The cleaning done before a guest arrives can make hospitality appear more effortless than it was.

Ease is manufactured in advance. The calm host with a clean kitchen and something already in the oven spent two hours before anybody knocked, and the whole point of that work is that it should not show. It is generous and slightly dishonest, because it makes hospitality look like a personality rather than a set of tasks.

Accept the gift without believing the illusion, and say thank you for the preparation as well as the evening. If you are the host, consider letting some of it be visible: peel the potatoes while people talk to you. Guests are usually more comfortable in a house that is still being run.