How To Arrange A Holiday At Home (tips, Life Hacks, Quick Recipes)

Not everyone has the opportunity and desire to celebrate the holidays in cafes and restaurants.

Not everyone has the opportunity and desire to celebrate the holidays in cafes and restaurants. Firstly, these are increased costs, and secondly, the houses and atmosphere are better, and the food seems to be tastier. But you must admit that preparation and cleaning after the holiday is a real hard labor.

 

How to arrange a holiday at home and not go crazy? Especially for you - life hacks, tips and quick recipes.

Prepare in advance

In order not to run around shopping on the day of the holiday in search of the right products, buy them in advance. In addition, it often happens that, by a “happy” coincidence, the necessary products simply do not appear on the store shelf. In addition, by buying groceries in advance, you can grab them at a bargain price on the day of the promotion and save a good amount of money.

 

Another huge plus of early preparation is preparations for dishes. If you already have all the necessary ingredients at hand the day before the holiday, you can easily reduce the cooking time, for example, by pickling meat from the evening, or by boiling vegetables and eggs.

Use disposable tableware and tablecloths

Plates, tablecloths, napkins, baking sheets... Just think how terrible it is to wash and wash all this after a lot of fun. Luckily, these days you can buy all of these for a one-time use. You're probably thinking of the plain white plastic plates and forks you see in chain grocery stores, but it's not all bad. There is beautiful disposable tableware and textiles. All this can be bought at a bargain price in bulk and in online stores.

 

Make a menu

It is very important to make a menu in advance, so as not to rack your brains on the eve of the holiday. Skip the plethora of main courses and endless bowls of salads. It is best to diversify the table with appetizers, a couple of salads and one large hot dish. This will not only save you time, but will help you not to simply translate products once again.

Quick Recipes for the Holidays

Main course: duck in spicy sauce with broccoli and asparagus

Marinate the duck ahead of time. For the marinade, use garlic, red pepper, soy sauce, sour cream, thyme, rosemary, dried basil, sweet paprika, salt and onion (cut into half rings). After rolling the duck in the marinade, make a couple of cuts in it with a knife and sprinkle with lemon so that the marinade seeps well inside, cover with a film and leave in the refrigerator for a day.

To make the dish hot, 50 minutes before the start of the holiday, put broccoli and asparagus on the bottom (it is best to use young ones), add spices, place the duck on top, pour the remaining marinade and cover with foil. Send to the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.

 

Two menu options for the holiday (full menu with step by step recipes) >>>

Salads "Gentle Season" and "Chao"

For the “Gentle Season” salad, you will need eggs, shrimp, cucumber, goat cheese, pine nuts, slightly salted trout, natural yogurt, salt, pepper.

Boil the eggs hard-boiled, fry the shrimp in parallel (if they are already boiled, then 2-3 minutes), chop the cucumber on a Korean carrot grater, cut the trout into cubes. We also cut boiled eggs into cubes, mix with prepared ingredients, add goat cheese, salt, pepper and season with yogurt.

Chao salad is heavier and fatter in taste, but it is also quick and easy to prepare.

You will need smoked breast, tomatoes, cheese, Chinese cabbage, potatoes, natural yogurt or mayonnaise, spices to taste. Boil the potatoes, at the same time thinly chop the cabbage and cut into cubes all the other ingredients. When the potatoes are cooked, let them cool, also cut into cubes and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Dress the salad with yogurt or mayonnaise, add salt, spices and garnish with herbs.

 

Original snacks for the holiday (recipes with photos) >>>

Snacks: sandwiches with tuna pate, tomatoes and pickled onions; tartlets with chicken and eggplant

In order to prepare sandwiches, of course, you need to make a pate, but before that, send the onions to marinate. We cut the onion into half rings, pour over boiling water, pour water and vinegar in a ratio of 1/1, add your favorite spices (you can use Korean carrot seasoning), send to marinate in the refrigerator.

We spread the canned tuna in a deep bowl, add finely chopped garlic, olive oil and send it to the oven for 10 minutes. Then we take out the tuna and grind it with a blender with a small amount of butter. We cut the tomatoes, fry the baguette and form sandwiches. We spread pate on bread, put tomatoes and canned onions on top.

Tartlets with chicken and eggplant are the perfect snack both hot and cold, the main thing is not to forget to boil the chicken in advance.

We cut the boiled chicken and eggplant into small cubes, fry in vegetable oil with the addition of garlic, Worcestershire sauce, onions and your favorite spices. Focus on the readiness of the eggplant, and as soon as it is cooked, transfer the filling to the tartlets. You can add grated cheese on top and bake in the oven, or you can decorate with cream cheese using a bag and a cooking nozzle.

What do you do to quickly and beautifully organize a party? Share your lifehacks and recipes in the comments to this article!