This blog post was sponsored by KING’S HAWAIIAN® Brand but the opinions are all my own.
This blog post was sponsored by KING’S HAWAIIAN® Brand but the opinions are all my own.Since I had children, it has become an annual tradition for our family to come over in the morning while the kids open up their gifts. Some times they even spend the night so they can see the excitement when they first round they corner and see the tree with presents there. I have a little one so I can’t put anything out until then or it might get opened while I was cooking dinner or something. Sneaky little boogers. I know how it works, I was little once. One year I tore a little strip off of all of my gifts and placed them back under the tree so I knew what everything was by the time my parents woke up.
Every year I make a big breakfast on Christmas for everyone. I’ve discovered a few tips that help me plan ahead and I don’t miss the kids excitement because I’m in the kitchen all morning. It takes proper planning though.
- Make a menu – Make a Pinterest board of all the recipe you’d like to make for your meal. In the descriptions, put the time each one takes to make so you know which ones you will need to start first. This will help in your time management also. I’m not saying you need to throw a party that Martha Stewart would be proud of, the point of the holidays is being together and enjoying the fun. No need to stress yourself out making sure the napkins are folded properly.
- Make ahead meals – I love making something that I can either freeze and then reheat the following day or meals that you can stick in a crock pot and leave them alone until they are done.
- Do all your shopping early – Have you seen the shelves of Walmart a day or two before Christmas eve or day? Everything is picked clean and it can be hard to find the ingredients that you need, so go early to gather everything you need. I’ve already started my shopping. I picked up some King’s Hawaiian Sweet Round Bread to test out a new recipe that I want to make for Christmas morning.
- Be mindful of space – Do you have enough chairs? Places at the table for people to eat? Make sure you have the space to host a lot of people in your home. If your guests don’t have a place to sit to rest, borrow some chairs. You can also place smaller tables around the house so you don’t bottle neck the food table.
- Bring out the drinks – If you’re like me then you may not drink alcohol a lot, but that doesn’t mean your guest don’t. Have a couple of option on hand just in case. My husband likes to serve beer and wine but since we are doing a breakfast gathering, we always have mimosa’s on hand. Pull your coffee make out too, no matter the time of day, everyone loves coffee and tea. You can also make up mixed drinks ahead of time so you aren’t spending the time mixing drinks for others.
- Do the dishes – I know that sounds silly but if you go to make you meals and you are having to scramble around and wash dishes that you need for baking, it will throw off your flow.
- Delegate – Get the family to help out with the prep so everything isn’t landing on you. That’s the last thing you want to do on your holiday.
- Set up the night before – Put your place settings, cups, and condiments out the night before. One less thing to worry about.
- Make it kid friendly – In my case the will be opening gifts but if you’re hosting a party with children, make sure there are fun things for them to do so they don’t go looking for something something to do in your closet. Make a kids table with coloring sheets or a craft that they can easily do without direction. Have kid friendly snacks also (check about allergies with parents also to help plan your meal) that they can munch on. Make sure you put away your valuables too, they will get touched!
- Enjoy yourself – This is the most important step! The holidays are stressful enough, don’t add more to your plate than you need to.
Check out these great tips and yummy recipes from King’s Hawaiian to help you plan your holiday gathering. Share your tips with #HostwithKH.
