by Joan Inong

Created on: October 29, 2009

Thanksgiving should be headache-free and full of fun with your family and friends. In order to make this day seamlessly possible, you will need to make a Thanksgiving dinner menu that will be inexpensive and easy to make, so that you can spend less time in the kitchen and have more time to spend with your family. Here are a few simple tips and tricks that can help you create an easy yet delicious Thanksgiving dinner line-up.

First, you have to decide whether or not you want to create a traditional Thanksgiving menu. It is easy to follow a Thanksgiving menu because most of the food items will include ingredients that are in season. After all, Thanksgiving is also a celebration of the harvest season. A traditional Thanksgiving menu, though now hardly traditional (since most of the food items that we eat on Thanksgiving today were not on the first Thanksgiving menu), includes: a turkey, baked ham, mashed sweet potatoes/regular potatoes, pumpkin pie, stuffing, and cranberry sauce and gravy.

Now, you will have to decide what kind of dinner you will be hosting. For example, it might be easier and less expensive to hold a Thanksgiving potluck dinner. If you decide to take this route, you will have to do less cooking and you and your friends and family will be able to enjoy each other's company more. However, not many families like to do this because it does not seem traditional. Think of it this way: the first Thanksgiving was probably a potluck, since the colonists and Native Americans were likely to share their fall harvest. They did not have the production and manufacturing numbers that we have today.

Once you have decided on what kind of dinner you will host, and whether or not you want a traditional menu, you can then ask for suggestions. Remember, having food items that will be highly appreciated (and knowing this beforehand) is better than making something new that many of your guests might not like. If you are hosting a potluck, it would be better if you create a list of who is bringing what. This way, you will not get duplicates (though sometimes, this can be a good thing), and there is a nice variety of food items on the dinner table.

As you can see, making a Thanksgiving dinner menu is not that difficult to do. As long as you know what kind of dinner you will be having, and you have an idea of who wants to eat what, making this menu for this special family holiday is easy.

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