Get out your best tableware for Mother’s Day

Carol O’Callaghan proposes an alternative Mother’s Day, which usually just creates more work for hard-pressed mums.

One of the whispered complaints by mothers on Mother’s Day is that, for all the thoughtful gifts carefully chosen and given, it’s like any other day with cooking and washing up.

And maybe even more so if the descent of adult children and grandchildren, and getting the house straight after they leave, means even more work for the very person whose day it is meant to be.

Going out to lunch is the typical alternative, but something at home to honour a hardworking mother might be more appealing if it doesn’t involve labouring in the kitchen.

Channelling our new-found love of old china cups and saucers sets us up for organising an afternoon tea party. Maybe it’s something we’d normally consider at Christmas, when there’s a glut of leftover turkey and ham for sandwiches, and plenty of fruit and Madeira cakes to pile on triple-decker cake stands. However, as a spring-time event, it has a special charm.

Let’s be outrageously optimistic here and suggest the weather might be mild by next weekend; that the sun will fight off the threat of grey clouds; that windows will be flung wide open to let in sunny rays on a mild breeze while you sip tea and sink your teeth into a creamy cupcake.

If you don’t want to get out the baking equipment, ask guests to bring something or just buy what you need. This is all about the sense of occasion; a chance to get out your best tablewares and creating a posh hotel-style event but with the comfort and ease of being in your own environment.

For a family gathering, you may have to use your kitchen or dining table, but for a small group, gathering around a coffee table while sitting on comfy chairs is more like afternoon tea at a country house hotel.

Do use a table cloth. If you have white linen it will off-set your wares, and if you have linen napkins then all the better. But if you don’t want the washing and ironing afterwards, there are many lovely paper napkins available in home interior and gift shops.

Emphasise nostalgia, and aim to recreate a gentler time when the clock strikes three and everything stops for tea.

Imagine crust-less triangular sandwiches, dainty cakes, paper doilies, and loose tea poured from the pot. For hosts and hostesses who love getting out the good ware, it’s an opportunity to air items such as cups and saucers and cake stands that have been neglected for the convenience of mugs and tea-bags.

For each guest, set a cup and saucer, plate, knife, and napkin, and a champagne flute if you want to serve some bubbles. They don’t have to be champagne — Spanish Cava or a glass of Prosecco are equally yummy.

Use your three-tiered cake stand if you have one. It will give height to the table, which will add to the aesthetic of your presentation. Apply the rule of grand hotels and place little sandwiches on the bottom plate, scones on the middle and little dainties on top. Use other fancy plates for more of the same, adding the all-essential paper doily. Yes, they’re still in production and come in various sizes and colours from cookware shops and even from supermarkets.

¦ Next week, it’s the annual decluttering and cobweb sweep.