Hosting Thanksgiving is a lot different than attending a Thanksgiving gathering as a guest. After hosting several Thanksgivings over the years, I have gathered together my best tips for hosting for this festive holiday. I hope you enjoy today's video!

Here is a brief summary of the main points I make in the video:

Don't forget to provide food before and after the Thanksgiving meal. Sometimes guests arrive hours before the meal and it's nice to have appetizers out to whet their appetite. This seems obvious, but sadly many people have had the experience of showing up with no food for hours. When hungry and thirsty travelers are coming to your home, you must feed them and give them refreshment.

Accept help from your guests. Most people like to bring their signature dish. Make them feel special by complimenting them on this "famous" dish.

Set the table the night before. Make your tablescape spectacular with what you already have. When you set the table the night before, you are able to really focus on the details and make it look special. For inspiration from previous years, check out My Thanksgiving Table 2015 and my New Year's Table 2016.

Pre-cook as much as you can the day before, so the day of, you just need to reheat the dishes. The turkey is best cooked on Thanksgiving day.

Place all of the little things like salt & pepper, water pitchers, etc. on the table before serving. Many times these necessities are forgotten and you end up popping up every few minutes to get them.

Serve buffet-style for ease, especially since you don't want to crowd your beautiful table setting. Unless you have a very large table, it's impractical to have all of the serving dishes displayed on the table. Serve buffet-style and make the buffet look beautiful and enticing.

Lay out your outfit the night before. This should be easy with your ten-item wardrobe :)

Refresh the guest bathroom several times throughout the day. Try to go in at least once or twice an hour to make sure it's tidy and has all of the necessary supplies.


News
My book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS, will be released in the fall of 2019 from Chronicle Books. Read all about it here. And thank you so much to everyone for your wonderfully supportive comments and input. I am really enjoying writing this book!

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A post shared by Kimberley (@intentionalsimplicity) on Oct 28, 2017 at 7:24am PDT

Comment of the Week
On the Traveling with Kids post, Gwen B writes: I love these tips and agree with them all.
My girls are a similar age to yours at 8 and 4, and love travelling and flying especially. It is about the magic of it. When it gets turbulent my children love the "roller-coaster" experience, and aeroplane food can be a "midnight feast" or TV dinner. Seeing the excitement from their eyes helps so much. One thing that also works really well for us is to buy a magazine at the airport on the way out so they choose their treat and have something new for the journey, and save a new activity book for the long flight home. Always something fresh that way.
I have been really enjoying your videos from abroad, although I'm a little disappointed that you didn't get the chance to travel from England up to Scotland. I am sure that you would have so much to share. Maybe another time?....


Gwen, I love how you creatively re-brand the general airplane activities to make them more exciting for your children! I would love to visit Scotland one day. What a beautiful country from what I've seen! Thanks for your comment.


Today I would love to know... have you ever hosted Thanksgiving? Do you have any triumphs to share? Any horror stories? Do you have any interesting stories from the guest's perspective? Let me know and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on The Daily Connoisseur.


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Happy Thanksgiving! In this week's video I show you our Thanksgiving table for this year. This video really encourages you to use whatever you have on hand to set a beautiful table. On our table this year we use my great-grandmother's beautiful china along with our everyday glasses and silverware.

I have layered the table linens to create a more elegant effect, using a table cloth, a table runner and square rattan place mats.

I referenced Charles Macpherson's The Butler Speaks (I love this book!) to make sure the place setting is on track and I adjusted it to fit our table.

The most important thing to remember if you are hosting Thanksgiving is to make the best use of what you have. No need to go out and purchase expensive table dressings to impress. Get creative with your table and you can create a beautiful table scape.

There is so much more I'd like to share with you! I hope you check out this week's video for a detailed talk-through of our Thanksgiving table.

If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of this blog, or visit my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur

News
Check out my timely interview with Chico's clothing brand on their blog, Inside Chic: Madame Chic's 4 Ways to Be A Relaxed Hostess.

Over 50 Feeling 40 is experimenting with the concepts in Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic by dressing well for working at home.

Heather from Cedar and Bloom blogs about her daughter's ten-item wardrobe.

Comment of the Week

Amber S writes:

When I was young and still in college I often would "crash" at a friends apartment when we would stay up late studying or have an exam in the morning as she lived 5 minutes from school and I lived 45 by car. As I said we were young and far from having homes with special guest rooms or fancy china, I think I usually slept on the couch. My friend however is one of those hosts who have the ability to make you feel so at home. I think the thing that I remember most is that there was always soap and a washcloth and towel setting on the bathroom counter for me and coffee set to brew with a mug out when I woke up. It was small things but she knew I liked to have a shower first thing and a cup of coffee and I got up early. It's the little things that make a host. I was more comfortable staying on her couch in her little apartment than I have been at houses with designated guest rooms and fancy linens. it goes to show that you can be a marvelous host in whatever living circumstances you have it's about making the people feel loved and being proud of your home!

You are so right, Amber, it's the little things that make a host. Thanks for sharing this with us!

This week I would love to know... what are your plans for Thanksgiving? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? How do you plan to set the table? I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I will see you all next week!

Jennifer x


** Please note: there are two spoons missing from the table setting in the picture and video. This is not by design. Between the time I set the table and the time I shot the video two of the spoons were removed unbeknownst to me by my daughter :)




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