Dear Dawn,

I have nearly 25 guests coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. I am panicking on what to do and when to do it. Help. I’ve never even made a turkey before!

Scared of turkey day!

Dear scared,

No need to panic. Look back on the posts that I've had up and follow as many of the tips that will help. My favorite source for recipes is WHATS COOKING? Robyn will have fabulous recipes up this weekend that will impress the pickiest eaters at your table! Rob makes real food, not the too fancy, 120 hard to find, never heard of ingredients, kind of food. This is the real deal, family food, like Mom and Grandma made. Of course with a little twist of her own, but that twist is what makes her recipes sooo good!! Check her out!! Take last weeks challenge and start a Thanksgiving Planner. Writing things down and doing as much in advance as possible will assure you peace of mind and a perfect day. One thing I would recommend is recruiting the help of an older relative or your mother. Trust me they love to answer questions and share all that they know. They’ve done this many times and can help. Keep checking in here and over at Robyns blog for all you need to do to be prepared. I’ll give you challenges to complete and lists to get through. If you didn’t follow the fall cleaning schedule than take this week to really get going. Especially the rooms that your company will be in like the dining room and the kitchen. The best advice I can give is to not get stressed. No one will win. Its not a contest. Everyone will enjoy themselves no matter what. The worse that could happen is you burn the turkey. So you order a pizza and you laugh about it. It will make a great story for years to come. So relax and be thankful for your family and enjoy the holiday.

The Holiday Full Of Traditions! Thanksgiving!!

In my family we have a turkey platter that was given to my Mother from her mother. It is very ugly and its plastic. My Mother has since passed it and Thanksgiving on to me. It may be ugly and plastic but when I see it I think of Thanksgivings past. It has scratches all over it from the previous years of cutting up turkey and its turkey picture is fading fast. While I would love to get a new one, I couldn’t possibly part with the one I have. I think everyone in the family would miss it. So while I can’t or won’t get a new Turkey Platter, I do want to find something that will evoke memories of Thanksgiving in my home.

One of the things I love to do for Thanksgiving is decorate. I’m sure that seeing the same decorations each year will be memorable to my children and neices and family. I found these adorable Straw Turkeys at William Sonoma.

I also plan to give my Mother (the official pie maker), this cute pumpkin pie baking dish, and then serve it on these adorable pumpkin pie plates. Found at Lillian Vernon. There are currently many fall decorating items on sale at Lillian Vernon also. Check out the centerpieces for your holiday table!

One of the traditions I’m looking forward to starting this year is a family journal of thanks. I am buying this journal that I found on Amazon. I will have each family member write down what they are thankful for. Each year I will bring it out and we will all read and write in it after dinner. I think this will become a favorite and cherished tradition and also create a heirloom for future generations.

So start your own family Thanksgiving traditions and make memories that will last a lifetime for your children. Create an atmosphere of love and family that will be sure to stir up warm and loving thoughts of this great holiday. Your family will be thankful for it.

Thanksgiving Planner

Don’t you wish that your grandmother left you a guide to the holidays? Wouldn’t it be nice to just reach for a binder that she prepared for you with step by step instructions of how to create the perfect Thanksgiving, or to recreate her perfect Thanksgiving? Well how about we start our own guide for the children, grandchildren or your future daughter in law? I love this idea and think that it is not only useful but something that our children will someday cherish.

This week your tasks will be simple. I want you to go to the store and pick up a notebook/binder. This will be your Thanksgiving Guide. In this book you will have your guests list,menu, recipes, table settings, centerpieces, time line, dos and don’ts, Turkey Hot line number, and much more. This book is going to be a valuable resource every year. Eventually you will pass it down to your daughter or other member who takes over the Thanksgiving holiday. Its your torch to pass! You can get very creative with this.

What you need

A three ring binder

Dividers-Spend a little extra and get the thick dividers with pockets. How many you need depends on how many categories your going to have. I would start with ten.

Alternatively, you could use a large photo album. Whatever you think would best suit your needs and your vision of what you want this to look like.

Thats it! Now you can decorate it anyway you like. You may want to print some cute Thanksgiving Graphics for the cover and each section. Click on the graphics below to see some wonderful graphics I found online that you can print out for free to decorate your planner.

For you girls who scrapbook, this is a fabulous time to get your creative juices flowing. Use lace, and ribbon, or old pictures, anything that makes this personal and pretty.

We will continue to create this wonderful reference book and heirloom next week! So lets get started with just this basic task and make a wonderful legacy for our children.