Holiday Entertaining Tips. Make the holiday season as stress-free as possible, fun and delicious! Im giving you tips and tricks to host a great get together that you too can enjoy the day! 

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We are just a little over 2 weeks away from Christmas and I am thrilled! This year we are in our new home and I couldn’t be more in love with it and we are so excited to finally host Christmas Day again! I LOVE entertaining friends and family but I know that it can get stressful and overwhelming at times. Today I’d love to share with you some tips and MUST HAVE products to make the holiday season festive, enjoyable and DELICIOUS! 

#1 rule in my book when it comes to entertaining… PREP, PREP, PREP!! Where do I start? With several lists of course. I am a huge fan of lists and yea my husband makes fun of me for it sometimes but as you all know I’m sure, life is busy and keeping everything straight is not always easy. I don’t know about you but I swear if I dont write it down there is a very good chance I will forget things.

For Christmas there I typically have my “Get the House Ready List” and the “Dinner List”.  The house list includes cleaning everything, getting the house looking festive as well as setting up extra tables and seating as we have a decent sized family. I also like to pull out my red plate chargers, plates, platters, table clothes, cloth napkins and good silverware. Make sure everything is clean and ready for you to go. Trust me, the worst thing is scrambling last minute to find everything, if you’ve got everything you need in place things will go way more smoothly!

Now when it comes to the food I always start with sitting down and coming up with a menu. We are a big Italian family so starting with an antipasto course is a MUST! The olives, cured meats, cheeses, roasted peppers, stuffed breads, artichokes and so much more. I’ll be honest, this is my favorite part of all the holiday eating… Antipasto is truly a meal in and of itself.

There of course is the actual Christmas dinner next. I’ve typically done a huge NY Strip Roast each year that I rub in dijon mustard and herbes de provence… this year I am switching things up! I’m going to be making a stuffed pork loin then I will then wrap in BACON!!! Served with Cranberry Apple Sauce. For my sides I’m going Gruyere & Thyme Potato Gratin, Creamy Garlic Spinach and Mushrooms, Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Cornbread Drop Biscuits. Phew! Sound tasty right?!?!

Now once you’ve got your menu set you can start working on the next two lists! Grocery Shopping and Prep List! Go through each item you are serving and jot down what you are going to need and don’t forget about drinks! I love a good grocery list like this one… its breaks it down into groups and that typically makes shopping faster. As for the prep list… This year Christmas day is on a Sunday so I’ll start prepping Thursday with my grocery shop. Of course if you are getting fresh bread, then wait on it.

So grocery shopping Thursday and I’ll get everything out this day too. Friday you can start cooking, yup your food will be just fine cooked a couple days ahead of time. I’ll be doing the potatoes, spinach and sprouts as well as prep the filling for my phyllo cups. I’ll also bake the biscuits, let them cool completely then cover them right on the baking sheet. Saturday I’ll get the house actually set up and platter up the cold antipasto items. Then Sunday the only thing I have to actually make is the roast and warm everything. You will have time to actually enjoy yourself, because hey you deserve it! So, CHEERS TO YOU!

*Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”