trouble and leave someone in the lurch with only a side or bread to eat.

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In appetizers you want to try and keep it light and fresh. That way everyone can pick and snack, but not get full. For the main it’s always good to offer the classic turkey, but also have a ham or roast that people who don’t like Turkey can eat. Then of course with your sides, you want to be sure to have a little bit of everything so that if someone is vegetarian or has an allergy will be able to find one to two things they can eat. This theme of variety even extends to your dessert options as well as the drinks you are serving. Having variety is actually the secret key to a successful Thanksgiving. It will leave everyone feeling thought of as well as full.

​FIND ALL OUR APPETIZER IDEAS HERE​

A Little Turkey Assistance!

Also we are proud to announce that we do officially have a YouTube Channel!

If you’ve never made it before check out our You Tube for a step by step Turkey Breakdown! We cover everything from when to buy, to defrosting, seasoning, roasting, and carving so that you can have a stress free and delicious Thanksgiving!

We are always posting on our Instagram, Pinterest, and sometimes on our TikTok when we can figure it out. Make sure you are following if you haven't already.

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We will be back this Month with some Menu ideas and all our favorite sides and desserts!

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xx

Ani and Cristy
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