Sister asked I look up recipes to use for my Easter meal dishes

for baking yes, as ive had a mix of results on my latest batch
food and 15 yrs exp that the op has, id say no recipe needed

By elevating the food that she means the presentation maybe?

all I want to do is chill with my family. I have no interest in pretending to be a chef

Quite!

If someone started telling me how to cook, I would suggest they eat with their own family and I'd eat with mine!

Lamb is just so perfect, why all the extra? No need for a recipe - cook it for hours & hours on 140/150 then make a jus from the juices. I mean, it just doesn't get better. Oh god I love lamb so much 😭

Anyway, I'd be curious what recipes she's thinking of & what gourmet roast lamb even is.

(edit - just seen it's rack of lamb so I retract what I said. I was imagining leg or shoulder 🤤)

Sounds like the shite they come out with in Masterchef. When Torode isn't massacring the pronunciation of foods or whitesplaining somebody's cultural food to them, that is.

Sounds like you have it covered, just do it your way.

How old are you both, by the way? Because being bothered about an elevated Sunday lunch at Easter with paired wines and cocktails screams ‘young’. 🤭

Elevated meal. 🤣

Just give everything you do a slightly more pincy name, and change nothing else.

“Don’t be an idiot, sister, these carrots are candied in locally produced nectar and elevated with a subtle flecking of aromatic long seeds.”*

*carrots in honey with cumin.

That's a lot of chucking OP. It sounds slightly like you can't be arsed with the main meal and she's hoping for a more special, standout Easter lunch.

So you’re doing the herb crusted rack of lamb with all the trimmings…and being second guessed on that? If you’d like to cook that for people who would be incredibly grateful, and love you forever, message me 😃

Seriously though, just ignore. She’s been wolfing down your food for years with no complaints; I imagine she’s actually a feeling a little ‘lesser’ in the chefs department, compared to you.

Keep doing what you’re doing, and Happy Easter x

Im with the previous poster - "yes chef" and crack on as normal

Ive been cooking for 47 years, home cook, professional cook, never poisoned anyone, have had rave reviews, blah blah blah, Im not a trained cook

I know what I can cook and how to cook it well and flavourful. I cant bake to save my life - really am pretty crap

Im hosting two sets of inlaws this Easter, one is a qualified baker - seriously that woman can bake, I love her bakes but she's a pretty naff cook - ok. its edible , nowt wrong with it but compared to her baking - a bit meh. So I won't even attempt a dessert , I will cook up a storm for starters and main - I shall buy in the dessert and admit it and she will enjoy the main and pick about the dessert but that's ok. I dont do dessert, all the rest of the family will eat anything :)

We cant please everyone ( unless being paid then one has too ) , but a family gathering is about feasting and enjoying company and stress free

Do you, let her do her

I think she’s right. It’s Easter, stop chucking the same old stuff about and do something different.

Cant remember the particular recipe but the last time we had herb crusted rack of lamb I blitzed up a butter bean and Parmesan puree, wilted spinach (but your spring greens sound nice) and fondant potatoes. As easy as a Sunday dinner but different. If you always do the same greens it gets a bit samey I think.

I don't think either of you are "wrong" about the food. You sound like a very experienced cook who makes food people really enjoy. I'm sure that won't be different for this meal. But I also think good cooking can be a lot more than that and your sister isn't wrong that looking up recipes (and taking days over the prep) can lead to a more extraordinary meal.

Since you're the one who's cooking the mains it's up to you how much effort you're prepared to put in and whether it's "just" fantastic or fantastic+. If she's just asked in a "here's an idea, it's up to you" sort of way then no problem. If she's asked in a "You need to do this" kind of way, then she's BVU and you are not.

I mean how can you mess up chucking honey and spices on carrots then chucking in an oven??

Yeah I’ll probably chuck some minty peas on the table but I really cannot be bothered to much more.

I'm starting to see what your sister's getting at. She wants you to do more than chuck things around. You don't have to, of course, but she's saying that she'd like to make the whole meal special with more effort than chucking things together.

Only a sister can get away with saying something like this 😂

Just drizzle, smear and sprinkle her food on her plate. Crack on with your original plan for everyone else.

"Yes. I'm looking at lots of recipes. Have you seen any you would recommend?"

Then crack on as normal.

Sainsburys have it on a nectar deal, something like 15 quid for a leg.

I would cook whatever you had planned to cook anyway and tell her you've followed a recipe you found somewhere online but have conveniently forgotten where...
I am not a confident cook and just the thought of cooking a roast and getting everything ready at the same time and not giving anyone food poisoning makes me feel anxious (also I'm not really all that keen on roast dinner). So if for some reason I did decide to cook a roast anybody suggesting it wasn't good enough would get very short shrift indeed!!

I just love spring greens, so glad they're in the shops rather than those awful pointy cabbages! I take out the centre stalk from each piece and roughly chop them up, I then steam until just tender, if they smell they're overcooked. I then melt some butter into the pan, having chucked the water , and return the cabbage, using a pair of scissors I then chop it finely and add loads of crushed black pepper. Delicious.

If you're winging meals then they are indeed 'elevated'!

Do you by any chance do the same roast every time?

Have you asked to do the main course instead? Are others financially chipping in to this? Sorry but I do think you need to make a bit more of an effort for an Easter meal. It's a shame if the others are making much more of an effort. Your kids don't need a special Easter breakfast, I'd be concentrating on lunch for adults.

So she wants the meal to be 'elevated' - has she been watching Meghan Markle's show? Just shove some supermarket flowers into a jug of lemons and sprinkle some dried petals over the gravy.

Put a book under her plate to elevate it!! 😂

What a cheek!!

Serve the lamb on a rack.. Ask her if that's elevated enough...