queencru's Profile
Why I am trying to feed you? Because I love you!
If that's the issue, you'll probably need to have a clean kitchen a few times they come over before they'll be comfortable with eating your food. If the kitchen looks filthy, I think people might be worried about health/safety even if the food does taste delicious.
Food & Dating
This doesn't seem like a big deal to me. She was disappointed with her dish, ate some of it, and didn't say that much about it. I think that's the best you can expect from the situation. Not every date is going to go perfectly or be a wonderfully magical experience.
Food & Dating
No disagreements there. I am hoping I misunderstood the OP and that was the case.
Food & Dating
If my date tried to "make the restaurant get it right," he would not get a second date. That is something for me to decide to do, not my date.
Food & Dating
Was she acting like a drama queen? I wouldn't ding her too much for putting cheese on her pasta if she was just trying to cover up some flavors she didn't like to be able to eat it. Did she have specific reasons for disliking it? I've been to lots of disappointing meals and normally I just laugh it off if it's just a matter of my taste being different from the chef's taste. It's really no big deal. Not every restaurant meal is going to be wonderful. I know with my coworkers we have a lot of heated discussions about which Indian or Greek restaurant is better and it's really all a matter of taste.
Expanded Posts
I've noticed lately I'm going into threads while still logged in that are expanded, even though they are listed as having new posts. This is the first time I've seen this problem in several months.
_______ ruins my figure/diet/life
There were these Country Ma'am cookies in Japan that I would eat to excess, and most other people I talked to who ate them had the same issue. The strange thing was that they were not that delicious- the green tea flavor was rather gross- but you just felt compelled to eat them until the whole box was gone. Thankfully, there were only 16 cookies to a box, so it didn't do that much damage.
Why I am trying to feed you? Because I love you!
There could be a lot of reasons why people aren't enthusiastic. If you're using the best ingredients all the time, it may be that people can't tell the difference between the expensive and the cheap, or they just don't feel comfortable eating what they find to be extravagant foods on a regular basis. It may also be that you aren't taking into account dietary restrictions/preferences. I don't eat red meat normally and while I'll certainly be polite and eat it if someone prepares it for me, I'm not going to be eating it with a huge amount of gusto or raving about how delicious I found it. It may be the same thing if the food you're preparing is too spicy or uses flavors that people aren't necessarily used to.
It's possible to use your cooking skills in a way to try to make more traditional dishes a little bit more exciting. If your guests like that, then you can try something a little more exotic until they are more used to what you are preparing. I think with suitors especially, you have to start out slow.
Food & Dating
I think a good first date choice is usually inexpensive, relatively familiar, and not time consuming. This does not have to be a chain by any means. I think the issue with higher end places is that they tend to give off the wrong impression and can take much longer than the inexpensive ethnic eateries.
As a non-drinker, I am not too fond of drinks as a first date. I think regardless of whether I did drink, guys tend to go into TMI mode with spilling their life stories to me after just a few drinks at a bar. I want some mystery after the first date.
Ever miss out on a special culinary experience because of a food allergy or health-related dietary restriction?
Yes. I'm allergic to alcohol, so there are a lot of things I cannot do. Even going into wine tasting areas with other people can be difficult for me because I have trouble breathing.
polite/creative ways to get out of going to bad restaurants with friends
I'd say there are better options- perhaps suggest that people rotate who can choose the place within a certain price range? How often do you see the friends? If you you don't get to see them that often, isn't it better just to suck it up once a quarter than to end up denting the friendship because you don't like the places selected? I know in my group of friends, sometimes restaurants are the best choice since we all live so spread out and need something in the middle. For birthdays, you should absolutely suck it up. You can always eat something beforehand to save money.
First houseguests in over a decade, and I'm beginning to panic [moved from Not About Food]
If you're going for easy and fast, I'd say some bread/pastries and fruit salad are probably the way to go. There is little prep/cleanup time and it's not too heavy for that early in the morning. Not everyone drinks coffee first thing when they wake up (coffee kills my stomach if haven't eaten first).
You probably want a decent array of drink choices and a few snack items for the rest of the day as well. Some people may not be able to make it from 5am to lunchtime without anything, so I'd imagine small, healthful snacks like cereal or granola bars might be appreciated.
Why don't you RSVP? Honestly.
I've been invited to plenty of large parties where RSVPs are not expected. I think these days with electronic invites, it's a lot harder to ask for RSVPs for a large event where some pay have been told by word of mouth while others got a Facebook or evite. I don't really see a mass invite (e.g. 100+ people invited) via Facebook to be that personal and necessarily merit a response.
Anyone Else Not in Love with Thanksgiving Cuisine? [moved from Not About Food]
We should start our own green curry thanksgiving.
New behavior of posts under Stories
I'm curious as well. I think it's a lot easier to miss everything over there with the new layout.
