Holiday guidelines for the chef
Dec 22, 2009 9:10:08 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2009 9:10:08 GMT
In today's newspaper, there were some brief guidelines about being in charge of a holiday meal for family or friends. These rules make pretty good sense to me.
1. Be a dictator. No committee meetings about the menu or everybody will demand something and veto something else. You are doing the cooking and you should decide what you are serving.
2. Don’t overdo it. This is not a military parade where you need to display all of your artillery. A starter, a main dish and a dessert are enough.
3. Don’t copy what others have done in the past unless you want to hear remarks like “Mom’s leg of lamb was always better,” “couldn’t you find that special spice that Aunt Beulah always added?” Make this your own meal and not a family museum.
4. Keep control of the schedule. Some things can be organized and partially prepared the day before. If you try to do everything at the same time, you are likely to burn out.
5. Do not get too experimental. It is better to cook things that you already know how to cook. A family gathering is not the best time to start a science project in the kitchen.
6. Stay jolly in the kitchen. Keep a bottle of your favorite stuff at hand in case you don’t have time to join the others in the family room. This will also allow you to serve something to kitchen visitors so they will keep their hands off your stove.
1. Be a dictator. No committee meetings about the menu or everybody will demand something and veto something else. You are doing the cooking and you should decide what you are serving.
2. Don’t overdo it. This is not a military parade where you need to display all of your artillery. A starter, a main dish and a dessert are enough.
3. Don’t copy what others have done in the past unless you want to hear remarks like “Mom’s leg of lamb was always better,” “couldn’t you find that special spice that Aunt Beulah always added?” Make this your own meal and not a family museum.
4. Keep control of the schedule. Some things can be organized and partially prepared the day before. If you try to do everything at the same time, you are likely to burn out.
5. Do not get too experimental. It is better to cook things that you already know how to cook. A family gathering is not the best time to start a science project in the kitchen.
6. Stay jolly in the kitchen. Keep a bottle of your favorite stuff at hand in case you don’t have time to join the others in the family room. This will also allow you to serve something to kitchen visitors so they will keep their hands off your stove.
