A cornucopia of must-haves for your holiday celebration
Holiday essentials for the celebration
You probably only pull it out once a year, but without a gravy boat –well, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving.
It’s a Thanksgiving essential (even though a creamer or small pitcher will do in a pinch).
And there are others. “Turkey lifter, baster, good-size roasting pan, potato masher, deep pie dish and a pie ring so the crust doesn’t burn,” recommends Patti Crysler, store manager of the Podge, a Clarence store specializing in kitchen and gourmet items.
With six days to go, we’ve compiled a list of other must-haves for those hosting the holiday meal.
We’ve included some of our favorite tips, too.
For one: Take a good look at your menu and, a day or two ahead, pull out the platters and other serving pieces you’ll need, as well as the utensils. You even can do a trial run, staging where the bowls and platters will go on your table or buffet.
The good news is that there still is time to borrow what you’re missing. (What! No gravy boat?) Or make a quick dash to a store, if necessary.
Also on our checklist:
• A pressed tablecloth (and napkins). Chances are, you haven’t used the cloth in months, so pull it out and check it over. If it requires laundering, do so.
Martha Stewart recommends ironing linens immediately after washing when they are still damp.
Get the extension leaves, table pads and cloth on the table ahead of time. That way, you can set your table the day before. This will be a huge time-saver.
• A sharp knife. Admit it. How many times has the official turkey carver turned to you and asked, “Do you have a sharper knife?”
You’ll want a good fork, too, “to balance the turkey so you can carve,” Crysler adds.
• Trivets for very hot dishes.
• Water glasses or goblets. Smudge-free. Even if you serve wine, milk or other beverages as well, it’s pleasant for every guest to have a fresh glass of water at his or her place.
• Freshly filled salt and pepper shakers. You may need several sets depending on the size of the table. Fill them this weekend and, with a soft rag, make the exteriors of the shakers shine, shine, shine.
Ideas: You can place assorted tiny sets at every other place setting. Or place one set at each end of the table and, depending on your number of guests, possibly another pair or two along each side.
• Parchment paper (for baking) and foil and twine (for the bird). These items often are left off the shopping list. Another idea: food storage bags or inexpensive, reusable, not-to-be-returned food containers for sending home leftovers.
• A great pair of kitchen mitts. Kitchens are a busy place on Thanksgiving, and that roasted turkey is hot. People often grab a couple towels instead but, really now, that’s not a good idea.
• Apron. You need one for cooking, and you really need one for serving and cleaning up. Have some fun with pattern and color.
This tip from author Jane Brochet, from “The Gentle Art of Domesticity” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $35): “There is absolutely no rule that dictates that just because an apron is practical it must be soul-sappingly dreary.”
Crysler, too, recommends something stylish— in a print, stripe or solid.
“We have adorable children’s aprons, too,” she says, adding that laminated styles make them easy to clean.
• A sparkly chandelier. What you don’t want to do is look up toward the ceiling during Thanksgiving dinner and see that your chandelier is dusty or adorned with cobwebs. Or that a bulb has burned out. Check out your chandelier this weekend.
• Provisions for whipping the cream. A cold bowl. A manual — or electric — hand-beater.
• A cleared-out coat closet. Eliminate as many coats, lacrosse sticks and sneakers as possible from the closet. Do it this weekend, then ban family members from messing it up again.
Next, gather the best hangers you own — enough for each guest. Figure out where handbags and kicked-off shoes or boots will go, too.
If you have no closet, determine where coats can be tossed and assign a family member to the task.
• Provisions for coffee for a crowd. You’ll need the actual coffee (decide on regular, decaf or both), coffee urn, cream, sugar (real and faux), small spoons, cups or mugs. Tea, too. If it’s a coffee- loving crowd, you may want it ready as guests arrive.
• Roll basket. You asked your sister to supply the dinner rolls; now you need a way to serve them. A silver basket lined with a crisp white cloth napkin is just one festive option.
• A card table and folding chairs. A must-have for holiday entertaining. Use it with a table cloth for a kids’ table, a serving surface or as an out-of-the- way place for beverages.
Or set it up with a jigsaw puzzle in the den (to keep people out of the kitchen!) The chairs will come in handy as well.
• Hand towels in the bathroom for guests. Go for pretty terry ones — or even paper, perhaps in a harvest pattern. These can go in a basket, but make sure there is a place people can put them after use. You’ll need fresh soap, too.
• An empty dishwasher — before the guests arrive. It will make cleanup so much easier after the meal.
• Candle-snuffer. At the end of the day, it can save your tablecloth or buffet top.
Don’t learn this the hard way.
And one more thing: Setting the table
• Place left-handed guests at the left ends of tables.
• Make sure you and other kitchen helpers are seated close to the kitchen.
• Place plates and flatware 1 inch from the edge of the table so nothing lands in your guests’ laps.
• Give your guests some elbow room. Some etiquette experts recommend a distance of 2 feet from plate center to plate center, but anyone who has crammed three little kids onto a piano bench at the end of a table knows this isn’t always possible.
• Don’t go overboard with the centerpiece, especially if you need the table surface for serving dishes. Make sure guests seated across from each other can see and talk to each other, rather than being blocked by your creation.
• When passing serving platters, the practice is to pass to the person on your right (be certain someone will mess this up). Also, the serving piece should make the full round. In other words, remind Uncle Joe to keep it moving.
