Host a BEE-utiful Thanksgiving Dinner

What makes the perfect Thanksgiving dinner? For us, it’s great food, great company, and a great atmosphere. Preparing to host a Thanksgiving dinner for your friends and family, though, can be an overwhelming undertaking. That’s why we’ve prepared a Thanksgiving guide just for you.

Check out our tips and tricks for hosting the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.

Receiving guests

The key to orchestrating a smooth Thanksgiving dinner is planning ahead. Set your table the night before so that you can focus on cooking the day of. When your guests arrive, ensure that they’ll be greeted by a warm and welcoming atmosphere. An easy way to accomplish this is to prepare your living room as a gathering area. Set out light snacks and drinks for your guests to munch on, and light candles to create a cozy, intimate mood. While you’re putting the finishing touches on dinner, your guests will be chatting away.

Preparing the dining table

Setting the table is the best therapeutic break from managing all of the madness in the kitchen. Not only will a beautiful setting make your guests feel appreciated, it will also make your food taste better. After all, the dining table is the heart of Thanksgiving. Dress up your table with some beeswax candles. The golden hue of our beeswax candles matches perfectly with the warm tones of fall. You can pair them with any seasonal décor to really brighten your table setting.

• Use Candlesticks or pillars as table centerpieces: Candlesticks are a classic in table settings. Take advantage of their dramatic height to create diversity in your display. We recommend pairing them with a cornucopia or with your turkey. The contrast in shapes will create a compelling centerpiece.  Our pillars look great paired with florals and more compact centerpieces. You can arrange them to create focus at the center of the table, or you can disperse them to create several small centerpieces.
• Use specialty candles as napkin holders: Complement individual place settings with one of our specialty Texas candles. These candles can double as a party favor. Let your out-of-town friends and family take a little bit of Texas back to their homes. We also have pine cone and pumpkin shaped candles, for a little extra fun.
• Display container candles on counters or along the walls: Container candles are easy to set up and require no cleanup. The sweet honey aroma of these candles will beautifully complement the smell of your Thanksgiving dishes.

Planning your Thanksgiving dinner menu

The highlight of every Thanksgiving is, of course, the mouthwatering dishes. These recipes will definitely help you satisfy your sweet tooth this Thanksgiving. As a plus, you can incorporate local ingredients in all of these recipes.

• Smoked turkey: The most daunting dish of every Thanksgiving is, no doubt, the turkey. Learn everything about preparing turkey from one of Austin’s experts, Aaron Franklin. The founder of Franklin’s Barbeque has a YouTube channel where he shares his wealth of meat-cooking knowledge.
• Maple glazed carrots: This simple side dish from Local Savour is delish and incredibly simple to make. Just grab some carrots from your local farmer’s market and some maple syrup from the store. You could even substitute the maple syrup with some local honey. This sweet dish will tempt any vegetable-hating kid.
• Honey cranberry sauce: Do healthy Thanksgiving dishes really exist? When there’s a will, there’s a way. Cookie and Kate has several healthy side dish recipes on her blog. Our favorite recipe of hers is this healthier take on cranberry sauce. It substitutes high fructose corn syrup with healthier natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.
• Honey wine: Complement your meal with some sweet honey wine from Meridian Hive.
• Pecan pie: Since you can’t skip dessert during Thanksgiving, finish off your feast with a southern specialty. This recipe, shared by South Austin Foodie, has been passed down generations.

What is The Beeswax Co. thankful for this year?

We’re thankful for the amazing Beeswax Co. family. Like a hive, we’re only able to succeed because every member brings their energy and enthusiasm to work for the team. We’re also thankful for the honey bees. Without their hard work making beeswax (and delicious honey), we’d have nothing to be passionate about. Finally, we’re thankful for you, our wonderful customers. Thank you for supporting honey bees, for choosing to live green, and for loving beeswax candles. We are only able to have amazing jobs because of you.

What are you thankful for this year? How are you planning to celebrate Thanksgiving? Tell us on Facebook and Instagram!