Anyone Else Not in Love with Thanksgiving Cuisine? [moved from Not About Food]
Some people (namely me) find turkey boring regardless. I've been to meals where the cook has done a great job of preparing the turkey and seasoning it well, but it still doesn't appeal to me. Just like anything else, turkey is never going to appeal to everyone. I like it fine in sandwiches and as ground meat, but not in the standard preparation.
Anyone Else Not in Love with Thanksgiving Cuisine? [moved from Not About Food]
Most of what I read about what would have been served at Thanksgiving makes it sound a whole lot better than what is actually served today- lobster, fish, clams- sign me up!
Cleaning up a party/Letting Guests help
If they are close enough friends, you should be able to be direct with them. I had one friend who apparently didn't use a dish drying rack and would try to "help" me out by putting the dirty dishes in there with the clean when he was helping me tidy up. I'd have to explain to him that now I'd have to redo the entire clean dish rack, but that I would be doing it alone at a later time. I should have been direct with him initially.
Anyone Else Not in Love with Thanksgiving Cuisine? [moved from Not About Food]
I don't enjoy Thanksgiving meals for the reasons you mentioned, nor does anyone in my family. We just find that they are too bland and uninteresting, plus the idea of having leftover turkey for weeks on end is just not appealing. Like you said, there are plenty of interesting preparations with traditional ingredients, but I rarely see any of them. At the moment I am trying to figure out how to gracefully get out of my workplace's Thanksgiving lunch. I would probably avoid eating it even if it were free, but I enjoy so little of it that I can't see paying for the meal voluntarily.
A decline in home cooking?
I have no problem with the salad in a bag because it's not always possible for people to use the amount of raw ingredients they'd have to get to make the same thing. I'm imagining myself trying to make a fruit salad from scratch and I'd have a ridiculous amount of waste. Some of us are single people and don't wish to have to have people over for every single meal so we have the ability to make food from scratch.
Comment ratings?
I think this would be a horrible idea. If someone agrees with a restaurant review, s/he is free to respond and say as much. From what I've seen on other sites, if someone gives a balanced positive review, she'll get a lot more positive ratings than she will if she gives a balanced negative review of a restaurant that most people like or hate.
do you ask guests about food sensitivities and allergies
I don't think it's worth bothering. Assuming you give a good selection of dishes and label them clearly, people should able to pick what they want and avoid the rest. Typically someone with a life-threatening allergy will tell you she can't have peanuts, shellfish, stone fruit, etc.
Etiquette for "adults only" invitation and host's child(ren)
I don't get it either. As long as all the adults involved can drink responsibly, there shouldn't be a problem having family-oriented parties that include alcohol. I remember attending parties as a child that I am pretty sure included alcohol for the adults. The primary considerations should be the timeframe of the party and ability to provide interesting activities to both the adults and the children. A party that starts at 8pm is probably not appropriate for youngsters to attend more than just making an appearance and going to bed.
Dinner Club Ideas
You could do traditional winter foods- instead of just picking one country of interest, you could have people pick winter food options from cultures that interest them. You'd probably get a lot of interesting soups and stews that way. You could also do a warm color theme and have people make dishes with sauces from the warm side of the color spectrum.
Etiquette for "adults only" invitation and host's child(ren)
I think it's a bit much to expect that the host won't have her own children in the house at the time of an event. Not everyone has friends/family members who will be willing to watch children in their own house and/or have them stay overnight if the event will be ending way after the children are asleep. Until my grandparents moved to my hometown when I was 8, I think I was almost always home when my parents hosted events. I went to bed fairly early and they could either start after I was asleep or have someone watch me until I went to bed.
I imagine that in the case of the baby shower, the hostess invited one friend so her daughter wouldn't be bored to tears the whole time. I was at a restaurant a few months ago where women were having a shower and there was one lone child who looked 3-4 who had to amuse herself by playing with the wrapping paper. I thought she'd be much happier having a friend with her.
NY Transplant in Tampa needs help
Whenever I've gone, there's not that much of a wait if you get there in the first half of the hour. All the seats fill for the first sitting by 5:30 and then there's a lineup until about 6, and then there are seats available again.
Returning the dietary choice favor
I agree. I think it's rude to make requests at a potluck and you just have to suck it up and bring something you really like for yourself if you don't think others will bring anything for you. We have potlucks seemingly weekly at work and it seems like only half have any non-starchy offerings. They're just the easiest and cheapest foods to make and store for large groups of people. Things like large veggie plates usually have to be refrigerated, and there isn't always room to hold something of that size if it's not going to be served immediately.
My beef with grocery stores recently
I haven't seen what you mention for the BOGO. Usually the price is just the price of one of the items at the standard regular price, not some inflated price.
