Jeff Mauro is making the season bright by sharing his top three tips for hosting during the holidays.
“No. 1, do as much ahead of time as possible. And this even comes down to the baked goods, especially the cookies,” Mauro, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month while promoting his Food Network show Holiday Wars. “My mom makes 15 kinds of cookies. She [starts] three weeks prior, and then she brings out all the cookies on plates. They’re all mingled together.”
The Kitchen cohost recommends putting the prepared cookie dough in the freezer ahead of time and baking it later.
“Pull ’em out the day of. So, when everybody’s eating dinner, you still have the warm oven on,” Mauro said. “You slip a tray of those cookies in there, so, by the time they rest, they’re still warm chocolate chip cookies to serve for dessert right after dinner. I mean, there’s nothing better than a warm chocolate chip cookie.”
Mauro’s second piece of hosting advice? Make sure your music is party-ready. “Do not neglect the playlist,” he said, suggesting “Motown slash Phil Spector-style Christmas” music. “I know that Phil Spector’s a bad person, but unfortunately he made some of the greatest Christmas music of all time.”
Jeff Mauro. Jeff Schear/Getty Images for NYCWFF
The celebrity chef warned against “modern Christmas” tunes, “because then you get weird pop stars doing weird versions of songs you love. And you’re like, ‘What’s up with this version?’ It’s no good.” He also encouraged having at least three hours worth of music queued up.
Finally, Mauro urged all holiday hosts to allow themselves “a glorious 15 minutes before everybody gets there [to] pour yourself a glass of wine.”
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He continued: “Have that first swipe of dip or that first shard of parm right before anybody gets there and the people — the locusts — descend upon your beautiful spread. You sit there and you have a little something to eat. Watch the fire crackling. Listen to that wonderful playlist you just put [on]. Before the storm hits, you need to kind of enjoy the calm.”
Mauro will soon be taking his own advice, as he’s hosting this Christmas Eve.
“I love every Christmas Eve, I change up my menu every year,” he told Us, noting that he’s diverted from the Feast of the Seven Fishes he grew up with as an Italian American. “I kind of moved away from that. We’ll do shrimp, we’ll do maybe a salmon, [and] a fried shrimp we always have, but I change it up. I’ll do Mexican Christmas Eve, I’ll do Greek, I’ll do Americana with fried chicken and mac and cheese. [It] keeps me excited to make the menu [new and] not just [repeat] the old standbys.”
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The Sandwich King personality added that he and wife Sarah Mauro, with whom he shares 15-year-old son Lorenzo, “start planning months ahead” for the Christmas Eve festivities.
“We do want to make it beautiful. And my wife [does] the center pieces and the candles and the music, I do the playlist. I mean, there’s so much beyond the menu that we put value in,” Jeff shared. “We want to make sure that everybody feels invited — and then you can’t get rid of ’em.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi