Guest Post by Jill Kemerer
So you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, and there’s going to be a crowd. Part of you is brimming with excitement, and the other part—the insecure one—whispers you’re going to fail.
Will the turkey be dry? How many potatoes does one need to feed fourteen people? Is it bad to use canned gravy?
Just thinking about cooking for that many people gives you a headache. So you flop on the couch, click on the television, and watch a baking competition. It’s pie day. You mentally take notes.
Flaky crust. Okay. Flavor pairings. Huh? How long are they baking it? Oh, no, hers burned! If professionals can’t get it right, why do I think I can?
Your breathing grows shallow. Everyone is expecting a good meal, and you don’t want to ruin it.
You hop off the couch and grab your planner to figure out how to knock out some of the prep work ahead of time. But the calendar shows things you’d forgotten about like your daughter’s dance competition and your son’s basketball game. Oh, and you have a hair appointment—you’re not cancelling that!!
The shallow breathing is now morphing to full-on hyperventilation. When will you clean the house? Make the pies? Buy all the food? And how on earth will you cook it all?
As your anxiety accelerates, so does your dread. You don’t want to think about it anymore because defeat seems unavoidable. You try to clear your mind.
Then… another thought pops into your head.
The local grocery store has an entire turkey dinner complete with mashed potatoes, three sides, dinner rolls and a pie. I wouldn’t have to cook a thing.
You cringe. Really? You’re really thinking about skipping out on the cooking?
Yes, I am. But will it taste any good?
You look at the calendar again. Maybe it’s time to make this Thanksgiving a potluck. You’ll cook the turkey, and everyone else can bring a side. And if no one is on board with a potluck, you’re giving the grocery store a call.
A deep sense of peace comes over you. It will be fun having everyone at your house for the day.
Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be stressful. After all, it’s a holiday where we thank the Lord for our blessings. A day to be together with loved ones and friends. A day to just enjoy life.
The food doesn’t have to be gourmet. The house doesn’t have to be spotless. The pie crust doesn’t have to be flaky.
Give yourself permission to not be perfect. To do less and not stress. You’ll be thankful you did!
To celebrate the release of The Prodigal’s Holiday Hope, I’m giving away an ebook to one commenter, anywhere in the world, available via BookFunnel. The winner will be randomly selected Friday and notified soon afterward. Simply leave a comment below! Void where prohibited.
But can he prove he’s changed?
When Sawyer Roth is hired to work on his childhood ranch, he knows he has a damaged reputation to repair. Tess Malone, the new ranch owner’s daughter, is the hardest to win over. But as Christmas approaches, Tess and her toddler son find a way into Sawyer’s heart. He lost everything the last time he put his trust in love. Can he risk it all again?
Click HERE for Purchase Links and More
Jill Kemerer is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author of heartwarming, emotional, small-town romance novels often featuring cowboys. Over half a million of her books have sold worldwide. Jill’s essentials include coffee, caramels, a stack of books, her mini-doxie, and long walks outdoors. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two almost-grown children. For more information, visit her website, jillkemerer.com.
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
Hi, Jill (and Valerie, too)!
What a sweet reminder. In our extended family, we are never the ones hosting holiday meals so we are more than happy to bring a side or help on the day. It just seems wise to think that way. I want to spend time with my extended family, meal or no. For our family, a big to-do tends to be stressful. I know there a some who really enjoy the entertaining and putting on a feast. For us, if folks are expecting a show, they should have bought tickets. The pricey ones, LOL!
Glad to have you visiting here at IR, Jill. Thanks for the opportunity.
Lol. Can never forget the first year I cooked a turkey. I left the bag of giblets inside. Who knew?
I will be having a quiet Thanksgiving with my dad this year. My mom just died 2 weeks ago so we will be thinking of her.
Just me.
I had to smile because at times , I have felt the same way. This year it will be a very quiet day after the passing of Mom’s sweet husband . He will be greatly missed
Luckily I have always been a decent cook, so I never panicked like that
This year it just be hubs and I.
My daughter, hubby, and two teenage grandkids will be here for hunting and Thanksgiving. Hubby is off that week to hunt so I will have days of feeding hungry males and washing clothes and dishes. It will be a first without my parents. Hoping I can hold it together. Blessings
I am sorry for your loss and pain.
I very much enjoy cooking for both my nephews family.
I honestly don’t know yet what I’m doing for Thanksgiving. In all likelihood, I’ll be spending the day alone. I’m thinking of asking a friend and her husband over, but no set plans yet. It’s the first one without my Mom, and since there are now family issues that aren’t resolved, I won’t be seeing any of my family then.
what a wonderful post. when mom was alive we always had thanksgiving at her house. now my sister hosts and we all bring the food. buffet style. we always remember mom on this day and thank God for putting her in our lives and making it better.
this sounds like a great book
I’m so sorry, Lori.
Thanks for visiting us today, Jill!
In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving the second weekend in October. This year, with British Columbia’s current covid restrictions, we were very very thankful for a lovely sunny day so we could enjoy our meal and visit together outside. There were 16 of us (our family and my sister’s family) and it was WONDERFUL after so many cancellations in the past 20 months.
We always divvy up the food – we have for decades. Five households are represented, and everyone volunteers for part of the meal. We were the host family, so turkey/dressing/gravy were in our court this year. SO MUCH to be thankful for!!!
