Yes, you read that correctly!

As we wrap up 2024, it's a great time to look back on the amazing journey we've had together.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we're excited to share our special year-end podcast with you, where we reflect on the highlights and achievements of the past year. And as a token of our appreciation, we've got a small gift for you.

At Synozur, we're all about delivering strategic and technology transformation with our clients, helping you navigate the ever-changing digital world.

It might be a bit geeky, but we think you'll find it handy: our Synozur Holiday Meal Planner. It’s an Excel file for planning and tracking any holiday meal for your loved ones. It’s designed to help you keep track of when you need to boil the potatoes, rest the roast, peel the sweet potatoes, warm the rolls and more.

Synozur Excel Meal Planner Directions

To help schedule your holiday meals, this file takes just a few inputs (this is in the file as well).

• Showtime (Cell C14): What time do you want to serve dinner?  Each part of the schedule works backwards from this value.

• Menu (Row 18): This is where you enter each item you’re preparing. This file was derived from a fairly large family meal we had a few years ago, so you may not need all the items.

• Durations: In the second column of each table, you’ll see a duration in minutes for each of the following steps. (If you’re not using the step, enter zero.)

  • Prep

  • Boil

  • Oven

  • Rest-Prep

The planner also makes a few assumptions (also in the Excel file):

• If you’re making stuffing, especially my favorite pecan-sage-bourbon-sausage-cornbread stuffing, great! That prep usually happens before the turkey or roast gets underway. The stuffing time in this file assumes you’re roasting the stuffing “outside” the bird – and the value in cell C16 is an “on-or-before” value for stuffing preparation.

• Likewise, plan to cook the pies in advance – my very first home cooked holiday meal for 20 people in a too-small oven required using a set of forks on to suspend the pies above the bird in the oven. (It worked but not recommended. 😊) That’s why there’s no dessert time in the planner.

• The planner also assumes if you’re serving hors d’oeuvres that you’re aiming to get them out about an hour before dinner. If you need a different time, adjust the formula in cell S26 (by default it’s the mealtime minus 60).

Enjoy it with our compliments. (Yes, I’m aware this isn’t the way my parents and grandparents cooked.)

Best wishes for a happy and peaceful holiday season. See you in 2025.