Thanksgiving Hosting Checklist: What to Buy Four Weeks Out, One Week Out, and Day Of
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The first year I hosted, I discovered at four o'clock on Thanksgiving Day that I owned two serving bowls and eleven people were arriving at five. The food was fine. The presentation was two casserole dishes and a mixing bowl with a dish towel over it.
So this is the list I wish somebody had handed me, organized by when you actually need to buy each thing. Late October is exactly right for the first section, because everything on it ships slowly the closer you get.
My Top Picks at a Glance
Best platters: ceramic oval serving platters, set of 3. Shop it here
Best problem solver: foldable food warming mat. Shop it here
Best extra seating: bamboo folding chairs. Shop it here
Best flatware: 20-piece champagne flatware set. Shop it here
Best for leftovers: food storage container set. Shop it here
Four Weeks Out: The Things That Sell Out
Serving pieces, seating and flatware. These are the categories where the good options go out of stock in mid November and you end up paying for expedited shipping on your second choice.
Ceramic Oval Serving Platters, Set of 3
Three sizes in one set, brown rimmed, oven to table. You need more platters than you think: turkey, rolls, a vegetable, a dessert, and something you forgot.
Melamine Serving Trays, Set of 2
Seventeen inches, white, unbreakable. These are the ones that go to the kids' table and out to the porch, and nobody has to be careful with them.
3-Tier Serving Tray
Vertical serving is the answer to a table with no room left. Appetizers before dinner, desserts after, and it takes up the footprint of one plate.
Glass Cake Stand With Dome
Six pieces in one: cake stand, covered stand, punch bowl, chip and dip. It earns its cabinet space over the two months it gets used.
Bamboo Folding Chairs
The thing people forget until the week of. Wood rather than metal, comfortable enough that the person who gets one does not feel punished, and they fold flat into a closet.
20-Piece Champagne Flatware Set
Service for four, which is exactly the gap most people have. You own eight and you need twelve, and mismatched flatware is the thing you notice in every photo.
One Week Out: The Logistics
This is the week for the things that solve the actual problem of Thanksgiving, which is that six dishes need to be hot at the same time and your oven holds two.
Foldable Food Warming Mat
Twenty four by sixteen inches, seven temperature settings, folds up for storage. This is the single best hosting purchase I have made. Everything that comes out of the oven early sits on it and stays hot until you serve.
Stainless Serving Tongs
Eleven dollars, and you need at least three pairs. Every serving dish needs its own utensil and this is always the thing missing at the last second.
Wooden Salad Servers
For the salad and the stuffing, because metal in a wooden bowl sounds terrible and scratches it.
Clear Acrylic Serving Bowls, 4 Pack
Light, unbreakable, and they stack. Four bowls covers cranberry, salad, rolls and whatever the person who insisted on bringing something brings.
Porcelain Ramekins
Individual sides, extra gravy, butter, and every dip before dinner. Oven safe, so they go from baking to table.
Green Cabbage Serving Bowl Set
Three sizes, and the largest is sixty ounces. The one genuinely decorative piece on this list, and it is the one people comment on.
The Day Before and the Day Of
Food Storage Container Set
Buy these before Thanksgiving, not after. Sending people home with leftovers is half the point, and the alternative is giving away your good containers and never seeing them again.
The Actual Timeline
Four weeks out: order serving pieces, extra seating and flatware. Confirm your headcount, because it determines all three.
Two weeks out: order the turkey or reserve it. Plan the menu and write the grocery list by store, not by recipe.
One week out: order the logistics items above. Deep clean the guest bathroom. Set up any extra table so you know now whether it actually fits.
Three days out: grocery shop for everything except fresh herbs and bread. Start thawing a frozen turkey, allowing one day per four pounds in the refrigerator.
Two days out: make anything that keeps. Cranberry sauce, pie dough, casseroles that bake from cold.
The day before: set the table completely. This is the one I will keep repeating. It is a thirty-minute job that becomes a two-hour problem if you leave it.
The morning of: make a written oven schedule with times, working backward from when you want to eat. Put it on the refrigerator where somebody else can read it and help.
Three Things I Learned Hosting
Count chairs before you count plates. People will stand and eat if they have to, but it changes the whole feel of the day, and chairs are the hardest thing to solve at the last minute.
Assign the drinks to somebody else entirely. Not the food, the drinks. It is the one job that can be completely handed off and it removes a surprising amount of the day's traffic from the kitchen.
Make the gravy ahead with stock, and finish it with drippings when the turkey comes out. Gravy at the last minute while eleven people are waiting is the most stressful ten minutes of the year.
Thanksgiving Hosting FAQ
How far in advance should I prepare for Thanksgiving?
Start ordering four weeks out for serving pieces and seating, two weeks for the turkey, and one week for everything else. The cooking timeline is really only the last three days.
How many serving dishes do I need?
One per dish plus two spares, and a utensil for every one. Most people are short on both.
How do you keep Thanksgiving food warm?
A warming mat or warming tray, and an oven set to 200 for anything that can wait. Foil plus a towel over a dish holds heat for about forty minutes in a pinch.
What can I make ahead for Thanksgiving?
Cranberry sauce, pie dough, casseroles, rolls, and the base of the gravy. Mashed potatoes hold surprisingly well in a slow cooker on warm with extra butter.
How much turkey per person?
One to one and a quarter pounds per person, which sounds like a lot and accounts for the bone and for leftovers. Thaw one day per four pounds in the refrigerator.
More Thanksgiving Planning
Thanksgiving Tablescape Ideas Shop it here
How to Set a Beautiful Table Shop it here
Easy Appetizer Idea for the Holidays Shop it here
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