Do you try to find out what friends and family members like (or don't like) before you have guests over for dinner?...Have you ever served something that a guest didn't like or couldn't eat?...Have you ever had dinner at someone's house when they served a main dish you didn't like or couldn't eat? How do you handle these types of situations? Thanks...

Not usually, you might ask if anyone has food allergies before you eat. Avoid usings nuts. Usually I prepare food that most everyone likes, Like my favorite, Roast Beef, mashed potatoes with butter and Gravy, and green beans and other veggies. If you provide a variety of food items, there is usually something you could enjoy. Its best to try to eat the food when you are a guest. It is curtious. But most people are understanding if you feel ill eating it. It also depends on how formal or unformal the gathering is.

I live in the west where many people are into eating "healthy." Some people may not eat meat at all...Some may eat chicken and turkey and fish but no beef...There is no telling what guests may eat or want...I don't invite people over for dinner very often. But when I do I try to find out about their "diet" and preferences ahead of time...A few years back my aunt and uncle staged a family reunion at their house. They decided to serve lamb because my Mom and her siblings grew up in an Irish family and ate lamb a lot as kids...Lamb was their main course and the only meat they served. Thank goodness my husband loved lamb but I don't like or eat lamb and my Dad didn't care for lamb either...We just ate everything else. We didn't say anything about it. Good that there were too many of us to sit around the table so my aunt and uncle didn't even notice that my Dad and I and a few others didn't eat any lamb.

This thread made me laugh due to a conversation I had with friends yesterday (they have two spoiled girls who won't eat hardly anything).

So you have two groups here, children and adults.

Adults

Fix anything you want. Adults should understand that a dinner invitation requires certain manners that do not include "OOOH, I don't like that!" If you are going to fix something really unusual, you can let folks know in advance "Come over for some shrimp gumbo" or Texas Chili, or whatever so they can be prepared for a shellfish allergy or a tongue scorching or whatever.

Children

You cannot please all of them no matter what. Do whatever you want with some variety.

A little girl was staying over at my friend's house while we were grilling steaks. She announced "I don't eat grilled meat". When it was ready I cut some up (I suspected it was the cutting that was the problem) and put some on her plate. I said, "I cut some up for you but you do not have to eat it if you don't want to." I saw her take a bite ... then another ... then ate it all leaving the rest of the food.

If you know whatever you are serving is good to eat, you have done your job.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

What if you held its nose?




For the vegetable finicky:
I always serve 3 vegetables with a meal.

For the salad sophisticats:
I always serve the salad with toppings aside.

For the vegetarian vigilantes:
I make a casserole of the filling nature.

For the never-ending bottomless stomachs:
I always have plenty of large crunchy breadsticks.

I just plan a meal with a theme and make plenty so that no one is shy about asking for seconds. There is always a lot of protein in both the main course and the snacks. At least one hearty veggie dish and maybe some veggie appetizers.