Thanksgiving - You Don't Need to Dress to Impress

Thanksgiving is a time when family comes together and memories are shared.

There are many families out there that just have a dinner for 3 or for 30.

Small Thanksgiving dinners are easy to plan for because it doesn’t take a lot of preparation to make the food. But when it comes to feeding 30 of your relatives, things can get hairy.

That's why when you decide to have a large Thanksgiving dinner with relatives, make sure you are organized. Not only are you making an impression on Grandma, but you are also showing yourself that you can be responsible too.

The first thing you have to plan is where YOU are going to have the holiday dinner.

Is your house big enough to hold all of your crazy, but loving relatives?

Do you have enough space for everyone to sit down and enjoy their savoury helping of turkey? If your house does seem too small to hold a Thanksgiving feast, then you can always depend on nice weather. If the forecast says you’re suppose to have a nice sunny day with no chance of rain, then why not move everyone outside?

Cheap picnic tables and lawn chairs are always available at local hardware outlets and grocery stores if you don't have any. Plus warm weather and a hearty dinner go hand in hand. After figuring out where the dinner is going to take place, it's time to estimate how many guests are going to be at your house. Call all of your relatives and find out who’s coming over and who can't make it.

Just don't forget to find out if any extra people are coming; whether it’s a family friend or a newly acquainted boyfriend/girlfriend. In the end, it's better to over-estimate than to under-estimate. While you’re letting your relatives know about the dinner, make sure and find out what time is best for them. You never want to have a late Thanksgiving dinner especially if there are a lot of kids in your extended family or if anyone lives in another town.

The best time to start dinner is usually around 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., so everyone has time to feed their stomachs and take a little rest after.

Once it's the actual day of the big dinner, get ready to take on more responsibilities. Aside from cooking the actual meal, there is a little more planning to do.

By calculating the number of guests, you have to come up with seating arrangements. To start off, you should figure out where the kids are going to sit.

Instead of having them sitting together with the adults, try and form a "kid section" where all the cousins with each other, with either some adults or teenagers looking over them. Just remember to keep the kids close to their parents because you don’t want to keep hearing "Mommy, come here!" for the whole dinner. When it comes to adults, there’s a simple and easy way to seat everyone: do it by gender.

Have all the females sitting with each other so they can gossip and group together the males so they can talk about sports and more sports. Once the seating arrangements are done and the guests arrive, bring out the snacks. Platters like the Fresh Fruit Platter are good to serve when relatives are here because it can keep everyone out of the kitchen and have them ignoring the fact that dinner is not quite ready yet.

If that doesn’t keep everyone occupied, then send the kids outside to play and let the adults know that professional football is on television. Even if some relatives you know don't like football, they will wind up watching it with everyone else because the sport has become part of the Thanksgiving tradition.

Once the turkey is fully-cooked and the other dishes are ready to be eaten, it’s time to find a turkey carver. Instead of bugging the females in the family, see if one of the young strapping uncles is willing to carve the turkey for everyone.

If no one budges from their spot, then randomly pick someone and threaten them with no dessert if they don’t decide to accept the simple task.

With the turkey carved up, your family can now enjoy a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner. There are few things in life that truly make you happy and feel good about yourself.

Aside from the decadent taste of pumpkin pie, there is no other feeling that warms your heart than the fact that you've brought your family together at your own place!