Hosting Thanksgiving is pretty intimidating for anyone, but how about when live in a small condo? When you have to deal with small living spaces, very little storage, and a smaller kitchen (with smaller appliances), it makes the idea of hosting seem daunting. Somehow we manage to host 13 guests in 1100 square feet! This is the third year now that we have hosted Thanksgiving in our little Minneapolis condo. We’ve learned a thing or two about hosting Thanksgiving in a small space.
Plan Ahead
About a week in advance, I like to start the actual planning for Thanksgiving. We plan the menu, go grocery shopping, and set the table. I use Post-It notes to mark each vessel and utensil with what dish it will be serving. Tony thinks this is very over the top (but it’s very effective!) I also like to plan our outfits and get them ready to go. We then make a timeline for the day. It’s important to build a timeline (with lots of reminders) and stick to it!
Make it a Potluck
We delegate out a significant portion of the menu to our families. They bring appetizers, sides, beer, wine, bread, and desserts. We basically keep the bulk of the dishes that require the oven. This year we are doing the turkey and gravy, mac n’ cheese, and green bean casserole. For the most part, we let our family members decided what they want to bring. I keep track so that we don’t have any duplicate items. This has worked really well each year.
Clean Out The Fridge
The week leading up to Thanksgiving, we are on a mission to clear out all food in the house. This means that we eat lots of random items and throw away old leftovers or expired items. The main goal of this being that we need to clear room for the turkey (and everything else that needs to go in the fridge).
Declutter and Rearrange
Small spaces a lot of times have more clutter. Now is the time to go through your mail and bills, put away laundry, donate items, etc. At this time, consider rearranging your furniture to better accommodate your guests. Maybe that means moving the couch, pulling a table out away from the wall, or adding more seating. Get creative with what you have! Put tables together or clear off a surface so that someone could potentially eat there.
Prep, Prep, Prep
Three of four days in advance, start prepping any food that you can. If you live in a small space, chances are your kitchen isn’t large enough to make everything at once. Bake pies, prep dishes, or peel and chop vegetables. The day before, start actually assembling dishes. I always make mac n’ cheese, and the night before I get it fully assembled so that it’s ready to bake on Thanksgiving.
Make It A Buffet
We barely have space at the table for everyone to sit down and eat, let alone a place to set all of the dishes. On our kitchen island, we set up buffet style so that we can free up some elbow room at our dining room table. It’s also nice to have a separate drink station (bar cart or something) so that you can get that out of the kitchen area. It’s so cold in Minnesota that we can keep the drinks outside!
Buy To-Go Containers
Thanksgiving always ends with tons and tons of leftovers. With a small refrigerator, we don’t have the space to keep all of the leftovers. Last year we had the idea to buy foil to-go containers for everyone to take leftovers home with them. It was really a win-win because our families got to take food home with them, and we didn’t have to figure out a way to store it all.