We live 40 miles from my fiance's parents. At 86 years old and still independent, his Mom has grown tired of cooking (understandably). We offered, and they gratefully accepted, for us to cater the Christmas spirit to their doorstep this year. In a tiny house built in the 1920's with a kitchen the size of a large closet, this has become quite a challenge for me to create a somewhat traditional holiday menu that is nutritious, portable, that won't create a ton of dishes.Here are the challenges to the puzzle:
1) The tiny house doesn't have a dishwasher so minimize dishes used is important.
2) Because we aren't married yet, we opted to spend the night at a nearby hotel. Food must keep for a few hours while my fiance' works while I am at the hotel before we head to their house for the evening.
3) Because Mom prefers not to cook much anymore, most of the supplies I need are not at her house.
4) With the kitchen so small, how can I have space to cook and carve dinner, and create a memorable table setting for four (or five)?
The solutions:
1) Bring as much already-made foods as possible. Approach the dinner with oven-time only, if possible.
2) Thankfully, in Wisconsin this time of year the car should be cold enough to keep everything chilled.
3) I must either bring spices and kitchen tools or completely prepare the food at home.
4) We will be moving the table out of the kitchen so I can move around (his parents love to sit in the tiny kitchen and watch me cook and chat when I cook... leaving absolutely no room for me to move -- They really are the sweetest people - they really love to have me around!)
Here is how my menu is starting to shape up:
Main entree:
Ham Steaks with Pineapple and Clove Glaze
In a lasagna ceramic pan I will stack 4 or 5 ham steaks that are sold in the grocery store, generally used for breakfasts. They are thick-cut and off the bone. The flavor is good, the quality is equal to a ham hock, but because they are steaks they are already sliced and stack well in a lasagne pan which has a cover to transport. I will give them a traditional ham glaze of pineapple juice and cloves. Add as many steaks that are needed to feed unexpected added guests and still have some leftovers.
Sides:
Green Bean Casserole
What is a mid-western holiday without the "green bean dish" made from French-cut green beans, Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions on top! Assemble at home and put in the oven. I am not sure why everyone loves this so profusely, but it is a staple of the mid-western diet for holidays.
Garlic Creamy Mashed Potatoes
I make very delicious mashed potatoes, so this is one of the dishes I will need to come prepared for. I can peel potatoes at home and use a plastic freezer Zip-loc bag to transport them in a little water to keep them from turning brown. I will press 5 cloves of garlic at home and put those in a tiny Zip-loc. I will bring with me a stick of real, unsalted butter and a container of chicken broth. I will bring a pint of Half and Half - to use to the mashed potatoes and for the coffee after the meal, and will take along the entire green plastic bottle of Parmesan cheese. Fresh cracked pepper will also come along in a grinder from my kitchen as well as my favorite potato masher.
Once I get there I will boil the potatoes and prepare them with the above ingredients as the last thing to do before the meal is served. That will dirty only one 4 quart kettle and the potato masher.
The garlic is added after the potatoes are all mashed and all the other ingredients are added and mixed. Garlic is added to the pot, stirred into the potatoes, and put the lid back on the kettle. The steam from the potatoes mellows the garlic and lends a flavorful but not overpowering taste to the mashed potatoes.
Polish Sausage
This was always a tradition in my childhood home, and it sure fits well for this crowd since they both enjoy their Polish ancestry. Besides, it just needs to come out of the package and be boiled, microwaved, put in a toaster oven, or even put in with the baking ham.
Rolls
Open package, bake and serve. Enough said. I "could" even back them at home and reheat in the oven just before the ham is done. I will consider that option.
Coffee
I will bring an 8oz box of ground coffee that I already have. I will bring along my French press so I don't have to bring my electric coffee maker. They have a tea-kettle to heat the water - so, voila'! Done and delicious! This will be a treat as they make instant coffee for themselves and drag out a percolator if there are guests... too much work to clean!
Pumpkin Pie and Christmas Cookies
One of the easiest pies in the world to make and one of the most delicious. Bake, cover, and take. Mmmm
I am making Christmas cookies throughout this season so will pack some up and take them along.
Other than the effort of carrying the meal with over the miles, once arriving to the parents' house it should be a quick and easy prep-scenario with very few dishes to contend with.
I would love to hear your feedback. What do you do for your parents for catering holiday meals at their own home? Tell me about your tips and tricks for saving either time, money, or headaches.
*****
Holiday meal update:
The event was a pretty huge success! All of my effort swept the parents off of their feet and made for a memorable night.
A couple of things changed a little... the ham was provided by his mother. All I had to do was heat and serve. It also required the use of one of her 9x13 cake pans to heat it in so it was a dish to be washed.
For me, half of the battle of entertaining and creating a memorable meal comes from the visual impact of the table. I transformed the dining table with a few simple, cheap enhancements that I had at home. First, with Mom's permission to take over the kitchen, I moved the table from the tiny, cramped kitchen into the dining room. Big change. Then, I swaddled the table in a white damask table cloth I had a home. Next, I bought Holly themed paper plates and Chrismtas paper napkins. I already owned deep red linen napkins so I folded them and used them as chargers or placemats at each setting to highlight the red holly on the plates.
I brought tall candle holders and 6" white unscented pillar candles and attached a tiny swag of cedar to them for a natural wreath feel, beautiful! Because the parents didn't own wine glasses I brought my own. Nothing like glasswear to make a table sparkle. I also brought all of my own silverwear so I wouldn't have to wash them after dinner. Total cost of this table setting for five: $5.50.
Just before dinner I used our ipad to play christmas background music that I put into a specific playlist to keep it classic or instrumental and upbeat throughout the meal. The older generation certainly aren't accustomed to having background music and tableclothes for an at-home dinner, so this really lightened the mood and created a wonderful backdrop for story telling over dinner.
Finally, as dinner was ready to be served we set up a card-table to put all the food on without having to crowd the table. The only extras put on the table were butter and the bottles of wine.
After the dining was over and it was time for us to retreat to a hotel, we packed the cold car full of all the dirty kettles, silverware, glassware, and decorations leaving almost NO dishes for Mom and nothing to clean up after. She was THRILLED!
As a sidenote ------ my finance' was at work while I prepared the meal, so to keep the parents entertained before his arrival so that I could work in the kitchen, I created for them a DVD of a 30 minute slideshow of pictures reflecting on the year. It included each of their birthday celebrations and 60th wedding anniversary ceremony, our birthdays and trips to Chicago, Florida, and New Orleans. Mom and Dad, like most of the elderly, do not have internet access at home so I had to find an alternative method to show them pictures. What the DVD did is let them see for themselves how much fun we've had over the last year and let them see how happy their son was. They were glued to the TV to see this show --- and that gave me ample time to focus on dinner.
One last note, I wanted my fiance' to have a grand entrance to come home to after work, and surprise the parents, so I took 20 paper lunch bags that I had previously used at home set up as luminaries. I lit them with long-burning votives and lined the sidewalk, walkway, and driveway with them to welcome him home. It brought tears to his eyes.
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