Need a fresh menu for older people, two couples, special dinner.
My parents just moved from their long-time house to a nearby condo. I’d like to make an “inaugural” dinner for them and their two best friends. So 4 total – I’ll be cooking, serving and fiddling with the music – I want to cook & wait on them hand and foot, not dine with them.
I’m just tired of doing steak, roasted rosemary potatoes and string beans with almonds for an older group.
I live close by so can do most of the prep at home. They have a standard, small kitchen (gas range, single oven with broiler) and an outdoor grill (small 2 burner).
Group: 4, ages 75 - 87
Needs: low sodium, no tomatoes, no onions, no excessive garlic, no legumes/beans, no peppers, no hot spices, and nothing that might require Tums or a wheelchair afterward
Steak, lamb, fish, shellfish are fine. Pork too – but maybe not celebratory enough?
Desert is covered.
I would love your ideas. Thanks.
45 Comments
Cheers everyone and thanks for your help and kind thoughts. If you’re able, do something nice for older people. Getting older is not for sissies, takes courage.
Voted the Best Reply!
They got a kick out of hearing how the menu was “crowd sourced.” When I tried to explain it, my mother said, “Oh, you mean like women gossiping after church?” I wish I could have used all your ideas – so many good ones – plenty of ideas for many more dinners.
I think I mentioned a key intention was to use as much of my grandmother’s china as possible, as packing it up made my mother weep. We Do Not Like Mom Crying. Very hard to leave the home where you raised your children and hosted every holiday, every year, for decades, for extended family. I wanted her to know it is perfectly OK to use china for only four – doesn’t have to be twenty-four or forty-four.
I didn’t serve hors d’oeuvres. This age group gets tired earlier and they don’t have huge appetites. And I didn’t want to run the risk of smacking anyone upside the head with the frying pan if they told me, “I’m just so full already…”
Starter was amysarah’s cold borscht in petite bouillon bowls with tiny ears. Needed something that wasn’t green, made ahead, could be served cold. (Also, Fred & Ethel have Russian roots, so the borscht added points, in case anything went wrong later in the evening.) Dollop of crème fraiche and chopped chives to serve. I worked with amysarah’s recipe above, guesstimated the measurements (have made a lot of soup in my day). Thank you, amysarah, it was delicious. I know ChefJune and others join me here and in the Features piece on borscht, badgering you to post your recipe. :-)
The price of the King Salmon caused me to faint. But a dashing social technology entrepreneur, standing behind me in line, caught me as I fell and then proposed marriage, so all’s well that ends well.
I went with Mrs. Larkin’s salmon with watercress and sorrel, except I subbed more watercress for the sorrel – Hilarybee mentioned sorrel can be hard on the stomach. And I pureed the watercress with the dressing to make a green sauce, so as not to have another salad – used Barbara’s idea for warm spinach salad. The crumbled bacon served on the side disappeared. EmilyC’s idea for sugar snap peas and shredded mint (tear the strings off the peas, cut on the bias in thirds, steamed, touch of butter, shredded mint). My grandmother’s Pommes Anna, the standard recipe I think you’d find in Joy of Cooking or Julia Child.
Dessert – Ina Garten’s chocolate and orange mousse. Plus the grandchildren for a surprise visit with their cupcakes that spelled out “Happy New Home.” And a little champagne in my GREAT grandmother’s remaining teacups.
Thank you, everyone. I’d tell my mother about Food52 except I need one place to go where she can’t find me.
What a lovely dinner -it all sounds wonderful, especially with the china and the grandkids' contributions. So glad you liked the soup - it's very flexible (I probably never do it precisely the same twice) so I'm sure your guestimated version was great. But fyi - I did post the recipe here yesterday - had to make a batch first to actually measure the ingredients (it's usually all by eye.) See what you think!
Btw, the inspiration for that recipe was my grandmother, who was Russian like Fred and Ethel ...'balsamic' would have meant nothing to her, but she made a hell of a (more traditional) borscht.
I so appreciated your thoughts and advice on menus. I've been a little weary helping them move, so your thoughts were so helpful and saved me some tasks. A few of you asked to know how it turned out, so I'll leave a post soon.
Cheers, everyone. There are so many celebratory occasions for younger people - nice to do one for older people.
Thank you again! - P.
http://food52.com/recipes/14754-dad-s-favorite-seafood-stew
Broth can be made ahead so it's just a matter of throwing the seafood in just before serving. And with a green salad and crusty bread, it's a perfect summer and celebratory dinner!
inpatskitchen... love your Seafood Stew recipe. This is what I'd want someone to make for me. Alas, no tomatoes and not much garlic allowed. But thank you!
"Mother Out Law." Sam, I love that. I love Babaganoush but I alas know their digestive tracts better than I know my own. (Sorry to put so fine a point on it.)
Roast Chicken has come up several times - truly a delicious comfort food. You've all reminded me to bring one over, so they can have a couple meals from it while they continue to unpack. I’m aiming for several courses, so we can use lots of my grandmother's china, so my Mom will see that she can still use it in this smaller space and it doesn't have to be dinner for 25-30, which she served for so many decades. These major life changes are HARD.
Cookinginictoria - Dessert is chocolate mousse with either (or both) raspberry sauce (seedless! no denture problems) or vanilla cognac sauce. And a bunch of messy cupcakes that, if lined up correctly, will spell out Happy New Home (assuming the grandchildren I paid handsomely for the task get it right).
I thank you for the dill reminder. Adding it to the salmon sauce. And some beautiful dill feathers as garnish on top.
Apropos, this is always my problem with submitting my own recipes – the best ones evolve over years … and if anything is written down at all, it tends to be very minimal (i.e., ‘add splash of’ or ‘saute a few’ or ‘reduce a little’…i.e., very scant details on measurements/timing.) Also, this borscht began with a recipe in a magazine many moons ago - but no recollection where. Over time I’ve tweaked and adapted it, but I can’t claim complete ‘ownership’ either…I’m never sure where that line is to be honest.
Thanks again everyone for the thoughtful ideas – truly appreciated! I think they’ll love it.
I would stick with foods they like rather than what you want to show off doing. (no insult intended, it is "their" night) Perhaps a chicken breast with wing bone on (french style) and tip cut off. Roast with some lemon and herbs. Don't overcook, they like soft food. Maybe a stuffed pork tenderloin. I would stay away from hard to chew foods like lamb or beef. Mashed potato (or turnip) with some gravy made from the chicken drippings. Try a new veg...instead of your beans and almonds, perhaps some stir fried carrot/jicima/asparagus - nice colors. For dessert perhaps a creme brulee.
Start with an amuse bouche of bleu cheese on flatbread with some marmalade on top.
I seen with this age group too many folks sending back food and asking for a plain sandwich and jello because they don't like to experiment too much.
Another idea might be scallops. This http://food52.com/recipes/4069-scallops-tommy -- is my favorite way to prepare them. My folks used to love them!
And since you mentioned lamb, I'll suggest my winning recipe for Leg of Lamb with Garlic Sauce (not spicy): http://food52.com/recipes/3814-leg-of-lamb-with-garlic-sauce. Plus there'll be some left for sandwiches!