Tips for Mature Moms

I love when my kids are home during the holidays, and I enjoy making some larger meals to come together and celebrate. For these special meals, I include everything from appetizers to dessert, so it can be a lot. And as I’m getting older with more back troubles, it’s getting a bit harder to pull together so many dishes easily. Do you have this issue?

If so, I have found something that saves my life (and back) as I’m prepping for meals with lots of dishes for multiple people.

Mise En Place

This is the French word for, basically, having ‘everything in its place’, or preparing and organizing all tools and ingredients before cooking.

I honestly practice this even when cooking just for two of us. It saves time and, most importantly, energy. Organizing things in advance helps so much the day of the dinner, and also helps direct others if you have helpers!

Helpful Tips

Before you get started, keep in mind these few tips.

Remember you can sit. If you’re doing a lot of chopping, this can be tough if you’re standing for a while. When I’m peeling and chopping potatoes or apples (for apple sauce or pie), I set up some bowls, peeler, knife and a cutting board at the table.

Buy things pre-sliced or cut. This is especially great if you’re putting out a charcuterie before dinner. I like several types of cubed cheeses, and it’s wonderful you can buy them pre-cut!

Ask guests to bring at least one dish they would enjoy, and let you know. My daughter brought a corn and green bean casserole, so that really completed the meal nicely! It spares you making everything which is a great help.

Have at least one helper. Whether it’s setting the table, making a dish or getting condiments on the table- it makes a huge difference. My daughter’s specialty is mashed potatoes, so it’s always a highlight of our meals, but no work for me!

How Mise en Place Works

Think about what dishes you can make ahead of time. For my dinner, macaroni and cheese was something that made sense to make earlier, since it keeps so well in the fridge.

Group together everything that belongs in or with a dish. Ie, apples and caramel sauce; butter, milk and salt with the potatoes.

Choose the pots, pans or containers you will serve or cook your dishes in, and any tools necessary. Items like measuring cups, a can opener, potato ricer, that will be needed when ready to prepare them.

Have everything that needs refrigeration grouped together in the fridge. For example, I had all my cheeses, dips and butters in the same spots. This made pulling together my charcuterie and bread serving so much easier.

This is how I did this for our Thanksgiving meal recently.

Prepping the Space

Set the table. This is something I highly recommend doing well ahead of time if you don’t need to use the space. We always need an extra chair or two so those need to get pulled out, and we have to make sure we have enough matching plates.

I like to use cute fall themed placemats, plain white plates, and colorful napkins.

Set a festive center piece. For Thanksgiving, I use our ‘Thankful Tree’, where the girls wrote things they were thankful for on the leaves when they were little! (See my post on teaching kids to be thankful.) Something meaningful like this is so cute, but a lovely bunch of flowers in festive colors works too.

Buffet Table. I always set a table for serving, since my table is too small for all those dishes. Keeping the theme with white dishes gives everything a cohesive feel, and knowing what gets served in what bowl eliminates stress later.

Plenty of yummy fall scented candles. I have candles throughout the entertaining space, and never forget to have one burning in the bathroom along with some holiday scented hand wash. It’s just a nice touch.

The last thing I do before guests arrive is make my rounds lighting the candles, and put on some nice dinner music.

Menu

This is the menu I usually serve at least once a year for holidays. I’m not a turkey girl, so opt for ham. Short of that, I think this is pretty standard for most Americans during the holidays.

Check out my suggestions for applying mise en place and get things ready in advance!

Appetizers

Charcuterie. I must have one! (see my post) To get it prepared ahead of time, chop up everything you’re serving on the board in advance (if you can’t buy them pre-cut), and put them in individual plastic bags in the fridge. Things like assorted cheeses, pepperoni or kielbasa, carrots, celery, and fruit.

Put the bags in the fridge next to everything else going on the board like dips, potted cheeses, and jams.

Put dry items like crackers, nuts and pretzels out on your charcuterie board, so they’re ready to go.

I usually serve one or two frozen appetizers as well, since a warm appetizer complements the charcuterie board so well. These are so easy to heat up quickly in the oven shortly before guests arrive.

Places like Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Wegmans are higher-end grocery stores that stock some amazing and unique frozen apps. But pretty much most stores sell them these days. I’ve tried onion petals, baked brie and fig, spanakopita, mini quiches and egg rolls….they are all delicious and you can’t go wrong.

Dinner

Glazed ham. For years now I have been making a recipe I learned from Nigella Lawson for a gingered ham. You soak the ham in ginger ale and boil it for about five hours.

Then you just glaze it with some marmalade, and bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Done.

What I love about this ham recipe is obviously that I do nothing all day except let it cook. I get out the roasting pan and marmalade, and keep that handy for when it’s ready, ie 25-ish minutes before guests arrive.

Mashed potatoes. My daughter makes these fresh the day of the dinner. I made sure all the potatoes were cleaned and ready in the pot they were to be cooked in, and put the ricer, milk, butter and salt conveniently together for her.

Corn. Use canned corn, it’s just as good as fresh with a touch of salt. I even put the cans with a can opener ready!

Stuffing. It really needs to be made that day so that it stays fluffy, even if you just opt for Stove Top (which is honestly so good). It’s crazy easy if you use the mix, so I suggest it.

I put the stuffing mix, a nice dish with cover, and measuring cup next to the microwave. All that’s needed is butter and hot water, and it’s difficult to mess up- so that’s my kind of dish!

Macaroni and Cheese. I made this the day before, as I mentioned. There are plenty of fancy recipes out there, but have you made it with just Ragu cheese sauce? So easy.

Rolls with Butter. I even go so far as spreading out the rolls on the baking sheet so they are ready to go, and pulling out the butter and serving knife that I like to use. For holidays, consider trying fancier butters as well. In addition to plain, I served a maple butter and some whipped raw honey. Yum.

Applesauce. We prefer a fresh applesauce over cranberry. Whatever you prefer, but holiday meals that are heavy like this need a tart fruit sauce to cut through the heaviness. I get my applesauce (and apples and cider) at our local orchard and it’s fantastic.

Drinks

During holidays like Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, I love to do a holiday toast. Thankful for health and happiness, and wishing for a healthy and happy new year. I set all the glasses out with a bottle, so everyone can help themselves. Yes, this wine cooler is a giraffe. 🦒 It was a gift from my late mother-in-law, and it’s so quirky!

I like to put all the drinks out on a serving cart. Drinking glasses are on the table by each place setting, and people can get their own ice and water from the fridge and whatever drinks they want. I generally serve cider, soft drinks and ice tea. I also have a white wine in the cooler and a red bottle out with several wine glasses.

If you have a larger crowd or more of an interest in mixed drinks, consider some cocktail stations for a fun vibe. See my post about cocktail stations in a small home for some great ideas on setting these up for easy self-service!

Desserts

I like to buy some pre-made mini desserts for easy serving, like these adorable chocolate covered Oreos decorated for Thanksgiving. (Find them at the Philadelphia Company)

For a healthier and festive option, I cut some apple slices and serve them with potted caramel. I even had this ready and prepared for service with the apple slicer!

I also put out a few pints of various ice cream flavors with scoopers and bowls for self service.

Put some creamers, syrups and coffee cups by the coffee maker for self service. Or consider a hot chocolate bar! See my post on setting one up!

Try using these tips to help manage your larger meals. Make the holidays less about food preparation, and more about spending time with loved ones! I loved seeing my daughters for Thanksgiving and can’t wait for Christmas.

Enjoy sharing meals with your family and friends, and have a wonderful holiday season!