The Sunday roast is a staple of the British week and regularly voted one of the best things about us (even beating a cup of tea and queuing – which are definitely things we enjoy as a nation). But as much as a home-made dinner is lovely, it has its downsides and sometimes the best option is to just head down the pub. But if you are struggling to convince yourself that outsourcing is the right thing to do on this lazy Sunday, I have complied this handy list of supporting arguments that should do the trick. Ahem…
1: No cooking
Let’s start with the obvious – you don’t have to do anything. Don’t get me wrong, I know that some people find cooking enjoyable, therapeutic even (I am not one of them, but each to their own) and home-cooked food is by far one of the best things on earth when done well. That being said, having a delicious roast dinner appear in front of you as if by magic with absolutely no effort on your part is a joy that everyone deserves to experience once in a while. Preferably on a Sunday when you probably can’t be bothered to do anything.
2: No dishes
There is no enjoyable way to do the dishes – this is an unfortunate fact of life. Scraping all the plates and trying to figure out where is best to start so you don’t have to replace the manky water after 2 minutes. Then to add insult to injury a piece of soggy food has the audacity to touch your hand *shudder*. No thank you. And don’t think owning a dishwasher makes it any better. It takes approximately 200 pieces of kitchenware to make and consume a Sunday dinner and none of them were designed to fit in your appliance together. Then after all that you end up having to wash the pans by hand anyway so you’re back to square one. In the pub, the dishes disappear as magically as they arrived. Ta-Da!
3: There’s always one…
People have preferences because people are annoying. I can say that because I am one of those annoying people. I (controversially?) prefer mash to roasties, enjoy over-cooked beef and NEED to have mint sauce on absolutely everything – heathen. Trying to kindly and calmly adhere to these kinds of predilections whilst balancing 7 pans of veggies on a 5-hob stove is a bit of a nightmare and you deserve better. Unfortunately, you can’t swap your family, so if you are forced to entertain such bothersome guests, the pub is where those things are no longer your problem. Et voila, everyone is fed and happy and you don’t find yourself screaming into a tea-towel in between peeling carrots.
4: Alcohol on tap – literally
What do you fancy? Beer? Wine? G&T? Whatever it is, they’ll probably have it. And even if they don’t, they’ll have something else that you didn’t even know you wanted but you definitely do now. It beats resorting to the half empty bottle of Chardonnay someone left in the fridge after that party you had in the summer.
And finally, …
5: Two words
Dessert.Board – “Oh, hello there, yes, I’ll have one of everything, thank you.”
So there you have it, if that doesn’t convince you, nothing will.
Happy Sunday Funday!