With the holidays around the corner, you might be starting to think about entertaining. While you might be doing so on a much smaller scale this year, it never hurts to be prepared and think about your holiday menu. To help you, we’ve compiled three great tips to help you make this time of year less stressful.

Plan Ahead

The best way to minimize the stress of holiday entertaining is to plan ahead. Start now by putting together menus for any events you might be hosting. If you’re planning to try some new recipes this year, use this time to find the perfect ones. Mixing up your holiday appetizers and desserts is a great way to change up the menu without committing to big changes. Although, it’s still wise to find these now.

Keep it Simple

When it comes to choosing recipes, we recommend keeping it simple. Look for recipes with just a few ingredients that aren’t fussy to put together. For appetizers, crackers or simple crunchy veggie rounds topped with cheese, cured meats or smoked fish are a great easy solution that the whole family can participate in preparing. This year, we definitely recommend finding as many ways as possible to serve our irresistible new Gold Seal Wild Hot Smoked Mackerel. In fact, we have some great holiday appetizer recipes featuring all three flavours of smoked mackerel in our recipes section. With its smoky flavour, artfully balanced with aromatic botanicals and spices and smooth oil, smoked mackerel makes for a simple yet sophisticated appy.

Once you have all your recipes, put together your shopping list separating items that can be purchased in advance, like non-perishables, and those that need to be purchased fresh.

Stock Up

Once you have your recipes and your lists are ready, start stocking up on non-perishable or frozen items. By picking up a few of these items during each of your regular grocery trips, you’ll take a lot of the pressure off the whole process. It’s also a great way to spread out the expense of holiday grocery shopping.

Have Fun

Most importantly, enjoy the process of planning and preparing holiday meals. After all, whether it’s on a small or large scale, holiday entertaining shouldn’t be stressful. Find recipes and ingredients that inspire you. To get you started, we’ve put together three great infographics with serving suggestions and even drink pairings for each of our flavours of smoked mackerel: Smoked Mackerel in Sunflower Oil, Gin & Tonic Smoked Mackerel, and Peppered Smoked Mackerel.