You have 72 hours until Thanksgiving….

Sorry, let me restart.

🚨 Trigger Warning 🚨 

Thanksgiving is in 72 (?!) hours, and your MIL just texted "Hi honey, can't wait to see what you finally learned to make this year!" The subtle ~clears throat~ does not go unmissed, but this is the year you prove her wrong. You’ve been perfecting your culinary skills and building your recipe repertoire. This is your Super Bowl. You WILL make a SUPER…bowl…of something!

But here's what nobody tells you about hosting Thanksgiving: The people who look like they “have it together” and make it seem “so effortless” are either lying, have absolutely nothing else going on, started planning in July, or just have really good TikTok editing skills and cut out the requisite meltdowns. The rest of us are out here microwaving frozen green beans at 11:47 AM on Thursday while pretending we meant to serve them "extra crispy, but also somehow…wet."

The good news is that Thanksgiving is one of the easiest holidays to fake, and since the whole point is gratitude, everyone will be thankful for whatever you put in front of them.

Today we’re sharing the insider hosting hacks. Which corners to cut, which dishes actually matter, and how to make strategic decisions that save your sanity. PLUS 30 of the best home chef Black Friday Cyber Monday deals to score!

TLDR:

• Time: Most of these take under 30 minutes of actual work

• Cost: Strategic spending, not panic hemorrhaging holiday cash

• Sanity: You're going to look like you planned this months ago

• Bonus: 30 Black Friday deals that are actually worth it (already in our carts!)

👨‍🍳 Pepper GIVEAWAY! 👨‍🍳

In honor of Thanksgiving and the whole family cooking (and feasting) season, we’re partnering with Alva to give away THREE sets of their amazing cookware! (These pots and pans were just featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things list!)

Their motto is “Cook healthy. Live beautifully.” and what could be truer than that?
“Born in Belgium in 1949, Alva blends chef-level performance with sustainable, PFAS-free materials—so you can cook with confidence and care. Designed to last, built to inspire, and made for real kitchens where memories are made.”

To enter, just drop your information in this Google Doc and we’ll announce the winner on December 1st!

ALSO, you can follow Alva Cookware on Instagram for an additional 5 entries!

10 Last-Minute Hosting Hacks That Actually Save You

1. Small gathering? Skip the turkey entirely. Roast a chicken instead.

If you’re feeding 4-6 people who aren’t terribly particular about the type of bird in front of them as long as it’s covered in gravy and served with stuffing (this is the ONLY recipe you need), go with chicken! A whole turkey is overkill and takes forever. Get two roast chickens (the pre-cooked ones from the grocery store work if you’re in a pinch, or roast your own in 75 minutes). Carve them up, arrange on a platter, drizzle with pan drippings. Everyone gets white and dark meat. Nobody's doing Poultry Problem Sets to figure out if you bought the right size bird.

Time saved: 3 hours Money saved: $30-40

Here’s my Goblin Roast Chicken recipe and my Miso Butter Turkey recipe on Pepper!

2. Make your mashed potatoes tomorrow, reheat Thursday.

Peel, boil, and mash your potatoes on Tuesday or Wednesday. Add slightly less butter and cream than you think they need. Store in the fridge. Thursday, reheat them in a pot with the extra butter and cream. They'll taste like you just made them and you won't be hogging the stove during crunch time. Recipe here!

Time saved: 45 minutes on Thursday when you actually need it

3. Your table doesn't need decorations. It needs clear surfaces.

Forget the Pinterest tablescape (I can’t believe I’m saying that either). Get your table cleared off, wiped down, and set with plates (these are 55% off at West Elm!) and forks (and these are the ones I just ordered from Macy’s 50% off). When this much food is going on it, the dishes are the decor. If you want to look fancy, spruce it up with a few bundles of fresh herbs, some apples or pomegranates, pinecones and acorns from the backyard, or mini pumpkins leftover from Halloween!

Money saved: $50 on decorations nobody remembers Sanity saved: The limit does not exist

4. Buy premade pie crust. Make the filling.

The crust is the annoying part that goes wrong. The filling is the easy part that tastes good. Buy Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts ($4 for 2). Make pumpkin filling from a can with actual spices. Everyone will think you made the whole thing from scratch because it's in a pie dish and smells like cinnamon. Orrr make pumpkin bread…a personal fave.

Time saved: 90 minutes Still looks homemade: Affirmative

5. Make a Guest Assigning Game Plan.

Don't ask "what do you want to bring?" because people will say "whatever you need!" and you'll end up with four desserts and no vegetables. Text them: "Can you grab rolls from the store on your way?" or "Would you bring a bag of salad and some dressing?" Make it specific. Make it easy. Make it something they can't mess up.

