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Party guide

A Cozy, Family-Style Thanksgiving

Everything on the table at once, passed hand to hand, with a kids' table that keeps them busy. This is the big, warm, everybody-in-the-kitchen version, and it's built so most of it is done before anyone rings the bell.

Host tip: Hand out small jobs before anyone asks: who carves, who fills the water glasses, who keeps an eye on the kids' table. People relax when they have something to do.

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The menu

Starter
Skillet cornbread with honey butterRecipe from Well Plated ↗
Main
Classic roast turkey (or a ham for a smaller crowd)Recipe from Ina Garten, Food Network ↗
Side
Baked mac and cheeseRecipe from Spend With Pennies ↗
Sweet potato casseroleRecipe from Once Upon a Chef ↗
Maple-roasted carrotsRecipe from Ree Drummond, Food Network ↗
Dessert
Pecan pieRecipe from Sally's Baking Addiction ↗
Apple crispRecipe from Once Upon a Chef ↗

Drinks and ice

  • Hot mulled cider station, with bourbon on the side for the grown-ups: recipe. Make it on the stove, then move it to a slow cooker on warm.

Cider cubes for the cold cup

Not everyone wants a hot drink, and kids rarely do. Freeze apple cider in a leaf- or pumpkin-shaped silicone mold, then serve cold cider over the cider cubes so it never waters down. Push a cinnamon stick into a few before they freeze for a little extra.

Make ahead

  1. 3 days before: Thaw the turkey in the fridge if frozen (1 day per 4 to 5 lb). Freeze the cider cubes.
  2. 2 days before: Bake the pecan pie.
  3. 1 day before: Assemble the mac and cheese and sweet potato casserole; refrigerate. Make the apple crisp topping.
  4. Day of, morning: Turkey goes in (about 13 minutes per lb). Cider goes in the slow cooker on low.
  5. While the turkey rests: Bake the casseroles, roast the carrots, bake the cornbread and the crisp.

The music

Easy, warm folk and country

The 25 songs
  1. Harvest Moon, Neil Young
  2. Ho Hey, The Lumineers
  3. Home, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
  4. Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
  5. Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver
  6. The Weight, The Band
  7. Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
  8. Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton
  9. I and Love and You, The Avett Brothers
  10. Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell
  11. Fire and Rain, James Taylor
  12. Carolina in My Mind, James Taylor
  13. Wagon Wheel, Old Crow Medicine Show
  14. Ophelia, The Lumineers
  15. Little Lion Man, Mumford & Sons
  16. Holocene, Bon Iver
  17. Peaceful Easy Feeling, Eagles
  18. Teach Your Children, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  19. Tennessee Whiskey, Chris Stapleton
  20. Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
  21. Cover Me Up, Jason Isbell
  22. Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days), The Judds
  23. Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles
  24. Riptide, Vance Joy
  25. Forever Young, Bob Dylan

Little touches

  • A gift for the host

    What guests can bring.

    Homemade jam, a dish towel set, or flowers already in a vase

  • To take home

    A little something at the door.

    A mini jar of jam, or a leftovers container with a handwritten label

  • Something to do

    A kids' table with paper runners, coloring placemats and crayons

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