Fare Share
The Oregonian
November 16, 2004
It's hard to give thanks when there's a menu to plan, a house to clean, decorations to put up, a table to set, groceries to buy . . . and then, of course, there's that turkey. Thanksgiving is a lot of trouble when you're the host. There is an alternative, though, to your annual holiday stress-out: Delegate, assign and simplify.
I have a large dining room, lots of chairs, flatware for 25 and a huge extended family. I don't have tons of time and money to spend on all the arrangements for holiday entertaining. So when guests ask, "How can I help?" I answer, "How about bringing the cranberries and setting the table?"
My crowd has come to love our "all hands on deck" approach to the holidays. Everyone who can, cooks. Everyone who can't, cleans, decorates or entertains. By the end of the evening, everyone has had a big role in throwing yet another great party.
If this is your first year sharing the holiday load, break it to your friends gently. Something like, "You know what, after years of hogging it all, I'm ready to share the joy of entertaining. And, since Martha Stewart isn't available to help me out this Thanksgiving, I thought we'd all do it together."
Most people mean it when they ask what they can do, what they can bring, how can they help. Once you've decided to ease up on your control-freak nature, delegating and sharing is a relief as well as a way to let your guests show off their entertaining skills.
NINE STEPS TO DELEGATING THANKSGIVING
1. Guest list: List everyone who will be sharing Thanksgiving with you. Deal with last-minute extras later. Decide whether each guest can cook or not. Simple as that. Those who can't (at least to your standards) will be delegated other tasks.
2. Delegate preset menu or freedom of choice: Most holidays don't bode well for going totally potluck. You may end up with 12 bowls of cranberry sauce and nothing else. This is a tricky decision based on history and trust. If history tells you that guests will show up with good stuff, you may choose to trust their culinary instincts. If history tells you a certain guest who asked to bring bread for dinner will show up with Wonder bread, you may need to go with something preset and specific.
3. Delegate main dishes: Once you've decided how to handle the menu, first delegate main dishes to can-cook guests. For instance, in our family, there's no point in my making the turkey since I'm a vegetarian with a limited ability roasting large birds. Jerome, my husband, says, "There's nothing sorrier than having a vegetarian cook your meat." My niece Karen Stein is an excellent chef who is not intimidated by holiday meats. Therefore, she will cook the turkey. I will provide the vegetarian main dish, a rich and creamy autumn vegetable ratatouille. Another niece is strictly vegan and will bring a vegan main dish of her own creation.
4. Delegate side dishes: I feel pretty comfortable saying to most of my core cooks, "How about if you do the mashed potatoes this year?" Or "Can you come up with an interesting vegetable side dish?" Usually, we're delighted with the results. There have been years, though, when our core group lacked imagination or time to figure this out for themselves. In that case, I e-mail a recipe that I'd like them to follow. I also resort to specific recipe assignments when I know that a guest's cooking skills are still developing.
Karen begins culling cooking magazines in October for specific menu and recipe ideas, and we've had success telling guests, "Get this month's Bon Appetit and make the recipe for green beans on Page 184." Generally, people appreciate the specific assignment.
Be very careful with the assigning. You may not have any problem with canned cranberry sauce, but you might not be so happy with canned vegetables. However, when you delegate, you have to accept the results.
5. Delegate stove and oven time: I ask my guests to cook at their houses and do a quick reheat before serving. Of course, we cook the turkey at my house (no fair asking someone to both cook the bird and haul it to your kitchen). And though I don't have a 12-burner Viking, I do have two ovens -- one for the bird, and one for me. We've had problems when guests arrived needing four burners and two hours with the oven. And with limited counter space, it can get pretty crowded if everyone tries to assemble their salad, side dish or dessert at the same time.
6. Delegate drinks: One of the most expensive elements of holiday entertaining is the bar. Sure, a few bottles of apple cider are no budget-buster, but several bottles of wine can be. We handle that by providing a variety of nonalcoholic drinks, one large bottle of wine, and we ask everyone to bring a bottle of whatever they want to drink with enough to share. Since we hang out with a bunch of wine snobs, we end up with a wonderful and eclectic wine list and an assortment of good beer.
7. Delegate other tasks: Inevitably, there are guests who don't cook. Got a cousin with an artistic flair? Get her to make the centerpiece. A brother who plays guitar like Eric Clapton? Ask him to serenade before dinner. Teeming masses of teenagers? Get them to set the table, entertain the toddlers or organize after-dinner games. And then, of course, there's the cleanup crew. In our house, these tend to be the guys under the direction of our friend, Maya Emshwiller. I won't go so far as to say that the boys actually volunteer, but they don't shirk their responsibilities when they can't get out of it. Last year we had four last-minute guests, all college students from Venezuela. They added a fascinating dimension to our conversation and pitched right in on dishes, and my kitchen has rarely been cleaner.
As far as decorating, I have no gift. My niece Brenda Rose does amazing centerpieces. My husband and daughters set a gorgeous table. Once they've worked their magic, it's like something out of a magazine. My nephew Gabe Morris is the gamekeeper. He can be counted on to choose something that will work for everyone and make us all follow the rules. Last year it was Trivial Pursuit and two-board Scrabble teams.
8. Delegate cleaning: I've had limited success getting much help from outside guests on the pre-holiday house cleaning, but that's what my teenagers are for. We manage this task with a divide-and-conquer strategy. Since our entertaining areas are all on the main floor, we concentrate on these areas. The upstairs bedrooms are out-of-sight, out-of-mind with the doors closed. The upstairs bathroom may be needed, though, so that goes on the chore list. We each take an area and do a thorough spruce-up. For example, I'll take the kitchen and swab the decks so that we can cook comfortably. One of the kids will do the living room, another the dining room, and my husband will do the bathrooms.
9. Enjoy! The day after Thanksgiving, when most hostesses are so exhausted and stressed out they have to hit the mall and shop the sales, I'm barely roughed up at all. Yes, I did have to clean the kitchen and cook a vegetarian main dish. I did have to delegate and keep things moving, but, essentially, that's what I do every day. Thanksgiving is just more of the same on a grander scale.
Jeanne Faulkner is a Portland freelance writer.
Jeanne's Green Beans With Shallots, Almonds and Lemon
Makes 6 to 8 servings
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 pounds fresh green beans or haricots vert
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast almonds on a baking sheet for 5 minutes in oven. Set aside.
In pot, boil enough water to cover green beans. Add beans and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large skillet, melt butter, add olive oil, shallot, salt and pepper; saute over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add lemon zest and saute for 1 minute.
Shallots should be starting to brown. Add green beans and almonds to skillet and stir to mix. -- From Jeanne Faulkner
PER SERVING (based on 8 servings): calories: 107 (11% from protein, 29% from carbohydrate, 60% from fat); protein: 3.2 grams; total fat: 7.8 grams; saturated fat: 1.6 grams; cholesterol: 4 mg; sodium: 171 mg; carbohydrate: 8.5 grams; dietary fiber: 4 grams; exchanges: 11/2 vegetable, 11/2 fat