Holiday stress, … can we just keep it simple? As if life in general doesn’t bring on enough stress, the holidays have a way of adding fuel to the fire. Not everyone celebrates the holidays, could stress be one of the reasons?
As we prep for the holiday meals, with family and friends, an edginess begins to creep up. Those knots in your stomach, that zit on your face and the belly bulge that just got a wee bit bigger all show up between Halloween and New Years Day. Why? It’s the holidays. You’d think we’d know how to handle this time of year by now. After all, we’ve seen it done since we were children. Maybe that’s the problem.
No Holiday Stress in Moms Kitchen
Did your Mom freak out during the holiday season? Was she a nervous wreck wanting everything to be perfect? Mine was!
Here’s the thing though … we knew what the menu would be, it was a staple this time of year. So why was there this nervous edge? My Mom never burned the turkey, overcooked a cake, nor did she end up with a pecan pie that could be used to slay Goliath.
So how did she switch make her life much easier during the holiday season? Here’s how I saw her switch. She began to Pre- cook certain foods early. Collard greens and string beans were cooked and frozen, so were the pecan and sweet potato pies. Potato salad and candied yams were made the day before and believe it or not, the turkey was placed in the oven at midnight with the timer set to go off after 3 hours. Yes, our oven had a timer in those days.
The only thing actually cooked on Thanksgiving or Christmas day was the dressing/stuffing. Anything frozen was taken out of the freezer the night before and placed in the refrigerator, to be warmed later in the day.
You Can Eliminate – – Okay Minimize Your Holiday Stress
Consider some of the tips used by my mother and many others. Keep your holiday cooking simple. You don’t have to cook as though you’re preparing for an army to come to dinner. If you’re having an army (your massive family), assign items for them to bring. Do not allow non-cooking people to bring food. You know who they are.
Forget the good china. Companies have raised the bar on “Plastic/Paper” dinnerware. This cuts down on clean up time after dinner.
Holidays are for the enjoyment of family and friends. Find every way possible to make your life easy during the holidays and your stress will become null and void.
That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated To Your Beauty,
Juliette Samuel
Esthetician/Author/Publisher
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