Even if you love hosting dinners for the holidays, saving some time in the kitchen can free you up to visit with your family and friends. Check out these cooking hacks that will let you serve up a delicious meal and spend time with your guests.

1.  Potatoes: Peeling potatoes is time consuming! No need to peel them, boil your potatoes with the skin on. Then put them straight into an ice bath.  The skins will slide right off.

2.  Turkey: No need to waste. Sometime making a whole turkey is time wasted for a short number of dinner guests.  A turkey breast is easier and faster to make.  One should feed up to four people.  It’s especially good if you’re not having a ton of people over.

3.  Ovens: Crunchy veggies are the worst when they should melt in your mouth. Try preheating your roasting pans.  Leave them in the oven while you’re preheating it and things will cook faster.  It’s especially good for roasting vegetables.

4.  Blenders: Take advantage of your blender.  Try making gravy in the blender. Instead of stirring and simmering, you can thicken it and get all the lumps out with a blender.  Just search “gravy blender recipe” on the internet.

5. Pre-make/Frozen: Use store-bought ingredients to your advantage.  For example, lots of people expect green bean casserole to be made with cream of mushroom soup, so making the sauce from scratch probably isn’t worth it.  Also consider if your guests actually WANT homemade cranberry sauce or would they be happier with a can of the jelly stuff?