Take a little bit of stress off your holiday preparations by being ready to take care of your family before and after the big day. These hints might help, or spark your own ideas on making things a little easier in the host’s home.
Pet Preparation
The holidays are not only stressful for you, they can also stress out your pets. Set up safe zones for your animals where visitors are not allowed. This gives Fluffy or Rover a place to go when the family gets too loud or boisterous. Make sure their feeding stations are ready for them and don’t allow their schedules to be interrupted if it can be helped. Your companion animals rely on you for their maintenance and holidays are no exception. Be prepared for accidents caused by all the excitement, be it spilled water or an accidental piddle puddle.
The Night Before
With all the cleaning, decorating, and food preparation that’s going on, take a beak from it all on the night before your gathering. Have a pizza night, or Chinese takeout. You don’t have to cook anything extra – let someone else take are of that! You don’t have to worry about plating, and cleanup is quick and easy.
The Morning After
The day after Thanksgiving or Christmas is a time for hot coffee or cocoa, relaxing a bit, and finding inventive ways to use up those leftovers. A breakfast suggestion is a sort of pizza. Use a flatbread like naan or even a flour tortilla as the base. Top it with shredded turkey or ham, cheese, sliced mushrooms, even a fried or scrambled egg. Bake just long enough to heat everything up and melt the cheese. for a rustic touch, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley or scallions. If you want to get truly decadent, add a dollop of sour cream.
I hope these tips help you enjoy your holidays with a little less stress and more laughter and gaiety.
–Ann Cathey
thewanderingtexans 