mostest hostess

Things I learned after hosting my first Thanksgiving/ Potlucksgiving/ #Tootsgiving (see Sue? I used it!)

• Wear pearls, because hostesses wear pearls. Even if it's with cat socks and flip flops. Those don't show up in pictures. 
• If you tell people to bring a lot of food, they will bring a LOT of food. It's better than not enough.
• Additionally, even if you tell them not to worry about the gluten status because you've learned to adapt, they will make things GF. Stuffing, popovers, pie... even your sister's mother-in-law will make a GF cake. Because your family and extended family are awesome and you trust their GF knowledge when it comes to cross-contamination.
• You will need more to-go containers than you think you need. Because you told people to bring a lot of food. Additionally, get some extra tupperware just for storing leftovers.
• Those crock pot liners really are amazing. Buy them. Use them. They are wonderful. You can even take the leftovers straight out of the pot, and put the bag into a smaller container for storage. You just got double duty out of them. 
• Also, a lot of things can be kept warm in a crock pot. Even if they are cooked in a different container, transfer to a crock pot set to warm or even turned off- those things are very insulated.
• Fried turkeys are great, use a thermometer to confirm done-ness... but maybe put an extra 5 minutes on it just to make sure you're not questioning the salmonella status when you pull all the meat off the carcass and you can't tell if it's the marinade that's making things pink. Just saying I like to be paranoid.
• Anyway, follow the rules when it comes to thawing, frying, and roasting birds. Butterball has a great how-to website!
• Save the giblets for your dad, who will be pleasantly surprised to find them roasted alongside the bird when he goes to carve.
• Figure out a way next year to spend less time in the kitchen, and more time socializing. Because man it is tiring, even with a potluck style event and a wonderful mother who helps you clean up.

It was a good day and I think people enjoyed themselves. Now... Christmas!