Hayley Miller, co-owner of Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. in Saratoga Springs, says pausing for a
cup of tea can help ease holiday season stress for shoppers and people planning holiday meals.
BY MAUREEN WERTHER
Preparing and serving great food for holiday
parties and gatherings can add another layer of
stress to a person’s already hectic schedule.
Since chefs, caterers, and restaurant owners
experience that kind of stress every day as part of
their jobs, they have insights on managing the angst
associated with entertaining and food preparation.
Kevin Myers of Gaffney’s restaurant in Saratoga
Springs has one remedy for reducing stress during
the holidays.
“When I’m home, I don’t go near the kitchen.
I leave all the cooking to my fiancé.” Fortunately,
his fiancé enjoys preparing food and is very good
at it. For those who don’t have a partner willing or
able to step up to the plate in the kitchen, there are
plenty of other solutions ranging from relaxing teas
to cooking with wine.
Patrice Mastrianni, owner of Serendipity Culinary
and Fine Arts Studio in Saratoga Springs said
it’s all about preparing ahead and freezing.
“There are so many recipes that freeze beautifully
and you can just pop them out of the freezer and
into the oven with a minimum of hassle,” she said.
Christmas cookies are one item that lend themselves
well to freezing. Fruit pies are another item
that’s great for making ahead of time and freezing.
However, Mastrianni cautioned against freezing
cream or custard pies.
Another menu item that freezes well are appetizers.
Mastrianni said that working with executive
chefs at Serendipity Arts Studio has taught her
a lot about the virtues of advanced preparation.
Chefs are masters at knowing what will keep and
what won’t.
For example, most Italian recipes freeze well and
can go from freezer directly into the oven. However,
cooked macaroni or spaghetti alone does not freeze
as well. Mastrianni said that pasta sauce should be
defrosted before heating.
Another versatile item that can be frozen and
used in a variety of recipes is phyllo dough. Filling
phyllo “cigars” with spicy meats and veggies is an
easy way to create excellent and easy finger foods
for family and friends.
Other items that do not freeze well are cooked
potatoes, milk and cream sauces, fried foods, cabbages,
celery, radishes and lettuces. Mastrianni
also stressed the importance of labeling and dating
frozen items.
If the actual preparation comes easily to a person,
but they still suffer from holiday angst, a calming
cup of tea will provide some soothing relief.
Hayley Miller, co-owner of Saratoga Tea &
Honey Co. in Saratoga Springs said she swears by
The Perfect Tea. Developed in Japan specifically
to reduce stress, it contains an amino acid called
gaba cha that is purported to alleviate stress and
promote restful sleep.
Gaba cha also has a natural sweetness to it,
which precludes the necessity of adding sugar or
artificial sweeteners.
The Perfect Tea is available at Saratoga Tea &
Honey Co. and can also be included as part of a
gift basket for friends and family who may be in
need of relaxation and sleep throughout the year.
For Tony DiDonna, third generation owner of
DiDonna’s South Shore Restaurant on Saratoga
Lake, hanging out in the kitchen with a nice glass
of wine and letting his fiancé take over the cooking
is his “cup of tea.” That, along with laughter and
just having fun is his antidote to holiday stress
and anxiety.
He also suggests taking advantage of the
wonderful and more eclectic “takeout” options
being offered by so many local restaurants. Most
households are dual income and neither partner
may have the extra time to prepare food in advance,
but they still want to entertain. Taking advantage of
the expertise of local chefs makes sense and menus
range from full course dinners to finger foods and
homemade Italian recipes like DiDonna’s “zucchini
palmadoro.”
Ryan McCormick, executive chef at Forno Bistro
in Saratoga Springs, also likes to let others put on
the apron at home.
“I don’t feel any stress when I’m at work, but
when I cook at home, it really gets stressful because
I realize what a mess I’m making,” he said.
It certainly helps to have someone on hand to
clean up after assembling a major holiday meal.
But many people are chef, server and dishwasher
at home. McCormick recommended “keeping it
simple” for the holiday dinner by sticking to one
entree, like a roast – preferably one a person is
familiar with before and knows the recipe well.
on the night of the big feast.
Kevin Myers of Gaffney’s says people should
relax and enjoy themselves when dining out.
McCormick also suggested “keeping the sides
simple.” Green vegetables are his go-to sides
because they can be steamed, sautéed, roasted, or
boiled easily and they add colorful and nutritional
balance to the meal. He said adding interesting
ingredients to the mashed potatoes is a simple way
to add the “wow” factor in the meal.
His favorite mashed potato additions include
truffles and parmesan cheese, caramelized red
onions and gorgonzola, and sun-dried tomato pesto
mashed potatoes.
Treating oneself and perhaps a partner to a
relaxing dinner at a restaurant is also a way to take
a breather from holiday madness. The key here
is to relax.
“Too many people these days come out to eat
and not to dine,” said Myers of Gaffney’s.
He noted that people are too often seem to be
in a hurry and forget to appreciate the little extra
time it takes to prepare a wonderful meal. Instead
of harassing a waiter and wanting the meal to appear
instantaneously, people should embrace the
leisure of dining out and use the time to sip some
fine wine, put down the cell phone and share some
time together.