Now that you have wrinkle-free tablecloths and napkins, sparkling crystal, dust-free china, and shining silver, it’s time to think about what you’ll be putting on those plates and in those glasses.

This week, you need to finalize your menu.  List everything you plan to serve, from appetizers to dessert, including condiments.  Make sure you list beverages as well — wine, beer, cocktails, soda, water, tea, coffee.  Decide what you’ll make, what others will bring, and what you’ll buy.  It’s perfectly fine to let other people bring things and to buy what you need to buy.  If you are a lousy baker, buy dessert.  If you are focusing on side dishes, pick up pre-made appetizers.  Not making everything from scratch doesn’t make you a bad person. 

If you don’t know the recipes by heart, gather them from your cookbooks or print them out from the Internet.  Use the recipes to make two shopping lists.  The first list is things that you can buy now.  The second list is things you’ll have to pick up Thanksgiving week, like fresh produce or a fresh turkey.

The Thanksgiving food sales should kick into high gear this week, so plan to buy everything on the first list in the next ten days or so.  Try to avoid shopping on the weekend if at all possible.  The next two weekends, stores will packed.  This weekend won’t be as bad.  The weekend of the 17th-18th will be a madhouse.  You want to be as far from the grocery store as possible.  It sounds crazy, but if you can carve out some time during the work day or before work, you can often get your shopping done twice as fast because there is no one in the store.

My perusal of ads tells me that alcohol sales have already begun, so it’s a good time to pick up wine, beer, and other liquors and liqueuers you will need this holiday season.  You can often get a special deal if you buy a case of wine or a case of beer, so think across the season and buy what you’ll need through the New Year.  Think about Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, holiday parties, New Year’s Eve, and bowl parties. 

Also, start clearing space in the fridge.  You’re gonna need it!