We don’t know what we are doing yet .we want to do a smaller one cause my sister in law will have a few day old baby so maybe just with my siblings and my mom’s twin sisters family.it still will be kind of big since I come from a family of 13 and my aunt has12 kids.
Thanks for the chance to win! We have a quiet Thanksgiving but I know for a lot of people it can become stressful. Hopefully this year people can step back and really appreciate all that they have rather than stressing about whether their dinner comes out perfectly.
Keeping you in my prayers
“They should have bought tickets.” That cracks me up!! Yes, I love your attitude! Thank you!
You are certainly not the only one, Linda!! At least you have some memories to laugh at!
I am so sorry, Lori. I will keep you in my prayers this month. I’m sure the holidays will be very bittersweet.
I hope you have a blessed holiday, Kim.
I’m sorry for your loss, Yvonne. I hope the memories of him bring you joy this holiday season.
Cooking skills are so appreciated! That’s great! Enjoy this holiday with your hubby!
Sounds like you’re going to have a busy week! Hunting, cooking and what-not! I’m so sorry you’ve lost your parents. I pray God will fill you with joy and peace this holiday season.
Aww, that is really nice! I love cooking, too. Happy Thanksgiving!
Trudy, I’m sorry you lost your mom. It seems as if this will be a first holiday without a loved one for a lot of people. It makes it that much harder when family issues are involved. I pray you’ll be comforted and feel peace this Thanksgiving.
Thank you, Lori, and I love that you have such good memories of Thanksgiving with your mom. Enjoy the holidays!
I am SO glad the weather held out for you to enjoy your Thanksgiving outdoors! My sister-in-law is Canadian, too! I’m thrilled you were all able to get together and enjoy all that yummy food!
Wow, Kendra, you do have a big family! I’ll pray for your sister-in-law and the new baby’s health! Enjoy!!
You said it best, Megan. Let’s appreciate everything we have!
If not family, friends
Some friends become family!
Hi, we either have Thanksgiving here at our house or we have it at our daughters house which is here also in our same town. I’m not quite sure yet where we will be having it, but it is always family time and we always have a great time.
My family goes to visit my sister-in-law for the week of Thanksgiving & cook the big dinner together. I usually bring my famous pumpkin pies that I make at home prior to the trip, a couple of dozen homemade cookies, plus we provide the sparkling apple cider. Some years I even make the homemade stuffing that’s my mom’s recipe. Depends on what my sis-in-law wants to prepare. It’s always a good time and the one time a year that we are all able to get together as a family.
We also spend the afternoon watching whatever football game happens to be on TV and stuffing ourselves until we can’t eat anymore, lol!
How wonderful you can spend it with your family! And it’s nice to be able to stay local, too!
Hi Trixi!!
Your pumpkin pies sound so delicious. I’m drooling! I’m glad you can all get together. We spend Thanksgiving with my sister’s family and my mom. There is always football involved!
My Mom became ill on Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year. We did not celebrate at all. She was admitted to the ICU. She is now a full time resident in a nursing home. This will be the first time I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner without her. I am not sure if my Dad will spend any of the day with us yet. I asked, but he was not sure what he was going to do. It just maybe my husband and myself. We will spend time with my Mom on Friday bringing her leftovers. We had purchased everything for the meal last year. There is little we need to purchase this year. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
While we don’t have thanksgiving in Australia the same happens for Christmas. Mum use to do everything then after she was exhausted and got to the point she hated Christmas. We didn’t have a lot of people (4 adults and 3 kids) When she finally asked brother and sister in law to bring something and went from a hot lunch (on often a hot day) to cold meat and salads it made it so much easier. She still stressed if things were not perfectly clean and still did most of the work but it was a bit easier when the family finally started pulling their weight. Thanksgiving and Christmas is like you said doesn’t have to be perfect of difficult everyone can pull together to make it special and its about family and being thankful.
I like the sound of the new book
If I have a choice on where I am it would be in Louisiana with our son and some of our grandchildren. If I am at home then I will likely be cooking for about 30 people.
In Canada we already had Thanksgiving in October.
Thanksgiving we went to my brother’s place & had a great time. It was in October second weekend due to it being in Canada.
We will have a quiet Thanksgiving with just my husband and me. Most of our family are still very cautious about traveling and we are encouraging them to be safe.
I’m really sorry about your mom, Debra. It’s tough when you have to send them to a nursing home. We did the same thing with my father years ago before he died. I hope your dad stops by for a little bit, but I’m sure this must be difficult for him, too. Take care.
Oh, yes, the Christmas prep is even worse than the Thanksgiving prep! Spreading the work around to everyone involved makes life easier, for sure! I’m really glad everyone pitched in to make it better for your mom!
Thanksgiving in Louisiana sounds really nice! It’s fun to get away and experience the holiday at someone else’s house. I really hope you don’t have to do ALL the cooking!
Nice! And good weather for it, too!
One fun holiday down, Christmas coming up! I’m so glad you enjoyed yourself!
Smart call, Jeanna. Enjoy the quiet holiday. Hopefully next year will be better.
Not sure yet how we are spending it …..
I don’t like to cook!
Since my mom’s hosted Christmas a few times, the potluck idea is a win every time :) Happy Thanksgiving!