Oklahoma Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What do you make when you have friends over for dinner?
Whenever we go over to our friend's houses for dinner, they always make what I consider to be gourmet meals. Whenever we have friends over, I usually get in a huff because my husband won't allow me to cook something from the PW cookbook.
So...what do you make?
Re: What do you make when you have friends over for dinner?
Missing our little turkey.
Estimated Due Date 11/13/12 | Natural Miscarriage 4/17/12
We've never had friends over for a sit-down dinner before, but we also don't really have a dining room or a lot of kitchen space...our floorplan is pretty awkward. But if we had the space, I would probably make spaghetti or lasagna or something like that - I totally would not judge a PW meal. In fact, I could see myself feeling fussy by the time my guests arrived if I tried something terribly complicated. I'd love to be the kind of girl who could whip a gourmet meal onto the table, but I just don't have the practice.
Though I could see amanjay pulling that one off.
I made fancy foods for "fancy dinner" (literally what we called it) and even included an amuse bouche. Dinner took about 3 hours, but I had my friends sit at the table in the kitchen instead of the dining room (so I could be a part of it) and we drank and listened to music between courses. I did do a LOT of prep in advance.
That's not normal for me, though. Normally, I make cajun food and have the main courses simmering on the stove when they arrive (so I can just put the bread in the oven while we're noshing on appetizers) or we do potlucks.
I guess my menu probably won't be much of a surprise to you, but I prefer things where I can make most of it ahead of time and can enjoy spending time with guests. As you know, my other half likes to get started making the meal the minute the guests arrive... Anywho, our standard dinners are usually enchiladas/beans/salsa/guac/chips, pesto, or grilled steaks/chicken quarters/salmon with a vegetable side. I love doing a roasted vegetable medley in the oven - very low maintenance and pretty tasty, especially when you can add in those veggies you may not eat very often.
My favorite place to look for inspiration is here - www.americastestkitchen.com. I don't see anything wrong with using the PW cookbook though.
The only time we really have people over is in the spring, summer and fall since our house is small we try to have people over when we can hang-out outside. We have get togethers at the lake too-those are my favorite kinds since they are so low maintenance. We usually just grill out burgers, dogs, polish, ribs, chicken and then we have diffrent chips, dips, beans, and different types of cold salads.
When I get a bigger house I plan to have people over more and thats when the "real" cooking will take place.
I've made salsa chicken (salsa and chicken breasts in crock pot to cook for 4-5hrs, last 45 min add can of drained corn, some beans, and a block of cream cheese. Tavia's recipe I'm pretty sure!), we've grilled steaks, burgers, pork chops, chicken...usually make a big salad and have rig potatoes (yukon golds sliced in bite size pieces with green and red bell peppers, onions, jalapenos and butter and spices). Usually whoever is joining us brings a side dish or a dessert. We keep it simple--I'd die if I had to make anything fancy. Too hard, too much stress.
ETA: I usually do light apps, like buffalo chicken dip, chips and salsa, and ALWAYS jalapeno poppers. (halved jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon).
I keep it pretty simple so I don't have to actively be in the kitchen while people are over. Depending on the weather, here's my normal rotation:
Pasta dish (lasagna, baked ziti, spaghetti), fresh salad, bread
Grilled items (chicken, steaks, etc.), with sides like baked potatoes, salads, appetizer foods, macaroni+cheese
I've done Mexican themes, and typically offer at least two types of meat (shredded chicken and pork tacos, or both beef and chicken enchiladas) with Spanish rice, chips and salsa, salad
Chili and cornbread
Burgers and sides
I keep meaning to have an appetizer themed dinner for some friends but something always gets in the way.
In the summer, we'll grill something (usually brisket or steak) and have sides like potato salad, fruit salad, etc.
In the winter, we'll also sometimes grill and do things like chili.
my bookshelf!
Bloggy
H likes to make 'fancy' stuff, but it doesn't mean it is complicated. He likes to grill steaks. That is the standard meat for company. Last time we had people over, we had a seasoned pork roast with grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes. Our guests thought we were fancy and amazing cooks, but I just shoved things in the oven. They didn't cook a lot. We grill burgers in the summer for a casual lunch party.
I like to branch out and make other recipes, but some of them seem cheap. I'm making a dish tonight with shells stuffed with ground beef, green chilies, salsa, french fried onions and cheese. It's really good, but not something I would serve company.
Oh, we had enchiladas for H's parents two weeks ago. I've also made them pad thai. I made lasagna for my family last time they were over, it was a special lasagna because it has more than just my normal one.