Do you cook something of which you are particularly proud? Perhaps a special recipe? I am not asking you to share recipes, that is really for Tips and Tricks. What do you like to serve when you have guests?

Personally I am not a great one for cooking although I used to be able to produce some excellent stuff back in the days when I did cook. These days if you come to 'Chez Sue' you are likely to be served cold seafood, cooked by the fishmonger, some salad and a dessert from one of my favourite patisseries. Washed down with a bottle of Moet and Chandon.

What will you serve me if I come to dinner with you?

I remember the thread well, I just can't find it!

Can't find it either. I'm pretty sure it would be almost four years ago or more (!!!???) and it was a thread about "what can't you do" or something along those lines.

Goodness! well I am glad you still make good roasties!
Mine is a BBQ too, these days. Its such a nice sociable meal , everone sitting around in my little garden. I am sure it is the company and not the food that makes a good meal.

I agree with Ren it is the company that makes a meal. I would serve spaghetti with my own homemade sauce or Lasagna,or Perogies.
I love to have company.
PF

No devilled eggs PF, I thought you were famous for them throughout BC!

Sue, I'm not a great cook, but if you bring the M+C I'll cook you anything you like! My best dish is probably apple pie, and I can manage a good stew or roast for the main course!

I only do Deviled eggs for a very select few and as I know you dislike eggs I would never dream of doing them for you.
You are coming to visit for the 2010 Olympics with Ren aren't you? I can almost promise each of you a Mountie.
PF

Hardly ever have adults for supper, but when the kids have friends over, I usually make quesadillas, as they are easy and popular, and cheap. The way I make them is very simple, just lay a tortilla in a lightly oiled hot pan, put a bit of meat and a bit of salsa on half, cover that half with shredded cheese, and flip the other half over to cover. Cook for another thirty seconds or so, flip the whole thing over, give it another 30 seconds, and done. Cut into wedges, and repeat. Give them sour cream, salsa, and salsa con queso to dip in, and I could keep churning these out all night, the kids would keep eating.

For adults, probably something like venison stew, with homemade fresh hot breadsticks. Or maybe something I can put into the oven and forget about, like a quiche, served with a salad. Nothing that requires a lot of last minute fussing.

Thinking back to when I used to 'entertain', gosh that is years ago.

One dessert I often made was Baked Alaska, I am rather partial to it myself so that was frequently served at dinner parties - yum. I used to turn the oven to high just before serving the main course, then it would be hot enough for me to wham in the dessert so as not to keep them waiting long. I haven't made that in years, my version had the sponge soaked in liquer, very alcoholic.

Another dessert might be a Pavlova, homemade merigue with lots of cream and strawberries.

For a starter I always used to go for cold food, perhaps melon with prawns or parma ham, or perhaps a selection of cold fish or meats.

Main course might be a 'good' roast, Scottish sirloin was a safe bet, always tender and juicy. Another safe bet would be a casserole.

I do remember a complete disaster once, I used to wrap a piece of steak in tin foil and before sealing used to sprinkle dried French onion soup mix (sounds awful but was normally very good) and some moisure. A parcel was then served to each person. This particular time I have no idea of what went wrong but it was like shoe leather, so tough, it normally fell apart.

One thing I would never do is to cook something for the first time when we had guests, I always cooked somehing tried and tested.

Oooh, my guiat player was just here, working on some songs with my husband and me, and I made my speciality for dinner: venison stew. Other than that, I'm good with Mexican cooking and stir fry! And I can pour an amazing beer head! Preferably Red Stripe, Molson, or Heineken!

Um...that's GUITAR player. I don't have a guiat player anymore. They're too high-strung.

lol gretas

I often wonder about what people call different meals of the day. I have dinner at night time, lunch at lunch time but know many who have dinner at lunch and tea of a night which can cause some confusion.

Agony mentioned supper - I'd never call it supper but if it were mentioned that at a function there was going to be supper then I'd assume maybe some light sandwiches.

I was told, by posh people, that dinner is an evening meal 'served' by staff, supper is when you don't have serving staff but is still a cooked evening meal! It is confusing when people invited us to supper, very strange especially as it would be a four course meal.

Mostly I call it dinner at night, and lunch at lunchtime, and like you Copago, think of supper as being a light snack before bed. When I was a child dinner was at midday, then we had tea when we got home. I suppose dinner is just the main meal of the day regardless of time.

Hmmm - I don't use the word 'dinner' except when I say "Going out for dinner" - in that case it is the evening main meal.
When I was a kid, we called the noon meal dinner - my family had been farmers, and the noon meal was often the big one of the day.
"Lunch" was something you brought in a brown paper bag.
"Tea", here, is a hot brown drink.
"Supper" is the word I have always used for the main evening meal. If it is in an invitation, or as part of the description of an event, then, yes, it means sandwiches and cake.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner here. Or sometimes brunch or linner. Sometimes I say supper for dinner. I don't know what makes the difference. It's sort of like pop and soda. Anyway, my husband does most of the cooking, but I do make a really good chicken dish:

Chicken breasts, boned and skinned, then pounded about 1/4 inch flat. Season with salt, black pepper, a little crushed red pepper and taco seasoning / Emeril's Southwest or something like that. In the middle of each breast, place a quarter of red bell pepper and a similarly-sized piece of pepper jack cheese. Roll the chicken breast around the cheese and pepper and close the ends with toothpicks. Dip in eggwash and a coating of cornmeal mixed with taco seasoning or whatever you used above. Bake. I serve it with spanish rice and beans. Mmm.

Or, my husband could cook for you. He makes good everything. But his homemade sweet and sour or lemon sauces over stirfry with breaded, fried shimp is the best. Yes, it's just stirfry, and yes you could go down to the corner Chinese restaurant and get almost exactly the same thing, but it wouldn't be as good. His homemade sauces are delicious!

I like the sound of that chicken, minus the pepper. Er, what is cornmeal? Anyone with a British alternative?

It's just ground corn. I can't find a UK equivalent, but I can tell you it's used in polenta, and that sometimes the word polenta seems to be used for the ingredient (cornmeal) as well as for the dish itself. All the UK cooking glossaries I've come up with use the word Cornmeal, and describe it as "ground corn". And most of the Mexican recipes on the UK sites I looked through call for "Cornmeal", so I'm not sure there IS a UK equivalent.

All that is, Sue, is exactly what it sounds like. Dried corn - ground into a very, very fine meal. We [southern] yanks then put a heavily oiled cast iron skillet into a hot oven, while mixing egg, milk, teaspoon of sugar, some salt, oil and a little baking powder into a quick bread batter. Then we take the hot skillet out, pour the batter into it, pop it back into the oven till slightly golden on top. This proceedure creates a delightful crunchy surface all the way around.

You can add peppers, cheese, or whatever sounds good. I put cumin and mild chili peppers in mine.

Shows you how often I visit the baking section of the supermarket. I guess I buy the very occasional bag of flour, I only use that for thickening or coasting meat prior to casseroling, so a bag last for years.

Whatever you do, don't confuse cornmeal with corn flour, or corn starch - very very different thing all together.

I know what they are, excellent for preventing itching when you have chickenpox - just tip a load in your bath.