Dishes you no longer have to make: 3-4 Stress reduction: Significant

6. Frozen vegetables are your secret weapon.

Bags of frozen green beans, Brussels sprouts, and pearl onions come already trimmed, washed, and portioned. Dump them on a sheet pan, toss with olive oil and salt, roast at 425°F for 20 minutes. The freezing actually preserves nutrients better than "fresh" vegetables that sat in a truck for a week and nobody at your table is going to ask if you hand-trimmed each green bean (if they do, their invite got lost in the mail for next year).

Time saved: 30-45 minutes of washing and chopping Money saved: $10-15

7. Everything doesn't have to be hot at the same time.

Cranberry sauce is good cold. Rolls are fine warm. Salad is supposed to be cold. Stop trying to time seventeen dishes to peak simultaneously. Get your turkey and mashed potatoes hot. Everything else just needs to be on the table.

Oven Mit Meltdowns avoided: 4

8. Use your Instant Pot as a food warmer.

If you have an Instant Pot (40% off here), pressure cooker, or even a slow cooker, switch it to "warm" mode and put your mashed potatoes in there. They'll stay hot for hours. You just freed up your stovetop and your mental bandwidth.

Space saved: a lottt

9. Paper napkins are fine. Nice paper napkins are better.

You don't need cloth napkins that you'll have to wash. You don't need cheap paper napkins that disintegrate. Spend $8 on the thick paper napkins from the nice section at Target or Home Goods. They look intentional. They go in the trash. You're not doing laundry at 11 PM Thursday night. These fish ones live rent free in my brain.

Money spent: $8 Laundry loads avoided: 2

10. Make gravy from store-bought stock if your turkey isn't cooperating.

Your turkey didn't make enough pan drippings for gravy? The drippings taste weird? Cool. Get a box of good chicken or turkey stock. Simmer it with butter and flour until it thickens. Add herbs. Call it gravy. It's brown. It’s salty. It does the job.

Reality: No one knows where gravy comes from anyway.

30 Black Friday Kitchen Deals Actually Worth Getting 💰

I spent weeeeks watching prices and testing products (or at least this is how I excuse my online shopping addiction…). These are the deals that are actually good this BFCM Sale Season, organized by what you'll actually use.

THE ABSOLUTE MUST-HAVES

1. Lodge Cast Iron Skillet Set (Originally $70 Now $48)

2. Instant Pot Duo (Originally $140 Now $89)

3. Misen Chef's Knife (Originally $99 Now $75)

4. OXO Good Grips Cutting Board Set (Originally $47 Now $28)

5. Cuisinart Food Processor (Originally $220 Now $175)

6. Nespresso Vertuo Plus Coffee Maker (Originally $250 Now $149)

7. KitchenAid Stand Mixer (Originally $480 Now $350)

8. Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker (Originally $250 Now $180)

9. AllClad D3 Stainless Steel Fry Pan (Originally $180 Now $120)

10. Vitamix Explorian Blender (Originally $380 Now $300)

COOKING & BAKING ESSENTIALS

11. Nordic Ware Half Sheet Pans (Originally $79 Now $55)

12. Silpat Baking Mat Set (Originally $39 Now $21)

13. OXO Digital Kitchen Scale (Originally $109 Now $65)

14. Lodge Dutch Oven (Originally $90 Now $70)

15. Williams Sonoma Roasting Pan (Originally $250 Now $180)

16. Great Jones Hot Dish (Originally $105 Now $60)

17. Staub Baking Dish Set (Originally $100 Now $60)

18. Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Wok (Originally $149 Now $120)

19. Cuisinart Food Processor (Originally $190 Now $151)

20. Crock Pot Slow Cooker (Originally $65 Now $43)

COFFEE & TEA

21. Spode Italian French Press (Originally $120 Now $60)

22. Melitta Molino Coffee Grinder (Originally $70 Now $49)

23. Jonathan Adler Teapot (Originally $185 Now $138)

24. Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle (Originally $180 Now $144)

25. Milano Stovetop Espresso Maker Moka Pot (Originally $65 Now $39)

NICE TO HAVE

26. Cuisinart Automatic Bread Maker (Originally $170 Now $135)

27. BergHOFF Mandolin (Originally $59 Now $35)

28. Great Jones Sweet and Savory Baking Mats (Originally $50 Now $25)

29. GIR Best-Sellers Kit (Originally $120 Now $84)

30. Dyson V8 Cordless Vacuum (Originally $540 Now $300)

What's NOT Worth Buying (Even on Sale)

Skip these even if they're cheap:

• Gadget graveyard stuff: Things like avocado slicers, banana keepers, strawberry hullers and other odds and ends always end up in the Misc. drawer until you forget about them for long enough that they excuse themselves in your next Purge. Leave them BE.

• 20-piece knife sets: You need three good knives, not twenty mediocre ones.

• Single-use appliances: Quesadilla makers, hot dog cookers, pancake pens. There is no amount of counter space in the world for these. They sound like a good idea in the moment, but really they’re just clutter.

• Cheap nonstick sets: They'll peel and need replacing in six months. Buy mid-range, at least.