A Reduced-Stress Holiday Dinner...Is It Even Possible?

Planning a Christmas holiday dinner or for that matter, any large gathering really isn't as daunting as it may first appear, especially when you realize that the more thought and consideration you can give to the prep-work and the meal, the easier it will be. The key is to do as much work ahead of time as you can, so you and your guests can enjoy yourselves the day of the party. To help you create a reduced-stress dinner, here are some great tips for making your next holiday function a memorable and enjoyable time. 1. Decide how many guests you plan on inviting at least two to three weeks beforehand. Basic fact - the more notice you can give your guests, especially during the busy holiday season, the more likely you will receive positive responses to your invitations. Be sure to assess how much space you have, both at the table and in your home when planning your guest list. 2. If you want to invite more guests than your table will seat, consider a buffet, using your dining table as the serving area. For a buffet, make sure to divide all the food into small portions and bring them to the table from a warm oven as needed that way everything stays warm and tastes at its best. 3. Compose your menu well ahead of time to give yourself plenty of breathing room to obtain any obscure or difficult to find ingredients. When thinking about how much to cook, plan on each person eating one and a half to two pounds of food. 4. Take your menu and put the different tasks and preparation steps into a to-do list format. This will prevent you from forgetting anything along the way, and will also allow you to better time things. 5. Make your big list of non-perishable items and head to the grocery store a week ahead. Most items, with the exception of salad greens and some fruit, will keep for a week, and you will miss the brunt of the last minute crowd. For those items that won't keep, pick them up two days before your dinner party. Because you did the bulk of your shopping early, you will be able to pick up the few perishable items you need and use the express checkout! Don't worry about having too little food because most of your guests will have eyes far larger than their stomachs. Don't worry about overdoing it either - who doesn't love a warmed leftover turkey on a Kaiser with seasoned mayonnaise the next day! 6. If you are trying a new recipe, now is the time to test it out. You don't want a recipe that isn't quite as tasty as it sounded, or that doesn't quite cooperate like the instructions said it should, to rear its ugly head the day of your gathering. 7. To save yourself even more trouble, serve foods that don't need to be cooked. Foods such as salad, crudit