Honey, We've Got People to Feed E-book

The Most Wonderful (and Exhausting) Time of the Year

I love the holidays.

I love the decorations, the excitement, the traditions, the food, the family, and the absolute chaos that comes with having a house full of people.

But do you know what I don’t love?

Spending $600 at the grocery store, cooking for three days, cleaning the kitchen fourteen times, and finally sitting down to eat when everyone else is already asking what’s for dessert.

If you’ve ever cooked Thanksgiving dinner while someone stood directly behind you asking when the rolls would be ready, this book is for you.

If you’ve ever planned a beautiful Christmas dinner only to realize you forgot to take the ham out of the refrigerator, this book is for you.

And if you’ve ever locked yourself in the PANTRY for five minutes of peace while the rest of the family argued over who ate the last deviled egg, welcome. You’re my kind of people.

I’m a mom of 12  kids.

That means I’ve spent a whole lot of years feeding a whole lot of mouths. I’ve cooked holiday meals for crowds, stretched grocery budgets, made too much food, made not enough food, forgotten ingredients, burned things, and learned a few tricks along the way.

Here’s what I’ve figured out.

You do not have to exhaust yourself to give your family a wonderful holiday.

Read that again.

Somewhere along the way, we started acting like the success of Thanksgiving depends on whether we make seven side dishes from scratch.

Or that Christmas isn’t magical unless Mom has been awake since 4 a.m. making homemade cinnamon rolls.

Listen, if homemade cinnamon rolls are your thing, go right ahead.

But if they’re not? Buy the cinnamon rolls.

Nobody is going to call the Christmas police.

The holidays are supposed to be about being together. Not about one person spending the entire day cooking, cleaning, serving, and missing everything happening in the living room.

In this book, we’re going to talk about how to feed a crowd without spending a fortune, losing your patience, or missing your own holiday.

We’re going to make menus that actually work.

We’re going to plan ahead.

We’re going to use shortcuts without feeling guilty.

We’re going to talk about feeding picky eaters, managing leftovers, and making enough food for the unexpected people who always seem to show up.

And we’re going to figure out how to get everybody fed while still having time to enjoy the day.

Because after raising 12 kids, here’s one thing I know for sure.

Your family might forget what side dishes you served in 2017.

They might not remember whether the mashed potatoes were homemade or instant.

But they’ll remember sitting around the table laughing.

They’ll remember the traditions.

They’ll remember the noise, the stories, and the feeling of being home.

And they will absolutely remember the year somebody dropped the entire pumpkin pie.

So pour yourself a cup of coffee, grab a notebook, and let’s get these holidays under control.

We’ve got a crowd to feed.

And we’re not losing our minds doing it.

— Wendiplus12