My mother hates cooking. But today, she was in rare form.
She made tilapia!
It was pretty good (Yes I eat fish. Although this may change, right now I do.). Really simple, just salt, pepper and onion powder. The cooked on medium heat for a 6 minutes total.
I made a salad.
Later I started preparing Christmas dinner. On the menu for tomorrow:
Turkey, Ciabatta Stuffing (minus the pancetta), Potato-Apple Gratin, My Sister’s Green Bean Casserole, and Sweet Potato Casserole. I’m sure there will be a salad on the side as well.
I always make that stuffing for Thanksgiving, but since I wasn’t here for Thanksgiving this year, I decided to make it for Christmas. The bread is diced and waiting to be made tomorrow. Tonight I started on the Potato-Apple Gratin. It’ll be fully made except for heating/browning tomorrow in the oven.
It looks pretty good so far! I hope it is.
Tips for Cooking a Large Meal:
-Plan your menu in advance
-Make sure you have all your ingredients
-Make as many things as possible the night before.
-Do all the chopping and prep work the day before so all the hard work is done with early.
-If you’re having a dinner, start cooking early in the day so you have time to clean up (both yourself and the kitchen)
Do you have any tips for cooking a large meal for many people?
Foodologie 
Wheeeeen you beeeliiiieeeve! Haha, I love “The Princess Diaries”! 🙂
Whenever we have to make a big meal, we do exactly what you said – lots of planning, lots of prep work ahead of time.
Oh can’t wait to see how the apple potato gratin turns out. I’ve never heard of that combo before.
Hmm cooking for many people.. Well I rarely make something that has to be made immediately before serving. I hate “leaving” my guests.
Good luck with the holiday cooking– sounds like a great menu!
Happy holidays! So happy to have found your blog — I look forward to following! Your mom is too cute, the tilapia looks wonderful. I am going to make that potato-apple gratin, the recipe looks wonderful! THANK YOU!
A potato apple gratin sounds really good- I’ve never tried one before.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
🙂
When I cooked for Ridge House, the thing I found most important to make a large meal on time was figuring out the best order to prepare dishes. Before I started cooking, I would plan which dishes I would make when — understand what needs to cook for a long time vs shorty and right before serving. Then you can prep the short dish while something longer is cooking.
Of course, I had a strict 3 hour time limit to feed 40 people 🙂
Great tip!!! I’m going to the yay area next week! Reunion??