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

[Cornerstun]

Sister and I are the cooks of the family. We both appreciate good, homemade food.

We have decided I will focus on the main meal and she will do desserts whilst her hubby does cocktails /wine and appetisers.

Awesome. She’s shared some of their ideas and they look gorgeous.

Sis said seeing as she’s making the effort to follow recipes and attempting to make gourmet can you please do the same.

I am doing herb crusted rack of lamb, spring greens, roast potatoes, dauphinoise and honey carrots. She has asked me to look up recipes for each dish and not just to wing it (which I always do after cooking for 15 plus years).

I think it’s plenty gourmet enough. Sister says she just wants an elevated meal lol

Im not in the wrong, surely??

I don’t want to be cooking for days. I could drizzle some shit and make the odd crumb but what’s the point??

I'd get a recipie for dauphinoise potatoes, as I never cook them. I'd also get recipies for many puddings. I'd do roast lamb, roast potatoes, honey carrots and greens without a recipie.
Crack on with your plan!

Haha LOVE IT. Will do something weird to “hers” that the dogs still find palatable!

I’d say your DSis can do it all if she wants — or she can do her bit her way and leave you to do your bit your way…

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

I think it's a bit rude to do this, and she is implying that your roasts are a bit hit and miss.

I'm sure I'm nowhere near as good a cook as you are, but I would never look up a recipe for dauphipise - I have been making it for years and it never fails so what would be the point?

I have got a suggestion for you though - Vivaldi potatoes. They do them in Sainsbury's. My mom told me about them. Fucking lush in dauphinoise AND roasted - perfect for all your potato needs in fact. Seriously, they have improved my life in a small yet significant way.

Back to your sister - I think I would understand if she maybe asked you to do a couple of additional side dishes, along with the existing ones. To me the joy of a roast is lots of lovely sides. So maybe at least one third veg; a homemade sauce; a stuffing, for example? If she wanted that, I don't think that's inherently wrong of her. I can imagine my family members asking for more side dishes, and I wouldn't be offended. Could she have meant that - that she wanted you to look at recipes to get inspiration for a wider range of sides?

I’m doing a nice breakfast for my kids so I just don’t fancy slaving away for the entire day in the kitchen. I want to have energy to enjoy the day and be present! A simple meal that I am used to cooking sounds just right to me.

No point over extending myself to be a stepford housewife

Would some nice, buttery leeks be nice for example? Or peas? I mean, I hate peas personally, but people seem to have them with lamb. Or maybe some Mediterranean veg would add another dimension. Or a homemade mint sauce even?

Only do other things if you have time, money and inclination, obviously.....

I posted before I read your update - sorry.

What about telling everyone coming (adults and any kids old enough to cook) that they are welcome to bring a side dish for the lamb, or another pudding, or a canapes for before, or whatever. Then your sister gets a bit of variety without it causing you stress.....

Yeah I’ll probably chuck some minty peas on the table but I really cannot be bothered to much more. It’s a roast and at the end of the day, all I want to do is chill with my family. I have no interest in pretending to be a chef

You can do loads of this ahead of time right? I often par boil potatoes, chuck goose fat over them and then freeze. Carrots can be prepared and then frozen to so all you have to do is thaw in and chuck on honey.

So here is my take,

You can’t bake wo a recipe for a start whereas you can indeed cook wo one (assuming the experience blablabla).
However, following a recipe ‘for a gourmet ,p meal’ is, fur me, about the little additions (like some specific spices mixed in the herb crust. Or it could be another side dish that you don’t normally have. Etc…
I suspect that’s she means.

Fwiw, I do most recipes ‘on the go’ but there is a difference in taste when I actually follow the recipe to the letter… Yes on the fly works and is nice. The recipe based is better….

It sounds like you and her have quite different ideas for the day.

That needs clearing up.

I’d say ‘Yes absolutely, it’s one of Tim Kerridges I’m planning on I think.’

Also that is pointing out towards your sister comment.

Please Im making an effort to prepare something special for that meal. (And nice dessert will do that). Could you do the same and not ‘a simple meal’ (that might be good but not as nice)?

The discussion here isn’t about how good your cooking is but about the amount of effort you’re putting in it.

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

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

What a cheek!!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!!

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

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

Then crack on as normal.

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.