In the decade that precursed life before three children, my husband and I became somewhat fanatical about hosting a perfectly executed dinner party...
We’d plan menus for days, scour markets hunting for unique ingredients, and would spend our weekends preparing and delighting in the meals we’d create. For us, the joy of a dinner party wasn’t just in the time spent with our nearest and dearest, but was a way to indulge in and celebrate what was undoubtedly (before kids, of course) life’s greatest pleasure – food.
These days, suffice it to say, there are not a whole lot of dinner parties taking place in the Hahn household. I do still spend the majority of my weekend in the kitchen, but the only resemblance of a party is the food strewn throughout the house come bedtime, and my uncanny ability to knock back a Pinot in the time you can say, “This soup is too wet!”
So, like most parents, starved for time and full of children, we thought we had parked our dinner party dreams for the foreseeable future. That is, until we received a delivery from Katering At Home upon the arrival of our third son, and I promptly announced to my husband, “Sorry honey. This food is too good just for us. We need to host a dinner party.” Cue: invitations over with a 2-week old baby, some of the best compliments ever received (I may have refrained from admitting that I was not the cook behind these meals) and one very, very happy mother (that’s me).
Let me rewind a little. As many new mothers will attest, a delivery of food is the best gift to receive after a new baby arrives...
I become famously sick over the thought of tuna bake, but even a delivery of this cheesy fishy concoction has been enough to bring tears to this sleep deprived mother’s eyes. So when I received a month’s worth of meals (a delivery every week for four weeks) from Katering At Home, I essentially rolled over and went to heaven.
This is food delivery, but not in the way I’ve known it. There is not a bland frozen curry in sight, nor a sad quinoa bowl to be found. Rather, this is food that – as I have proven – you’d be proud to show off. The fact that Katering At Home made everyday dinners feel like a hatted experience, despite how many bodily fluids were on my T-shirt? Even better.
The Katering At Home menu changes each week depending on the inspiration of the chefs and the seasonality of ingredients...
Throughout the weeks when we indulged in their meals, we were treated to the likes of peking duck pancakes, zucchini and halloumi fritters with zoodle salad and green goddess dressing, and slow roasted lamb shoulder with a sweet potato and sage gratin. To top it off, deliveries of homemade pizza scrolls and berry scones were thrown in to make lunchboxes a breeze, as well as ricotta pancakes for weekend treats with zero effort required.
Everything from Katering At Home is homemade and designed to be cooked with minimal preparation. That means no chopping and no measuring – just simple heating (mainly on the stove or in the oven, which is ideal for any fellow microwave-shunners) and enjoying.
While the weekly fresh menu is undoubtedly irresistible, the frozen family favourites also proved themselves to be invaluable – particularly in the two-week-period when my newborn decided that 8pm – 4am was the ideal time to party. Child-friendly favourites like moussaka, panko chicken nuggets and lasagne have sat beside ultimate adult favourites including spinach and ricotta dumplings and South African Duban curry.
When our month of meals came to a close, my husband and I remarked that the final bites (of miso salmon, no less) felt like the end of an era...
A delicious, blur of an era when the first month of our baby’s life was marked by the anticipation and enjoyment of our nightly meal.
The best part? The era didn’t need to end. With meals for two averaging at between $25 and $30, Katering At Home is not only markedly cheaper than UberEats, but it also put my own weekly grocery bill to shame. Which means that I will be gifting a Katering At Home delivery to myself (and every new parent I encounter) on the regular.
Visit Katering At Home for their weekly menu and to order for delivery throughout Sydney