I love hosting a huge Thanksgiving party of 14 or even more, but last year Roy and I enjoyed preparing a small, intimate dinner. Mind you, this issue is not about the extravagant and time-consuming menu we cooked up—it requires a couple of lily guilders to bring that menu to the table.

Instead, this week you’ll find a truly spectacular menu for four that is very doable, yet sumptuous and delicious. Whether you’re a bit intimidated by the thought of roasting a turkey, or you simply want ideas for a small but festive Friday night dinner, here is an absolutely heavenly menu for an intimate dinner party: 

• Roasted Thanksgiving Chicken
• Gluten-free Corn Soufflé with Pepper Jack Cheese and Jalapeños (If you’re not gluten-free, try Grandma Pat's Stuffing)
• PS's Delish Raspberry Jell-O in a Bundt Pan
• Green Vegetable
• Everyday Mashed Potatoes

This menu is very festive for winter and a chicken roasted this way is sublime. It’s ideal for a special time when you want the chicken to be so juicy it’s falling off the bone. Before cooking, I butter it all over—both under the skin and over the skin. I use a mirepoix inside and scatter vegetables around the pan. I sprinkle it with poultry seasoning and add plenty of salt. Then it’s this simple: put it in the oven and close the door.

Poultry seasoning, an old-school classic, is a combination of spices that happens to be a perfect spice profile for November and December. For this menu, you’ll use it in your stuffing, on your turkey, and on the roasted vegetables.

Rather than having to accomplish making a gravy, this recipe allows your chicken to create its own lovely sauce. You won’t have to do a thing except spoon it over the meat and enjoy.

The vegetables that bake on the bottom of the chicken roasting pan are beautiful, but you don’t actually serve them. They’re the cook’s treat! Whoever helps you also gets to help gobble them up in the kitchen, or you can set them aside to blend later for a soup or as an addition to rice.

I’m crazy about my mother’s old-school Corn Soufflé. It’s by no means a gourmet event—it’s simply about buying a boxed cornbread mix and making a 1960s recipe. I added jalapeño and jack cheese, but you can use whatever you’d like. Consider topping yours with some well-cooked, crunchy bacon.

My sister’s Raspberry Jell-O is next level. With its fresh raspberries, I don’t care what anybody says. A fall meal like this needs a bit of red, like a cranberry dish, and this bit of sweet deliciousness is also a great do-ahead for meal prep.

What’s your favorite green vegetable? Consider a simple Brussels sprout. Score them on the bottom, boil in salted water just until done, and top with butter. Or make my Green Beans Almondine. You can prepare the garlic and almonds and blanch the green beans the day before, then easily warm everything on the stove before serving.

My Weekday Mashed Potatoes is a dish I made my kids on weeknights, using Yukon Gold potatoes boiled gently in salted water. Empty the water but leave the potatoes in the pan and use a potato masher until they’re smooth. It’s a great task for kids. September was always a fantastic potato masher! Warm your butter and milk and stir them in. Add salt and pepper and they’re ready to serve. Get those potatoes peeled the day before!

Enlist your friends and family. In addition to mashing potatoes, one of the kids could make my wonderful Gluten-free Corn Soufflé, another could do the Jell-O, and somebody else could blanch the green beans and prepare the almonds and garlic the day before.

There is a certain romance to making a beautiful meal with a group of people you love, and if you delegate the tasks, you’ll enjoy it even more. Kids especially enjoy a dish they prepared. Enlist your guests to help make the darn thing fabulous! I love to delegate. Having assistants will free you up to enjoy your dinner party even more.

Here are some things you can do the day before:

• Shop, a few days before
• Peel potatoes and submerge in water to avoid browning
• Blanch green beans
• Corn souffle
• Jell-O
• Score Brussels sprouts or snap ends off green beans
• Prepare almonds and garlic (if you’re serving green beans)
• Cut ingredients for your mirepoix

Whatever you prepare for Thanksgiving, I hope you’ll embrace the process and enjoy every moment! (And if you do decide to cook a turkey, save the carcass for THIS amazing soup.)

Tastemade was so excited about the Thanksgiving planning event with Roy that they’re hosting our annual Turkey Talk over on their platform. Join us on Monday, November 14 to hear Roy’s brilliance! He’s one of the great entertainers of the world and really creates a special energy. He knows how to make delicious food, and around here he’s kind of like the king of Thanksgiving. Plus you’re going to giggle. Come see why he’s my guy and get some amazing tips from a truly incredible host. It is necessary to reserve a spot HERE if you’d like to join us.