— Adolph Valfre

So getting dishes to the table hot. It's all about having a strategy ahead of time. And part of that strategy the best strategies are to mitigate your variables. So don't try and execute five things all at once because it's difficult. You're putting stress into the situation. My least favorite ingredient in any recipe is stress. So the first thing to consider it all is do you need the dish to be hot? Right. I have found As I Grew in my culinary confidence that? Hot was more just a function of sort of expectation rather than necessarily of the best quality of the dish now sure something some many dishes coming straight off the grill or out of the pan. Yes, it's gonna be best right then and there. but the bottom line is most dishes also age pretty well so long as you know, maybe what the variables will be there if you have a salad for instance like This most salads would not age. Well right now I know this is not a temperature thing, but the dressing is kind of that same concept right heat ages Foods or sort of evolves them fast, right so does dressing on a salad. So choosing a salad with ingredients that last and doer under the dressing is the first strategy to do if every dish you pick is made from temperamental ingredients and fragile things. You've set yourself up for difficulty. So the first is just writing your menu to be executable in in an efficient way The next thing is also to just plan on having space to keep some things warm. So if you have mashed potatoes those stay pretty darn hot on their own if you put them in the right bowl that doesn't conduct a lot of heat. Like if I put my mashed potatoes if I serve them in a metal container, what does metal do That conducts heat right? So I'm gonna lose a lot more heat in a metal Bowl. Then I am if I put it in and I Stone Bowl something like this that will retain heat a little bit better. The other way to do that is to have a warming Zone whether on your oven. So on my stove this area back here stays warm when my oven is on because that's where the vent is so I could put things to hold right there. I can also put things up here Etc. So this is not to your question about like executing five things all at once. This is more about the strategy. And that's really what I would recommend. But you know if you're putting on a shell because you're a young cook and you're new to this take pride in this man put on a show try and execute five things at once, you know, what gather everybody around and put on a show because you're working really hard at this and that's part of the fun of cooking is the Showmanship of it. So Embrace that a little bit and you know, it Thanksgiving is a great time to challenge yourself. I always like to do that. I chose menus that pushed me a little bit whether in flavor profiles or the execution of things so Have confidence have faith put on a good show. Make sure your guests are also participating in this because if you work your butt off to get all your dishes executed and at the table hot. but then Uncle Joe is like still over there watching football and it's gonna take 15 minutes to get to the table because the third quarter hasn't ended yet or blah time starts in 10 minutes and I'll be there and you know, you're just like If you want food to be hot get everybody involved in the process. Okay, and here's another thing the last little bit on this question, but also for every other question. If it doesn't work out. It is deeply okay. Deeply, okay. Just have fun.