Kardea Brown's Top Tip For A Stress-Free Holiday

At the 2024 New York City Wine & Food Festival, The Takeout put down the free food samples long enough to check in with Kardea Brown of Food Network's "Delicious Miss Brown" and one-time host of "The Great Soul Food Cook-Off " on the Oprah Winfrey Network. As the festival takes place just before the end-of-year holiday season (known to some as Hallowthanksmas), we asked for advice about how to keep holiday entertaining stress to a minimum. The tip she gave us is a tried-but-true one: "Prepare yourself... anything that you can make in advance, do that."

Not all foods can be made in advance, since what would a traditional holiday be without the delicious smell of slow-roasted meat perfuming the kitchen for hours on end? Still, quite a few recipes can be tinkered with to allow for pre-prepping. That way, says Brown, "By the time that Thanksgiving or Christmas comes around, or even if you're having a Halloween party, you can have things just basically reheated by the time your guests come in."

Kardea Brown suggests you start your holiday prep three days ahead of time, although you may need to shift that to four or five days in advance if you still need to work the week leading up to the big day. In fact, you can even start prepping months ahead of time, if you wish. Many Thanksgiving-type side dishes such as cranberry sauce, cornbread, and that ubiquitous green bean casserole can be prepared at any time; since all of these items can be frozen. Pies, too, are great make-ahead items, though you could use store-bought ones to save on time and effort. (Here are our picks for frozen apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies that taste as good as homemade or maybe even better if you've never quite mastered the perfect pie crust.)

If you're swamped at work and find all of your holiday prep plans taking a backseat to real life, all is not lost. It may be too late to order a prepared meal from a restaurant or supermarket just days in advance, but pies aren't the only ready-to-eat items you can buy at the grocery store. Trader Joe's has been known to sell precooked turkey and heat-and-eat stuffing, while frozen mashed potatoes and canned cranberry sauce are standard supermarket fare. Sure, the meal may not land you your own Food Network show, but holidays are supposed to be about enjoying time with people you care about, not showing off and stressing out.