Does entertaining stress you out?

winnvanmeter
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 23:07:13 +0000

With both Ds in high school, I’ve scaled back my Martha Stewart ambitions and mental bandwidth considerably. Nowadays if we entertain at all, it’s potluck-style or friends bringing over dessert and good bread or cheese while I serve a main and a couple of sides. I tend to stress myself out over timing and cleanliness, so my kids know to pitch in by running the vac while my partner fiddles with the bar.

I’ve come to rely on shortcuts like Tyler Florence’s Chili Relleno Rice or Ikea vegetarian meatballs in marsala sauce. I also rely on good wine and heavenly friends who think nothing of jumping into the kitchen to dress a salad or wash cooking pans. Lucques olives and white anchovies help.

What I also like about entertaining is the excuse to set out the lovely serving ware and linens I’ve picked up over the years. I can’t part with them now! … mid-century modern Dansk, California pottery, Limoges, Japanese stoneware, Eva Zeisl, British ironware, jadeite … I tell myself that I’m going to make a little trousseau for each D when they leave home!