If you’re going to be the person hosting all of your friends and family for your big holiday get-togethers, you’re likely going to want to take some steps that will help to make this process a bit easier for you. Especially if you’re expected to put together a great meal for everyone, finding ways that you can expedite the process and take some of the stress out of the situation could be vital.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three ways to make holiday cooking easier to handle.
Consider Using Disposable Items
While it’s generally not necessary to use disposable items when you’re cooking just for yourself or for your family, when you’re going to be putting together a big holiday meal with a lot of different dishes, you may want to consider using disposable items where you can.
When you’re cooking, consider using disposable cooking pans. This way, if someone wants to take home leftovers, or if you just don’t want to have to deal with as much cleanup after you’ve cooked, you can simply throw that pan away. And if you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen doing dishes after you enjoy the meal together, using disposable plates, napkins, and utensils can help cut down on this as well.
Prepare What You Can In Advance
On the actual day of your get-together, you’re going to be stressed enough with getting your house clean and setting up for the event that you’re not going to want to be spending more time focused on cooking than is absolutely necessary. And to allow yourself this time, you should try to prepare in advance as much as you can for the cooking.
In the two or three days prior to your party, try to cook the items that either get better with time or that will heat up just as well on the day of your event. Even if there are things that need to be cooked the day-of, you can likely do some preparation, like cutting up vegetables or putting ingredients together, so that the actual cooking process is easier for you.
Delegate The Cooking Tasks
Unless you have grandma or grandpa coming from an assisted living facility, you can likely give some of the cooking tasks to other people who will be joining you for the event. Even someone who you may not trust to cook something vital to the meal can bring things like appetizers or dips. And for those who live close to you and can handle a bit more cooking, asking them to take care of certain dishes will help to take a lot off of your plate.
If you want to make this holiday meal the best and easiest one yet, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you achieve this.
