Some years ago I realized that “holiday magic” is the result of someone making it happen, and that person is often having a significantly less magical time. That’s when I decided that the habit in my birth family of making extravagant, labor-intensive holiday meals was not a good use of time or energy.
By all means, do it up big and use the good china if that’s something you enjoy and it delights everyone! But if you’re like me and all that is a drag that hinders your enjoyment of your family and friends, break out the fancy harvest-themed paper plates and pare down your menu to the foods that are most important for your holiday experience.
My proposed Thanksgiving menu, if it is too late or too expensive to hire catering:
Turkey or your own choice of centerpiece entree
Stuffing from a box
Cranberry something *
Mashed potatoes (from a box) or baked potatoes (easy substitute)
Your favorite side veggies. For me, microwaving a pouch of mixed veggies is fine. If you need your green bean casserole, knock yourself out.
Pies!
*I happen to like homemade cranberry sauce, which is only slightly more effort than opening a can. Feel free to just open a can of the kind you prefer. There’s also Cranberry gelatin salad — you can substitute raspberry or cherry gelatin if you can’t find the cranberry. Strawberry might even do in a pinch.
Or skip the cranberries if you hate everything cranberry. It’s totally legal to substitute in a nice fruit salad or sliced cucumbers or Waldorf salad or even serve nothing at all in its place.
The Mia Experiment 