Bluntly put, Thanksgiving is a perfect day for food and yes, family. Come on folks, admit it. Most of you look forward to this day every November (October in case you are Canadian) partly because the family gets together, probably along with neighbors and close friends and largely because this is the ideal day for stuffing yourself with delicious food consisting of turkey and great desserts.
Every family has a person who is the ideal Thanksgiving cook. That person may be you mother or sister or some aunt. That person may or may not cook during the rest of the year, but will surely be up at the crack of dawn to take care of every business related to cooking a feast for the family. It does not take much to guess that the person certainly works very hard and needs to be cheered up.
What then can be done?
Cheerful Kitchen Decorations
One way of looking at it is to surprise the person who slogs by decorating the kitchen especially to cheer her or in some cases, him up. Show that you care and the firm determination becomes firmer.
Another way of looking at it is to give an overall festive spirit to the place way before Thanksgiving has arrived. I mean, Thanksgiving officially kicks off the Holiday spirit, why not cherish it right from the beginning?
Personally, however decorating the place as a surprise for cheering the “person who cooks” concept is cool. In fact, once you think of it, this is the best way to keep unwanted ‘help’ such as the kids out of the way, while you hatch and oversee that the decorations are made and ready by the time Thanksgiving morning comes.
Here are a few ideas.
The Cheerful Ideas
Look, accept it outright that the person who cooks likes to do everything on her/his own. Oh yes, she/he will go around complaining about how much extra work it is and how the kids and the other people are giver her/him a tough time. Under that however will be anxiousness and love for the family for whom she/he gives up the holiday for the purposes of slogging.
Arrange the surprise in a manner that everything is ready in the kitchen on the morning of the Thanksgiving when she/he comes into the kitchen. The gesture alone will wet towels so far dry. Hatch this plan with your kids or the rest of the family beforehand and start work the night before, once the person has gone to bed.
Adding colors should be the first detail. Choose warm pumpkin orange colored mugs and bowls, beside similar toned dishtowels and arrange in a manner which conveys some meaning to the person. The colors could also be in the shades of rich brown or golden yellow.
Take the much coveted Turkey platter out of where it is usually stored and take the pains of washing it. After that, arrange a display of say artificial fruits and pumpkins. If you desire to make it mushier, get the kids to design a thank you card along with some quotes written in their handwriting and some figurines drawn and watch the effect. You could always wake up early and prepare breakfast and keep it ready on the platter beside such a card.
Arranging plenty of candles scented in the Thanksgiving elements will also relieve stress and convey the message. Choose jar or pillar candles in Autumn spice or Pumpkin Pie and watch how she/he melts like the wax.
You can also make a collage of the previous Thanksgiving and place it over the kitchen countertop. Designing a Thanksgiving special Banner with pumpkins, turkey and pilgrims will also make it special. Add stalks of Indian Corn for a better effect.
