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Thanksgiving is a much-anticipated and beloved holiday. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving offers families and friends an opportunity to gather and break bread together.

Food is indeed a focus of Thanksgiving, and that can be a little overwhelming if not intimidating for those tasked with hosting the celebration. Guests might come to expect certain Thanksgiving staples, including turkey and mashed potatoes. Such expectations can make it easier to plan a Thanksgiving menu, and sticking to Turkey Day standard bearers is not the only way to simplify meal planning on this beloved holiday.

• Accept help, but keep it limited. It’s customary for loved ones invited to Thanksgiving celebrations to offer to bring a dish to dinner, and that can alleviate some of the work hosts are tasked with managing. However, hosts can keep things simple by asking only a small handful of guests to prepare a side dish. Once the quota is filled, politely decline any additional offers to bring food. It can be hard to find space on the table if too many guests bring dishes from home, and that can lead to hurt feelings if certain sides are ignored or left on the kitchen counter due to a lack of real estate.

• Explain your desire to reduce food waste. Another way to simplify the meal is to avoid succumbing to the temptation to cook too much food. Guests may expect to go home with full bellies. Indeed, the Calorie Control Council notes that Americans consume between 3,000 and 4,500 calories during Thanksgiving celebrations. The U.S.-based nonprofit ReFED, which is devoted to stopping food waste, estimated that Americans would waste 312 million pounds of food on Thanksgiving 2023. Hosts who want to avoid cooking excessive amounts of food, much of which may eventually end up in the trash can, can simplify meal prep by cooking less and explaining to guests that they aspire to reduce food waste this Thanksgiving.

• Keep table settings simple. Unless you’re planning to post photos of the family meal on Instagram this Thanksgiving, you can skip the more elaborate formal table settings in favor of a simple setup you might use on most nights when dining at home. Polishing the fancy silver and folding cloth napkins in a way that would impress a seasoned maître d’ is a time-consuming task that can complicate meal preparation. Keep it simple with less formal settings, which will allow guests to direct their focus to the task at hand: eating a delicious, homecooked holiday meal.

• Purchase a premade dessert. It might be tempting to try your hand at a homemade dessert, but it’s far easier to purchase pies and ice cream from a local baker, store or farmer’s market. This approach ensures hosts have it a little easier once the main course has been served and consumed.

Hosting Thanksgiving dinner is no small task. However, hosts can take various steps to simplify Thanksgiving meal planning this year.

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