4 Tips and Tricks for Hectic Holiday Cooking if You Have Dementia

Cooking a large holiday meal is not always easy, and it can be particularly challenging for individuals that are cooking their first major meal following a dementia diagnosis. Fortunately, working with family members and making small modifications to your traditional meal can go a long way toward minimizing complications and keeping cooking enjoyable this holiday season.

Prioritize Easier Recipes

If you anticipate that cooking may be more challenging than it used to be this holiday season or you have already run into problems finishing difficult recipes, sticking to easier recipes may increase your success. Whether this means prioritizing simpler parts of your family's traditional holiday meal or browsing Pinterest for similar options that require fewer ingredients and steps, figuring out what you can do well can be more fun and less frustrating than trying to do more than you are comfortable with.

Modify Traditional Recipes

You may also be able to only cook part of a particular recipe at a time or only make that portion altogether if breaking it into smaller steps is easier than following the entire recipe. Substituting similar ingredients that are easier to work with may also help you create a holiday meal that comes close to dishes you and your family have enjoyed in the past. This can even be a helpful option if you do not have a recipe written down at all and are attempting to recreate a dish you have cooked from memory for years. In this situation, working with what you do remember may be a more successful means of creating something that comes close than you might think, even if not every ingredient or measurement is precise.

Cook When Someone Else Is Around

Even if you are capable of doing all the cooking yourself, it is best to wait until someone else is around to handle any potentially dangerous aspects of cooking. While you would have probably never forgotten to turn off the oven or how to safely use a sharp knife a year ago, cooking alone is not a good time for an unexpected memory lapse. Saving the majority of your holiday cooking for after your family has arrived or when a neighbor or friend is visiting is generally a safer option than attempting to be more independent than you are reasonably able to.

Share Cooking Responsibilities

If some of your favorite traditional holiday recipes are a bit too complicated to handle by yourself, there is nothing wrong with asking a family member or friend for help. Dividing the steps of a complex recipe among yourself and one or more family members gives you a more manageable option for contributing to each dish without losing your place and forgetting or repeating important steps.

At Senior Helpers of Metairie, we are here to assist you or a loved one in the Metairie, Kenner, New Orleans, or Westwego areas that have recently been diagnosed with dementia with a wide range of tasks this holiday season. While we know this season can be difficult for anyone living with a recent diagnosis, dementia does not have to have a negative impact on your family's holiday celebration. Contact Senior Helpers of Metairie today to learn more about the services we offer or to get started!