No-Cook Cooking: For tranquility’s sake, help prevent unpaid catering | Dining

That can be true when young children are in the mix, but it also may be a little too real for someone else you know and love. And in the spirit of No-Cook Cooking camaraderie, let’s make this the summer that That Person gets a moment to savor and remember.

Maybe it’s your mom. Perhaps it’s your spouse. It could be one of the congregation members who tirelessly organizes your potluck dinners and picnics. It could be the foodie friend who has a flair for entertaining and a knack for turning even the simplest gathering into a celebration.

Whomever That Person may be in your life, there’s a good chance he or she is the one who won’t recall seeing the memorable landmarks on the parkway or the spectacular sunset on the mountain overlook.

That Person was so busy checking off every box on the picnic food safety checklist that he or she may not remember anything else about your trip. While you were searching websites for activities to add to the itinerary and looking forward to not checking your inbox, That Person was cooking, shopping and worrying about whether you’d need a separate cooler for ice and drinks.

That Person has spent so much time planning, prepping and packing that there simply isn’t enough mental bandwidth or energy left for fun — the fun that your outing was supposed to be about. And that’s as flat-out wrong as leaving a mayonnaise-based tuna salad on the back seat in August.

Let’s face it: It’s not fair for everyone else to be enjoying while someone in your circle is too worn out from unpaid catering to care.

Start a new tradition this summer and make sure That Person isn’t permanently on duty. Let this be the year you commit to giving That Person room not to overdo, but simply to be.

If keeping travel expenses down is the reason That Person does too much cooking and planning in the first place, it’s time to pitch in and cover some costs. Maybe this is the year you budget for lunch at a casual-dining restaurant on the road so That Person doesn’t have to pack and lug a huge cooler. Finding a neighborhood eatery with local color, quirky décor and the best banana pudding you’ve ever tasted could help every member of your party come home with a happy memory — while helping a hard-working staff keep a beloved gathering place open after painful pandemic and supply chain challenges.

Maybe you’ll be the one to step up and fill a backpack with shelf-stable packets of cheese or peanut butter crackers, to-go containers of cereals, washed apples, baby carrots and a big package of wipes — and another with sunscreen spray and extra bottles of water — if you’re going tubing or taking a day hike. Give That Person a chance to think about stuff like whether the flash of feathers that just took his or her breath away belonged to a heron or a crane.

When you get home, you can give That Person’s natural habitat a little more scrutiny and see if there are other opportunities to reduce or eliminate unpaid catering. Think ahead to Thanksgiving and divide up the tasks; make sure everyone pitches in to help make cookouts, birthday parties and holiday meals happen. This can be the year you start rewarding That Person’s generosity with respect, time and room for replenishment and wonder.