Mother's Day Catering: The Point Is That She Is Not Cooking

One rule

Whatever else you do, the person the day is about does not cook, does not serve and does not wash up. That is the entire brief. Everything below is just how to make it happen without somebody else taking her place at the sink.

Restaurants are the obvious answer and they are booked solid by January, expensive on that one Sunday, and hurried. Most run two sittings and you feel both of them. Catering it at home is usually cheaper, always more relaxed, and lets the day run at its own pace.

What a Mother’s Day gathering actually is

Almost always: eight to twenty people, three generations, one table that is slightly too small, and an age range from toddler to grandmother. That combination rules out a single set menu and rules in a buffet, where everyone takes what they want.

It also usually runs long. People arrive around midday and are still there at four. Food that sits well matters more than food that arrives hot.

What to order

• Buffet 1 at £5.50 a head, freshly prepared sandwiches, eight fillings, mixed selection.
• Buffet 5 at £7.70 adds savouries: sausage rolls, pork pies, quiche, samosas.
• Buffet 9 at £11.00 is the full spread with hand cooked crisps, fresh fruit, homemade cakes and juice.

For something closer to a tea, build it: sandwiches from Buffet 1, plus homemade cakes at £2.25 a head and a fresh fruit platter at £13.80. That is the shape of an afternoon tea without pretending to be a formal one, and it suits a mixed-age table far better than tiered stands and tiny portions.

Add a cheese selection or charcuterie at £16.50 if the afternoon is going to be a long one.

The children

If there are small children, order for them separately. The kids party buffet is £8.00 a head and it is genuinely different food, not smaller sandwiches. Two orders almost always costs less than one buffet large enough to cover both, and both groups eat better.

Dietary requirements

Three generations at one table is exactly where these turn up. Every buffet is 30% vegetarian as standard and vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and halal portions are prepared separately and labelled. Give us the numbers when you order, not the names, just how many of each.

Booking it

Mother’s Day is a Sunday, and that is the thing to sort first. Ring us with your date rather than assuming, because Sunday delivery is not our standard week and we would rather tell you honestly what is possible than have you find out late.

Order by 4pm the day before at the latest for anything we can deliver, delivery is free, and there is a £20 minimum on the order value: four people on Buffet 1.

Book it in January or early February. Not because we will run out, but because deciding it early is the difference between a day somebody planned and a day somebody organised at 9pm the night before.

If it is a bigger gathering

For a large family party of fifty or more, particularly if the weather is on side, a hog roast from £7.25 a head carves as people come. It wants about 3m by 5m of flat ground, has a 50-guest minimum, and takes a 25% deposit to hold the date. For March in the East Midlands, have a wet-weather plan.