Holiday Hostess: 5 Easy Ways to Make Your Holiday Meals Less Stressful by Kathy Shimmield

Are you hostessing the holiday dinners this year? Here are five ways to take some of the stress out! 

• A few days before take a wicker basket or even a tote bag and select all your tableware, such as napkins, tablecloth and placemats. Put them in this basket or bag and put the silverware on top. On the day of just grab and set. 
• Clean out the fridge as much as you can, don't wait until you've dropped the groceries on the table to find room. 
• Quick, simple and free centerpiece: Go outside and grab sticks and colorful leaves and place them in a vase.
• Same as with the tableware, pick out your outfit (shoes, too) the night before so after you've finished cooking and before guests arrive you can do a quick change. 
• A great time-saving dessert tip I read about is scoop out ice cream into a muffin baking dish (use paper cup liners, too) and place in freezer. When ready to serve pie just pull out the ice cream and place on the plate.

What are your time-saving tips for the holidays?