Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, a gathering of family and friends around a feast to celebrate all that we have to be thankful for through the year. It is also one of the most stressful holidays. When so much emphasis is placed upon one day it can create the burden of making you feel that everything must be absolutely perfect. Do yourself a favor this year. Don't demand or expect perfection. Relax. Be satisfied with "nice" rather than "perfect", and remember the following list of Do's and Don'ts:
DON'T - forget to thaw out the turkey! If you find that the bird is still in the deep-freeze the night before Thanksgiving you can safely and quickly thaw it out by submerging it in cold water. Leave the wrapper on and place it breast down in a tub or sink of cold water. Allow 30 minutes of thaw time for every pound of turkey.
DON'T - make Mom do all of the work. And if you are Mom then it is time to learn to delegate.
DON'T - be afraid to ask for help. One good and simple way to do this is to ask guests to bring their own favorite side dish.
DON'T - resurrect old arguments with family members.
DON'T - start new arguments with family members.
DO - protect yourself from food-borne illness and practice good food safety procedures by:
* washing your hands often
* keep raw turkey separate from other foods
* use a meat thermometer to insure proper cooking temperatures. (At leat 180 degrees in the
thigh, or 165 degrees in the center of the stuffing.)
* refrigerate or freeze all leftovers within 2 hours.
DO - prepare dishes ahead of time to reduce stress.
DO - test any new recipe you want to use ahead of time, or you may be surprised to find that you don't like the way that it tastes!
DO - snuggle up with your favorite person after the big meal to watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" on TV.
DO - buy an extra can of whipped cream for the pumpkin pie. Use it to make your own Top 5 List of things to do with it after the guests are gone.
By following these tips you will not only survive Thanksgiving but still feel romantic at the end of the big day. You may even decide that tryptophan is the new aphrodisiac.
Jenny Jai is the publisher of Quickie Magazine, an online romance magazine for busy women. http://www.quickiemagazine.com
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