Print Article for : The First Thanksgiving Feast

Your Online Guide » Family Guide to » Thanksgiving Day

[T456]The First Thanksgiving Feast

by Mitch Johnson, Mit

In planning your Thanksgiving feast make it as easy to serve as possible. That usually means serving those foods that can be prepared ahead of time. To save time and avoid the confusion of serving appetizers at the table we like to spread out a serve-yourself arrangement of cranberry cocktail and wafers on the living-room table. It adds a welcome air as the guests arrive.

Here's a good recipe for cranberry cocktail which, with the exception of lemon and orange juice, can be prepared the previous day. Cook four cups of washed berries in six cups of water until the berries are very soft and mushy. Strain through cheesecloth. Add one cup of sugar to strained juice and heat until sugar is dissolved. Chill. Add the juice of one lemon and one orange just before serving.

For the Thanksgiving dinner roast turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, peach pickles, fruit salad, buttered asparagus, hot rolls and jelly are traditional with us. Mince pie and pumpkin pie compete for first place as a favorite dessert with after-dinner coffee.

As soon as the guests are seated at the table and the head of the house is busy with the carving why not give him a break by diverting the attention of the guests while he carves. Have a small pad and pencil at each place. Read the following questionnaire. Be sure to allow enough time for each guest to write the answer to the questions as you read. Here's a sample one that's fun:

1. Name the part of the turkey that assists a lady in dressingComb
2. Name the part of the turkey that opens the front door (last part) Key
3. Part of a turkey that appears after Thanksgiving Bill
4. Part of a turkey that's part of a sentence Claws (clause)
5. Part of a turkey that is used for cleaning Wings (dusters)
6. Part of a turkey that the farmer watches carefully Crop
7. Part of a turkey that is an oriental (first part) Turk
8. Why ought the turkey be ashamed.We see the turkey dressing
9. Why is a fast eater like a turkey? Both are fast gobblers
10. What color gets its name from turkey? Turkey red
11. When the turkey is cooking what country is he in? Grease (Greece)
12. What part of a turkey is a story? Tail (tale)
13. What part of a turkey appears on the battlefield? Drumstick

By the time the questions are all answered the host will have finished the carving. Collect the answers to be read while the dessert is being served. To the guest with the greatest number of correct answers goes the blue ribbon turkey cut from brown construction paper with a blue ribbon around its neck.

Entertained your guests by asking some question related to Thanksgiving Party while serving a delicious dessert, they would definitely have fun and enjoy the party.

We all realize that planning a Thanksgiving dinner party takes a lot of work and planning but the first thing you must come up with is the theme, this will make your life easier. The theme for the Thanksgiving dinner party and your table setting will bring everything together, the food, the colors, the centerpieces and the table décor. When decorating your table you must get creative, think about adding a little something for your guest to take away from this fabulous Thanksgiving feast; something that represents fall, a Thanksgiving Table Favor. You can also dress the table up by decorating it with leaves and/or pine cones.

After you select your theme and get your table decorations together, you can come up with a Thanksgiving menu. Depending on whether or not you are having a traditional or non traditional dinner will be based on what you will want to serve. Make sure that you take some time out and prepare any dishes that can be prepared earlier such as gravy, cranberry sauce or rolls. Anything you can prepare earlier please do, it will make your life as a hostess much easier! Once you have your menu set make sure you go through your menu and make of list of everything you need, including condiments. You should check your list twice, just to make sure that you don't leave anything off.

Bring out the nice dinnerware! Anytime you are hosting a dinner party, this is the time to break out the finest and if you don't have any dinnerware this is the time to go and make that investment. It's definitely well worth it! If you do own your very own dinnerware, make sure you clean and polish it a few days before your Thanksgiving feast. Also, don't try to do everything by yourself, see if your friends or family don't mind giving you a hand. And if you have kids, you can summon both your kids and your significant other to pitch in! They could help out with the cleaning and getting all the little things tidied up for the dinner party.

One thing many people don't take advantage of when hosting a dinner party is asking the guest to bring in a few side dishes. Your guest won't mind helping you out because you are gracious enough to lend your home and host such a lovely dinner. You can have your guest bring side dishes, desserts, breads and/or beverages. You may have an aunt that makes the best ice tea in the world and you can ask her to make her famous tea for your dinner party, she would be flattered! Your family and friends will be thrilled to lend a helping hand knowing that's less stress off for you.

Now you are ready to host your wonderful Thanksgiving Feast with your family and friends. Relax and enjoy your company and enjoy the fun!

Have A Great Thanksgiving Feast!

Article Source : Thanks Giving Day

About Author

Both Mitch Johnson & Keisha Mosley are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Mitch Johnson has sinced written about articles on various topics from bowling, Hunting and Nokia Phones. Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for