Thanksgiving is a holiday that centers around family and food. What a winning combination! You’ll have to take care of the family part, and we’ll offer a few tips and helpful hints for the food side.

Here are some tips to make Turkey Day a little easier on the cook:

• Have each guest bring a dish to ease your burden
• Skip the appetizers – there’s plenty of food at the meal
• Look for recipes that can be made ahead of time
• Set the table and assemble serving pieces the day before
• Many experts say that basting the bird does more for the cook than it does the bird. It actually slows cooking time because you keep opening the oven door!
• If you’re feeding a large crowd, two smaller turkeys can be more manageable than one big bird
• If you only have one oven, chose side dishes that can be cooked on top of the stove, in the microwave, or may be served at room temperature.

One of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes is Crockpot Dressing (see this month’s FYI). You use your recipe – that will make the family happy - and your crockpot or electric roaster. Not only is the dressing much lower in fat but the turkey will cook faster “unstuffed.”

Vegetable recipes always seem to be the hardest to find. We have two easy and delicious dishes for you to try. They are both from the “non-starchy” group of veggies.