Make holiday entertaining this year with the Best Tips for Holiday Entertaining! From make ahead dishes to getting the house ready we’ve got you covered!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kroger. The opinions and text are all mine.
The holiday season is here! This is my favorite time of year. I love when the leaves start to fall, the temperatures come down and I get to snuggle on the couch with my family while we watch holiday specials on T.V. I also love all the entertaining that goes along with the holidays. When we lived in Arizona we had family around but my house was the hub that everyone gathered at for the holidays. It’s so much fun to have everyone around to celebrate. We’d go all out with tons of food and drinks. When I first started I busted my back working hard in the kitchen to get everything done and I’d miss out on all the fun. That’s when I started to gather the best tips for easy holiday entertaining and I never looked back! I’m super excited to share them with you so you can get together with your friends and family this holiday season, give them the best time ever and still get to be a part of all the fun!
Grocery Shop Online with Kroger’s ClickList!
I’m a recent convert to Kroger’s ClickList. Here in Portland our Kroger store is Fred Meyer and I love this grocery store more than I though possible! Fred Meyer is a huge grocery store full of all the quality Kroger products but it’s also got housewares, clothes, electronics and a jewelry store!! I’ve even gone there with my husband and squeezed in a quick coffee date! I seriously love just wandering through the aisles finding the things I didn’t know I needed til I saw them except at the holidays or blog shopping days. On these trips I have so much I have to grab I will usually forget something and have to run back and forth, until ClickList!
I recently shot 2 months worth of recipes to share with you guys over November and December. I had to get a lot of shopping done and get home to start all that cooking and ClickList made that super simple. I was sitting on my couch shopping at midnight watching old movies and scheduled my pick up for the next morning! My husband and I grabbed our coffee and drove over to Fred Meyer for the pick-up. All we had to do was drive up to the specially marked spots, call the number and give them our name! They came out with everything, loaded it in the car, went over the receipt and ran my car. I never had to get out!! It was amazing! My produce was gorgeous and everything was exactly what I wanted! 
My husband is usually the one that I send to the store to shop for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know, I’m really lucky!! He was so excited at how easy it was to shop and get the order that he’s already said this is how we’re shopping for those trips too. I mean there are no crowds, and you don’t have to go back and forth around the store looking for anything! You just type it in the search bar and there you go! They even have a section for your past orders, frequently bought items and items on sale! It is truly the easiest grocery shopping you will do!
Get Your House Ready the Day Before!
Getting your house ready for company the day before (or earlier if your kids won’t destroy it) is key to keeping the stress level down! I’m not just talking about the deep clean. (I always use company as an excuse to actually deep clean my house.) I’m talking about setting the table. Do you use a table clothe and clothe napkins? Pull them out and get them ironed at least the day before if not sooner. Are you pulling out folding tables and chairs get them out and dusted off. Pull out the dishes you’re going to use to serve up the meal and label them with the name of the dish you’re going to serve in them. This way you don’t have to even think about that the next day or when that friend asks what they can do you can direct them to the labeled dishes and have them plate for you. I would even set the table with all the plates and ups, silverware that you can. Anything that you can do early you  should!
Here are some of our favorite holiday table settings
Keep it Simple!
When you’re planning your menu keep it simple! You can impress your guests with your kitchen prowess with a simple dish like a cheese plate! You don’t have to make labor intensive dishes to impress your friends and family. This past July 4th we had a barbecue with a bunch of friends. I served smoked ribs and brisket that cooked for hours!! It was really great but you know what got the most comments? The cheese plate and s’mores with peanut butter cups! Head to your local Kroger and talk to the cheese person! They have Murray’s Cheeses to pick from and they love to help build a cheese plate that will knock the socks off your family!
I also love to serve up pitcher drinks! Beer and wine are great to have on hand but so is a yummy cocktail. For parties I like to serve up pitcher drinks! I can make them ahead of time and if it’s a sangria they actually taste best if you do! When you make a pitcher drink people can serve themselves and a lot of time you can make a non-alcoholic version too!
Here are some of my favorites!
Make or Prep Ahead Dishes
For any kind of party or big holiday meal the key is being able to either make or prep ahead as many dishes as possible! Plan out your menu at least the week before the party. When you’re picking dishes to serve up think about what can be made ahead and how long they will last. Cranberry sauce and my Mamaw’s Rolls are the first things I make before both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can make the cranberry sauce on Monday and keep it in the fridge till the day of. My Mamaw’s Rolls can be partially baked and then frozen til I’m ready to pop them in the oven and get them on the table! I will bake off anything I can before the day like pies for dessert. I mix up casseroles and get them ready to go into the oven when the turkey or ham comes out and I even chop up the veggies for dishes I wait to make the day of!
Here are just a few of the dishes I make or prep ahead before Thanksgiving and Christmas!
This year keep your holiday entertaining stress free and full of fun with friends and family! Be ready for the day so you can spend it with your loved ones and out of the kitchen as much as possible!
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