by Andrew S. Haines

Families … the majority of us have them, and as the saying goes, we do not get to choose who we are related to. With this in mind, family meals and gatherings can be fraught with challenges I am sure you will agree. In this article I am going to put forward my solutions for organizing the perfect family meal.

You may wonder why I consider myself qualified to express such views and all I can say in response is that I come from a very large, very vocal family. In short I have years of experience of squeezing aunties, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters and the in-laws into my modest semi-detached home.

In fact, out of all my brothers and sisters (there are nine of us in total), our home is seen to be obvious venue for the majority of family events. Hopefully you will now consider my credentials well in order.

There are two main points to consider when organizing the perfect family meal.

1. The Menu - Get the menu right and everyone will be happy. I simply choose traditional food and avoid anything to adventurous. So whatever your culture I suggest you stick to classic dishes, this works for me time and again. That said, be careful to cater for anyone in your family who has any special preferences, for example there may be a vegetarian or have allergies. In both cases a little consideration is required and will be well received by your guests.

2. Seating Arrangements - I always seat the children and adults separately. This allows both groups to spend time catching up and definitely gives the parents a well-earned break. With the kids we always work on the older looking after the younger and I tend to get my own teenage children to head this up. Another point to consider when seating people is to keep any relatives apart who do not always get along. It just makes sense to put them at opposite ends as this will reduce any tension.