Most likely your guests are expecting to eat traditional foods such as ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. All of these dishes can be made the day before and some even are ready at the local grocery store.

Set your dinner table the night before. No need to decorate with elaborate pieces. A bowl with green and red ornaments and a red table cloth is perfect.

Just run the sweeper and a little light dusting is all you need. When your guests arrive, they will be too busy catching up and talking with everyone to notice that your windows haven’t been cleaned in awhile.

This is a time for fellowship with family and friends. After all, parties are the best part of the holidays and there is no reason the host or hostess shouldn’t enjoy it too.

Eating a vegetarian diet is a great way to be healthy and to make sure that you get plenty of vegetables (and nutrients). Many popular dishes are naturally vegetarian or can easily be made vegetarian, so it shouldn’t be difficult to make a meal that’s entirely vegetarian. Plus, it’ll be healthier for everyone.

The easiest way to accommodate your vegetarians is to plan an Italian meal. You can make vegetable lasagna for a main dish that’s still special without falling into the meat and potatoes rut. (And if you have guests who will complain if there’s no meat at all, you can make second lasagna with ground beef or Italian sausage for them.) A pasta bar with different types of pasta and sauces is another idea that lets people fill their plates to their individual tastes. Serve it with garlic bread on the side, and tossed salad as an appetizer. You can even continue the Italian theme by serving cannolis for dessert.

If you’d rather stick with the traditional dishes for most of the family members but still want to make a special meal for the vegetarians, you can do so with very little effort by making stuffed zucchini, using stuffing (but not from the bird or made using meat-based broths) and cheese to fill a hollowed out zucchini, then bake it in the oven. It’s easy to make and still gives your vegetarian guests an opportunity to enjoy the stuffing and the rest of the traditional aspects of the meal, like mashed potatoes, corn, or green beans. (Just be sure to keep the bacon grease, ham, and meat-based broths out of the vegetables.)