It’s your turn to host the annual Thanksgiving dinner in two weeks. That was the decision last year with all your expatriate friends. The planning has been in your head but nowhere else. And now you have two weeks or so to prepare. To add to your woes, a contractor is doing some minor remodeling in your basement. They promised to be done three or four days before your dinner party. That didn’t ease your panic.
“You can do this!” you keep telling yourself. You took a deep breath and began to think about how you plan to entertain 20 people. Some ideas came up. You also called up friends and families back in Kansas City to ask for advice. Nothing is clicking. You want something a little bit different. And so you Googled.
What America Is Spending on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner celebration is as American as apple pie is. According to a survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, a thanksgiving feast for a party of 10 costs just below $49.00.
That means your working budget for your thanksgiving dinner should be roughly $100. But you don’t want to be constrained by this national statistic. You want to impress!
Impress from Start to Finish
Thanksgiving is the time to say thank you and count one’s blessings. In reality, it could be a stressful thing. But you want to give your friends a unique and memorable Thanksgiving experience.
- The evening before. Do as much preparation as you can in the evening before the dinner party. Set the table. Put name tags if you wish to assign seating positions. It’s your show. So they shouldn’t mind being assigned a location on the table. If there are foods to prepare ahead of time, do it.
- Create an ambiance. This is where you can impress. From the doorstep to the living room and on to the dinner table, make sure that you’re taking your guest to a journey with well-placed pinecones, candles, and self-serve minibar. Instead of the typical place card for seat assignments, why not a cut-out of your friends’ faces?
- It’s all about the menu. It might be hard to divert from the traditional stuffed turkey with the cranberry sauce. But why not spice it up a bit by adding Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Drambuie to your cranberry sauce? The problem with one turkey is that there are only two legs and you have 20 guests. There are not enough legs to go around. Why not consider several capons instead of one big turkey? Imagine the sight of five capons laid out on your table. It will be glorious!
- Wow with coffee and tea. Short of bringing home the café, dazzle your guests with a tiny menu of hot coffee and tea drinks. Label it in Italian-doppio, ristretto, macchiato, or Americano. You refuse to serve cappuccino because it’s only taken until 10 in the morning. Prepare a variety of teas. Offer them thé à la Menthe (mint tea) with a drizzle of pine nuts, because that’s how it is done in North Africa.
- Luxury doggie bags. Continue with the giving. Display your luxurious take-away boxes complete with ribbons and announce that they can bring home food from the table. This will save you some space in your fridge.
You can cap the night with some parlor games or bring out the guitar for some community singing. Happy Thanksgiving!
