Holiday Cooking...am I the only one who feels this way?

I'm in a similar position, so I feel your pain. I did the shopping early this morning - it was already kind of crazy. The last 2 years, I have lightened my load by going to a local caterer for most of the side dishes (I order in advance and pick up on the holiday). I usually get family members to bring dessert and some of the horsdoeuvres, so all I have to do is the main courses (which are always multiple things due to dietary preferences for certain family members) and a few sundries. Oh yeah, and shop, clean the house, set the table, do the flowers, be the hostess, clean up, etc lol!

Have you tried catered food? Locally we have two places that offer a complete dinner that is already made. You just have to bake the bread and heat up. The food taste great and allows you to relax and enjoy company. Another thing I have done is bake and serve a ham, potato salad, bake beans, and desserts. These items can be made the day before and put out so everyone can serve themselves. Add in buns for sandwiches later on that night. I hope you have a great weekend and find a way to relax and avoid the kitchen.

Bandwife:

No judgements from me because the older I get the more I feel as you do so I try, whenever and wherever possible, to bring in the things I can bring in and do only the important things from scratch, those things that are best when it's from a family recipe.

Last Thanksgiving I stuffed and cooked our turkey but bought, from Costco, already made up trays of mashed sweet and mashed regular potatoes. If I remember correctly, I think I paid $7.99 for each and they came in a half tray size. They were delicious and saved me hours of prep work. I bought a huge bag of broccoli which saved me from having to cut up the heads, all I had to do was dump the bag into a large pot of boiling recipe and voila, steamed broccoli. I buy already cut up assorted cheeses ready to be put out on the appetizer tray and the same for pepperoni and/or sausages where available. Anyway, I'm sure you get the message.

The only other thing I might say (but I'm not criticizing you for doing it differently) is that I would never wait until two days before the holiday to begin my shopping, it's just way too stressful. I want everything in the house by the previous weekend so I can do things a little at a time without the stress of shopping hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles.

Good luck with your Easter dinner and enjoy your parents - you made me nostalgic for my own.

Maria

I hear you, I really do, but here's a twist. When I lived in NY for the first 20 years of my marriage, I was you. Then, 13 years ago, we moved a continent away from my friends and family. My boys moved out and it was just hubby and me for the last 12 years. As much as we love where we live and have created happy lives here, holidays were very lonely. Most Easters I would pack a simple picnic and we would go sit in the park watching all the family gatherings. It's a very weird feeling for someone who grew up with a large extended family.

This year we have my 90 year old parents here and we are their sole caretakers. I'm cooking for the four of us, so I'm keeping it simple. I sure miss the days when holidays meant hustle and bustle and noise and confusion.

I understand you aren't complaining and I enjoy reading everyone's posts on these boards. Thank you for sharing. I hope you can see, though, that there may come a day when you don't have that kind of stress at holiday time. You might just realize that you miss it.

Have a nice holiday

I hear you and understand you!! Hey, you need to vent once in a while! I know it's not this easy, but if mom suggested going out, you should have planned on it and dad could come or not if that was the only choice. (I know, you don't want to start a war at Easter!)

I have brothers and sisters, but being the youngest they all rely on me to do all family parties...don't know why. They say I'm good at those things...but sometimes I don't feel like it either! I love my family too and want to do what I can, but we do need a break from things sometimes. (we need to learn the word..NO!)

I sure hope you get help with clean up! We don't have plans this year due to other things going on(another family party I have tomorrow), but DH got the idea today to maybe invite some in-laws for dinner Sunday. What??? Now??? I'm not against it, but I said are you going to help with the kids, clean the house and help with the food?? He said, maybe we don't need to do that.

I wish you well with your family, hope you have a wonderful Easter and that you can enjoy it!

I would consider a catered meal, also. Grocery stores here offer precooked holiday meals at a reasonable price. Then you could enjoy the holiday, too. Best wishes to you for a happy holiday.

I know how you feel, after my parents passed, my siblings and I started doing our own Christmas with our prospective immediate families, so I started doing the dinner for my immediate family on Christmas. I was so exhausted by the time everything was prepared and the house was clean, that I was too tired to enjoy even watching my grandbabies open their gifts, all I wanted was to go to bed. My daughter has stated hosting Christmas at her house, the last 2 years, and although I miss opening up my home, it was so much more relaxing this past year, I was not all stressed out. I made the desserts and she did the rest of the meal. Worked out great. I don't know what you make for Easter dinner, but I remember when my mom was still living, she would make it simple, ham, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, a veggie tray and a couple of desserts. It was plenty of food to fill you up and could all be made ahead of time and served cold except the beans. It was not a big sit down meal. Maybe scaling back on what you make and making it more casual would be easier. We are having Easter dinner at my sisters, she makes the ham and macoroni salad and a dessert and all my siblings and nieces and nephews (and I) bring sides. Yes, having siblings does help out a great deal, sorry you don't have brothers and sisters to help you and to just enjoy spending time with. I hope you have a great Easter and do not get too stressed and overworked and overtired.

HappyElizabeth - Yes, I forgot the other stuff(cleaning up, etc). I'm usually draggin by that point. My husband is so sweet and he helps where he can, but I still have the majority of it on my hands. Now my dad usually gets part of the dessert bc he'll pick up a pie, cake, etc @ the store(he's the only one that grocery shops now...mom isn't able anymore). However, he expects...well, maybe I shouldn't say that bc I don't mean it in dictator fashion...he "looks forward" to a dessert that I fix. My mom got frustrated w/him last year bc he attempted to fix a ham on his own and it didn't turn out all that well. So that was the slam dunk as far as any possible additional contribution. You are lucky in that you at least have some family that come in and bring stuff. We don't have extended family that live close and/or come in for big holiday gatherings anymore. Everyone just kind of does their own thing.

rat2e - Catered Meals....Yes, we did that for Thanksgiving. That did take SOME of the work off me, but mom & dad still wanted sides that didn't come w/the "pre-cooked meal." Along w/the meat, the meal came w/sweet potatoes, corn, dressing, cranberry salad & rolls. Well, I had to still knock out corn pudding, baked mac & cheese, green bean casserole and 2 cakes. Not to mention additional dressing(bc the ones that came w/the meals were not going to be enough for them to be able to have at least a couple more meals off of it).

Been there done that! As an only child of older parents, as my mom aged a lot of it fell on me. It would have been easier except that of course I had to do it HER way. They lived about four hours away too which made the shopping and food hauling and cooking and cleaning worse. After my dad died we tried continuing big meals with 3 people and I finally called a halt to it. We do something simple like a rib roast or filets for Christmas and we go a week or two earlier than Thanksgiving and go out to eat, shop and have fun.

Last year my hubby wanted to do a turkey, so I said "Have after it!" He cooked it and cleaned up and said NEVER again! LOL!! He said "I worked SEVEN HOURS and it took us 30 minutes to eat." Really? DUH!!!!

I don't have a big family, so I am sort of out of the holiday meal business.

I feed a lot of friends several times a year, but it is somehow way easier than holidays.

I don't know what to tell the OP, but boy do I feel your pain! And yes, there is a lot of guilt that goes with the whole thing, but for me, I simply ran out of gas with the whole thing. I'm no spring chicken either! LOL!!!