5 Tips For The Thanksgiving Guest That Can’t Cook

So Thanksgiving has rolled around and the secret is out — you can’t cook. What do you do? How do you avoid embarrassing yourself around your man’s family, while still being courteous enough to not show up to your in-law’s house empty handed? Don’t attempt to cook. This isn’t the time for one of your science experiments. Nobody wants to spend Thanksgiving in the ER because you gave the entire family food poisoning. Don’t try to remember your Granny’s recipe off the top of your head and don’t try to make something up on the fly. You are not a Master Chef and it’s okay. 

Here are 5 Things You Can Do For Thanksgiving If You Can’t Cook

1. Bring Alcohol – If you can’t cook, your best bet is to bring the beer.  Do yourself a favor and hit your nearest corner store and buy a variety of alcoholic beverages. Football is on. The family will thank you.

2. Try To Fool Them – This is tricky. In Black families, we take our desserts very seriously. The recipe for that pie you are eating is probably 200 years old. If you’re going to bring a dessert of your own, it’s best to not insult everybody by bringing the same dish. Consider hitting up the best bakery in your city and looking for a unique dessert that the family may not have covered. Put it in a store-bought to-go container and pass it off as your own. Don’t be offended if no one eats it. We like to stick to what we know. This was solely to make it look like you didn’t come empty handed.

3. Kiss The Cook – If food is not your speciality, consider bringing something like flowers for whoever did all the cooking. Show your appreciation for the ones who slaved in the kitchen while you were in the bathroom flat ironing your hair and learning absolutely nothing about how to properly bake a turkey.

4. Offer Your Services – Be the girl that washes the dishes after everyone has eaten. Help clean up and put things away. Offer something to the family since you didn’t help prepare the meals. Guaranteed they will appreciate it.

5. Stay Out The Way – If you can’t cook, keep out of the kitchen. Try to stay out of the way as much as possible. In fact, eat before you come, show up late and eat very little when you get there. The last thing you want to do is look greedy in front of your in laws when you didn’t contribute anything to the meal.