Taking Stock Ahead of Autumn Entertaining and Thanksgiving

A beautiful tree-lined driveway into a Park-and-Ride facility not far from my home in Woodinville, Washington

Today I’m setting my plans for the weekend ahead; carving out time in my worknights for reading and for cooking meals with my boyfriend; and planning ahead for my autumn hosting and entertaining. If you throw parties, are likely to have houseguests, or are hosting Thanksgiving, let’s do some advance planning to help everything run smoothly!

QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:

Make meal plans for the week ahead, if you haven’t already
Autumn and winter weekends are precious and get filled up quickly. Make weekend plans with friends if you haven’t yet.
Look over your calendar and see what’s coming up for you in the next couple months.
I like to attend a musical or a play once or twice in autumn and winter. Have you checked your budget (time and money) and your city’s events calendars? Same for concerts!
Don’t forget to build in some downtime for yourself this work-week. Netflix bingeing, journaling, reading, or an extra long bath perhaps?

TODAY’S PROJECT: Preparing for Autumn Entertaining

A place setting from my autumn dinner party, using a beaded placemat from Pier 1 and Halloween damask table linens from Target from a few years back

Recently I hosted an autumn-themed dinner party for several friends (nearly 20!) in my home. I hired a caterer to do the cooking, so all I had to do was clean, decorate, and set tables with my favorite antique dishes. My prep work for the party was a disaster however. I didn’t have my autumn tablecloths, tablerunners, placemats and napkins very well organized, and it took so much extra time trying to round them up and sort them out. The napkins needed to be laundered and ironed, and I had to run to the store for some inexpensive napkin rings to use for my table decor. I had to pull many tubs of Christmas decor out of the way to find my autumn things, and now my garage storage area is a complete disaster.

My house is now fully (and if I may say so myself, beautifully) decorated for autumn, so that part is ready. I’ll just have to remove some Halloween items to carry my decor through til Thanksgiving and the end of November. (I personally choose to never begin decorating for Christmas until December first. I celebrate each season in its own time!)

But I’m not ready for the upcoming Autumn Harvest Brunch, Autumn Book Club, and Autumn Harvest Baking parties I’m hosting in the next couple weeks. My kitchen isn’t as clean and organized as I would like, and I foresee a struggle to drag my baking and cookie decorating supplies out of my garage and set it up nicely for the party. I’m likely hosting Thanksgiving, too, and I’m not sure what dishes I would use for that.

I’m also woefully underprepared for any houseguests that might be headed my way to spend the night. I’d like my guest rooms to be cleaner and I wish I’d stop hiding clutter in there during parties!

I hope that better advance planning, cleaning and organizing will make my hosting responsibilities much easier. I need to strive to be a relaxed hostess so my guests don’t feel anxious or like they are putting me out – they aren’t, I love hosting!

What entertaining might you do this autumn? What preparations have you already done and what is on your to-do list?

I’ve created an Autumn Entertaining Homekeeping Checklist if you’d like to check it out!

LOVELY BLOGS: Joy Food Sunshine

Laura shares her “Recipes for real life” from her home in Salt Lake City. I’m really impressed that she has time to cook and blog, since she’s a homeschooling mom of four children. She must have a ton of energy!

Today I’m tempted to make her homemade dinner rolls – they’d go so well with the potato leek soup my boyfriend and I made yesterday. Other recent seasonal recipes from her blog include a Baked Quinoa Casserole, dairy-free pumpkin pie, and Sausage Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes (I’d substitute in vegetarian meat in mine!)

You can follow Joy Food Sunshine on Instagram to see more of her lovely food photography and tempting recipes.

https://joyfoodsunshine.com/

LOVELY BOOKS: Like Mother Used to Make

This charming 1912 vintage cookbook was by Christine Terhune Herrick. Today I’m enjoying browsing through it (though I’m skipping the chapters on hogs, oysters and chickens). There’s a chapter on Old-Time Thanksgiving Fare that you might enjoy checking out (it’s really oyster-heavy, I must warn you!) I’ll definitely make time to peruse the Christmas Cheer chapter, and I can’t resist a peek at “Home Dinners Without a Servant.” The book’s final chapter is “Home-Made Cakes for Afternoon Tea.”

Hope you enjoy exploring this antique book!

https://archive.org/details/cu31924086682782

LOVELY BOOKS: My Miniature Library

I’m not a craftsy person at all, but I’m sorely tempted to spend a rainy autumn evening making a miniature library from this complete kit. “30 Tiny Books to Make, Read and Treasure.” This would probably be an adorable conversation piece on my coffee table at my next book club get-together.

My Miniature Library, on Amazon

LOVELY DINNERWARE: Grateful Turkey Melamine Plates

Last year I didn’t have any children come over for Thanksgiving, but this year I might. I don’t quite trust children with my fragile antique plates, so I’ll probably pick up a set or two of these sturdy and colorful melamine “Grateful Turkey” plates from Cost Plus World Market.

Grateful Turkey Melamine, at Cost Plus World Market

LOVELY FOOD: Wine Country Kitchens’ Gourmet Cherry Balsamic Vinegar

I’m proud of myself that I’m cooking more meals at home now that fall is upon us. It’s healthier for me and my boyfriend, and of course saves money. Except sometimes I splurge that saved money on gourmet cooking supplies, such as this delicious and thick cherry-infused balsamic vinegar. I’ve lately used it on a baked brie and have absolutely no regrets!

Wine Country Kitchens Bordeaux Cherry Balsamic Vinegar, on Amazon

LOVELY GIFTS: Godiva Pumpkin Spice Truffles

Next time I go to an autumn party at someone’s house, I’ll bring my hosts this set of foil-wrapped pumpkin spice truffles as a hostess gift. I figure if I’ve misjudged and one of my hosts doesn’t like pumpkin spice, they can easily regift this to someone they know who does!

Godiva Pumpkin Spice Truffles, on Amazon

LOVELY MOVIES: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

I’m not normally a fan of “The Nutcracker” story – it just isn’t my thing. But I’m actually quite excited about Disney’s gigantic holiday film for 2018: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. The costumes and staging looks utterly fantastic, and the film stars lots of intriguing actors (Matthew MacFadyen, Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and ballerina Misty Copeland). I’d probably wait to take any young nieces or nephews til I see it first in case there are scary parts.

Disney’s Nutcracker and the Four Realms Trailer, at Apple.com

Disney’s Nutcracker and the Four Realms Official Site

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms on IMDB

Disney’s Nutcracker and the Four Realms on Instagram