As fun as holiday cooking is, it can take a lot out of you. Little tricks like early prep and appropriate delegation will help you keep stress to a minimum.
Think back to the last holiday season. What's the first thing that comes to mind: having a fun time with your loved ones or ensuring the feast is perfect? If it's the latter, you could probably use a few shortcuts during the cooking process!
What to Cook During the Holidays?
Before doing anything else, you need to come up with a memorable holiday meal. There are plenty of delicious options you can go with, such as:
- Meat and roasts: Prime rib or pork rib roast
- Poultry and seafood: Duck legs or broiled salmon with blue cheese
- Vegetarian options: Roasted spiced squash or miso-mushroom rolls
Of course, your choice may heavily depend on the holiday in question. For example, here are some simple Easter recipes that are always a hit.
How to Make Holiday Cooking Less Stressful?
A funny thing about holiday meals is that they can taste better if you don't sweat over them so much! Here are four tips for stress-free holiday cooking:
1. Consider Store-Bought Food
One of the best tips for simplifying festive cooking is knowing your limits. You can make the main dish yourself and buy the desserts or veggie trays from a store. Some things, like charcuterie boards, simply take too long to create from scratch.
The key principle is to pick your battles. You can get a lot of praise for delicious dumplings, but very few people will notice if you make the wrappers too.
2. Start Prepping Early
It's never too early to start preparing for festive meals. For instance, you can freeze veggie scraps for broth months ahead of time. In the week before, you can start preparing dishes that freeze well or can keep in the fridge longer.
That said, there are a few dishes that don't follow this rule. This includes mashed potatoes, since they lose their creamy texture after refrigerating or reheating.
3. Have Recipes at the Ready
Do you have lots of easy holiday recipe ideas you want to try? If so, keeping those recipes in an easy-to-access place is huge for maintaining workflow. For digital recipes, in particular, you may want to put all the links into one spreadsheet.
If you don't like touching your phone with hands covered in grease, print all the recipes in advance. This can also help you organize your list of to-dos!
4. Keep the Counters Clear
Your kitchen counters play an essential role in holiday meal preparation. Keeping them spotless during this time is too much to ask for, but "organized" shouldn't be too hard to achieve. Here are some tips to maximize counter space:
- Put all soiled tools into a nearby quarter sheet pan
- Drag a compost bin and trash can closer to the work area
- Use the oven for storage whenever it's not in use
Holiday Cooking Made Easy
Holiday cooking is one of those things that can quickly spiral out of control if you're not careful. This guide will help you keep things in order with a few simple shortcuts. If it's still proving to be a bit much, start delegating!
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