The annual - What do I feed these people? - thread

 And his argument was (mostly I think cos he didn't want to spend the money) - do you really think the weather is going to be nice enough for us to use it much this summer?  The long-range forecast isn't very good.
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I barbecue all year round.
The weather just needs to be dry... not necessarily warm!
(although i barbecued in snow once... not recommended!)

I'd go for a soup, bread and salad combo. Easy, relatively low stress and always tasty!

I barbecue all year round.
The weather just needs to be dry... not necessarily warm!
(although i barbecued in snow once... not recommended!)

Barbecuing should be like the US postal service:  "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night ..." 

All good suggestions!  I am still not sure what we have decided, if we have decided anything yet...will let you know what we come up with.  Let me know if you have some further flashes of inspiration!

Not too exciting, but its easy- you can't go wrong with paninis- for the veggies you can do tomato, pesto, cheese and you can add ham/turkey/chicken/sliced beef in there for the meat eaters- or roasted peppers, feta, and spinach or really, whatever combination works for you add some potato salad or coleslaw and a big, fat pickle on the side. Easy peasy and good! Who doesn't like a warm, gooey panini?

Not too exciting, but its easy- you can't go wrong with paninis- for the veggies you can do tomato, pesto, cheese and you can add ham/turkey/chicken/sliced beef in there for the meat eaters- or roasted peppers, feta, and spinach or really, whatever combination works for you add some potato salad or coleslaw and a big, fat pickle on the side. Easy peasy and good! Who doesn't like a warm, gooey panini?

I was going to suggest something like this...  Set out pretty plates of the ingredients and everyone puts their own together, who can complain?  Easy too, and you can't beat that!

Maybe have a look at Sara's Spinach Pie on http://vegetarianepicure.com/newrecipes/ (click on Recipe and Newsletter Archive, go to April 2004)? In fact, I'm thinking about making it myself this week! Despite the number of eggs, it doesn't come out seeming eggy at all. I can vouch that it does keep well and is delicious cold; add some good bread and salad or crudites and you're good to go.

If BBQ is out, I'd go back to the puff pastry idea at the beginning. SO easy and looks impressive. You could even do 2 - one with meat and one without. Roll it out into a rectangle, score all the way around almost at the edge and just load it up - asparagus, cheese, pesto, pine nuts, tomatoes, chorizo, etc - whatever sounds good, really! Then just bake it and the sides puff up. Looks impressive but it's beyond simple. Then maybe a really good salad along side! 

Another fab puff pastry topping is sauteed leeks with some fresh dill, feta, and kalamata olives. Or caramelized onions, thyme, and cheese--I've used Taleggio, but Camembert or Brie would probably work well.

I've used Taleggio

Mmmmmmm..... taleggio!  (drool!)

So what did we do...lol!  I was cleaning house from sun-up to sunset Friday (not even taking time to eat breakfast & lunch!), and from dawn on Saturday as well (they were due to show up around noon-ish).  Saturday morning, I looked at Steve as he was getting ready to go shopping & asked him what we were having for Sunday lunch - as in, what are you cooking?!  He looked at me with shock in his eyes - What am I cooking?  What are you cooking?  (We each thought the other was cooking on Sunday.)

I tried to talk to him about it when we were watching tv earlier in the week - it clearly went in one ear & out the other.  I'd given him everyone's ideas, and so forth...

Some emotional words ensued - mainly from me...cos it was my birthday & I'd been doing nothing for more than 24 hours (with about a 6 hour sleep) but dust, scrub, vacuum, haul boxes around, mucho laundry, upstairs, downstairs, I was getting ready to wash the kitchen floor on my hands & knees (with one bad knee)...when exactly was I going to be planning & cooking this meal, ffs!

So he pulled it together...and as the weekend weather was - in the main - rubbish...it was a very mildly spicy 5 bean stew.  We picked up some walnut bread at the deli yesterday and some onion tabard at the farmers market today.  Red wine.  Two cakes - a coconut one his mother brought, and one his dad picked up at the farmers market (raspberry/vanilla pound cake), vanilla ice cream, and strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar & sugar.  In any case, no one went hungry.

I really wanted to make something more elegant, but simply ran out of time - and it seemed better to spend the time visiting (family time) than to be slaving away in the kitchen.

The options open up a bit more now that BIL & SIL have gone home, because MIL does eat seafood & isn't allergic to aubergines - though the egg, spice, curry aversions still apply.

Oh, I've been wondering how your weekend went.  Thank you for letting us know.  It sounds like everything worked out fine.  The stew and bread sound delicious.
And Happy Birthday!!   

Glad it went well, I never did see this thread before today. 

Do you mind if I hijack your thread? Thanks!

I'm in the same predicament because DB's family is coming in a week and a half. I'm going to be home all day on the day they arrive, so I want to make something impressive, but not too much, if you know what I mean. DB isn't much help (he's missing the cooking gene and just got extra of the eating one!), other than to say nothing with nuts (his brother is allergic) and his brother probably wouldn't like spicy.

I want to do something American, but not too foreign to them that they'll not want to eat it. His brother is 9 years old, so it has to be something kid-friendly. They are also going to WV for a few days before coming here because his mum is still friendly with his grandmother, and I'm sure they'll be tired of restaurant food, so I want to do some good home cookin'.

Any suggestions?

What about ribs, corn on the cob, cole slaw, and twice baked potates.  For the ribs you can either marinade them overnight and then put in the oven on low heat about 170c, cover with foil and cook until tender.  This will take a couple of hours.  When the ribs are tender you can either finish them by putting on the BBQ to brown and then add BBQ sauce or if it is raining just turn up the heat to 200C, slather with BBQ sauce and cook until brown.  The Brits I have served twice baked potates think they are heavenly, even the children who are pretty fussy eaters.  These can be made earlier in the day then just warm up when you are ready to eat.  For the BBQ sauce if I am feeling lazy I will buy a good quality sauce at the supermarket but I fix them up a bit by adding ketchup, brown sugar or honey and a squirt of lemon juice, simmer 20 minutes.


For dessert what about a pavlova, I have a great recipe from Australia, home of the pavlova, and will share if you would like.  With all of the wonderful summer berries around right now this is a very  impressive looking and tasting dessert and very easy to make.

mmmmm...ribs do sound good. For the pavlova, I'm always happy for new recipes! I'm trying to gather ideas and then see what DB thinks.

Any other ideas?