My first 'dinner guests'

Heineken Helen

So I ACCIDENTALLY invited the neighbours in for dinner on Saturday night :eek:

I was up early cos the gas people came to fix the heating (we have heat again wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo) and thinking about my neighbours cos they both had a bad cold so I thought I'll cook dinner tonight and drop some in for them. I called the wife and asked her what time would suit for dinner cos I'm gonna cook... and then I heard her say to the husband 'Helen's cooking tonight, do ya wanna go in?' :eek: and I thought fuck fuck fuck. So I spent the next THREE HOURS scrubbing the kitchen... ya know the kinda clean you only give it every few months... like washing the tiles and all the utensils and stuff

Anyway yeh it's not an exciting story (thought I'd be the first one to say that cos undoubtedly a few of you will butt in) but I just thought I should warn you all to be clear about your intentions, lol. I just cooked spaghetti bolognaise cos that's easy and it tasted great BUT I didn't do enough and it was like I was serving kids portions ... cos my housemate joined us too. It was fun though and I'm gonna do it again. After they'd left and I drank my 2nd bottle of wine, I texted my aunt inviting her for dinner on Sunday but she then talked me into going to hers... so I got cooked for yesterday, yayyyy!

pjfan31

Nothin worse then getting into a situation u cant get out of. I got into a sticky one with my sisters boyfriends family (who i really dont like, they are weird) They wanted me to go paintballing. I said "oooh, i dont know ive got a pretty busy life these days, we will see" and i havent spoken to them about it ever since

Jeremy1012

aww Hels This made me laugh Sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Don't you just hate it when people assume things?

dunkman

i love Spag Bol.. not had it in years :(

i always have Penne Arriabiata instead


2 bottles of wine... thats the Hells i know

Julien

dunkman wrote:

i love Spag Bol.. not had it in years :(

i always have Penne Arriabiata instead


2 bottles of wine... thats the Hells i know

i had spag bolo yesterday. I ha'nt had for months. I love that. I love all pasta...

Heineken Helen

Jeremy1012 wrote:

aww Hels This made me laugh Sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Don't you just hate it when people assume things?

Yep, it really coulda been much worse alright. Cos I ended up sitting them in the kitchen too... was thinking I should sit them at the big table but then I'd have to really really clean the sitting room too . It's clean but not 'guest' clean, god I'm starting to sound like my mother but yeh, they stayed about 5 hours so I'm presuming it went well.

Heineken Helen

dunkman wrote:

i love Spag Bol.. not had it in years :(

i always have Penne Arriabiata instead


2 bottles of wine... thats the Hells i know

well I still have 1lb mince left over so I think I'm gonna cook it again tonight now that I'm being all... womanly... and stuff! Would it be ok from Saturday? I bought 2lb and it looked like WAY too much and 1lb looked lots... but ya know when ya cook it and it shrinks? I can never judge these things

Yep, I'd one bottle of wine when they were there and drank the 2nd one after they left. I ended up hammered on my own, lol. Can barely even remember getting to bed. Haven't done that in a LONG LONG time.

Heineken Helen

Julien wrote:

i had spag bolo yesterday. I ha'nt had for months. I love that. I love all pasta...

Me too... I could totally just live on Italian food, it's the best. Hmm... if quesidillas and enchilladas were Italian that would be all my favourite foods in one simple group

dunkman

Heineken Helen wrote:

well I still have 1lb mince left over so I think I'm gonna cook it again tonight now that I'm being all... womanly... and stuff! Would it be ok from Saturday? I bought 2lb and it looked like WAY too much and 1lb looked lots... but ya know when ya cook it and it shrinks? I can never judge these things

Yep, I'd one bottle of wine when they were there and drank the 2nd one after they left. I ended up hammered on my own, lol. Can barely even remember getting to bed. Haven't done that in a LONG LONG time.

beef keeps for ages.. in fact it gets tastier the older it is. white meats dont though.. they go off .. thats the gayest thing i've ever typed on here

Jeremy1012

dunkman wrote:

beef keeps for ages.. in fact it gets tastier the older it is. white meats dont though.. they go off .. thats the gayest thing i've ever typed on here

You told us all about the size of your penis the other day Dunk...

Heineken Helen

dunkman wrote:

beef keeps for ages.. in fact it gets tastier the older it is. white meats dont though.. they go off .. thats the gayest thing i've ever typed on here

that is indeed SERIOUSLY gay but thanks for the tip. Spag Bol for dinner all week then so

dunkman

Jeremy1012 wrote:

You told us all about the size of your penis the other day Dunk...

but that was me boasting (albeit non-truthfully).. i fail to see the gayness of doing that.

now i have my flower arranging classes to organise...

p.s. that shirt doesnt do you any favours today bigboy

MattCameronKicksButt

dunkman wrote:

i love Spag Bol.. not had it in years :(

It's not difficult to make y'know. Fry up some courgettes with it if you like them and serve them seperately.

Heineken Helen

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

It's not difficult to make y'know.

it's really really simple... that's why I make it but I make it goooooooooooood... and I make a good lasagne too (well that's cos it's just bol baked with some pasta and sauce lol).

I'm gonna take up cooking I reckon... cos my sister has lotsa recipe books and we did lotsa cooking/baking over christmas. I made deep fried brie with sweet and sour sauce from scratch and it was one of the yummiest things I EVER tasted

Jennytree

exciting weekend, then?!

MattCameronKicksButt

Heineken Helen wrote:

it's really really simple... that's why I make it but I make it goooooooooooood... and I make a good lasagne too (well that's cos it's just bol baked with some pasta and sauce lol).

Rick Stein is good at doing recipes. I find his easier to follow because he doesn't miss out on big chunks of information, you know?

I'm not a particularly good cook because growing up on fish fingers and mash, I never had much chance to learn what most things are supposed to taste like. (That sounded far more self pitying than I meant it).

harmless_little_f***

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

Rick Stein is good at doing recipes. I find his easier to follow because he doesn't miss out on big chunks of information, you know?

I'm not a particularly good cook because growing up on fish fingers and mash, I never had much chance to learn what most things are supposed to taste like. (That sounded far more self pitying than I meant it).

Rick Stein is awesome. Buying him a pint is one of my 1001 things to do before I die.

MattCameronKicksButt

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

Rick Stein is awesome. Buying him a pint is one of my 1001 things to do before I die.

Same here. He's lovely. I love it when he goes off on one of his rants... about people not buying certain types of fish, etc.

He made a beer with fennel in it dedicated to his dead dag (chalky)? Really nice!

harmless_little_f***

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

Same here. He's lovely. I love it when he goes off on one of his rants... about people not buying certain types of fish, etc.

He made a beer with fennel in it dedicated to his dead dag (chalky)? Really nice!

Yep, Chalky! Poor fella. Beer with fennel? I don't really like fennel but sounds like an interesting concept.

LOL yeah I like his rants.. He kind of gets a bit carried away and trails it off with 'Um.. yeah.. sorry, I just get passionate.'

Heineken Helen

Jennytree wrote:

exciting weekend, then?!

Hahaha... nope but very busy in a kinda nice but non exciting way. Friday night I'd to show a couple of people around the house (we've a spare room) then Saturday wait for the gas people, clean, cook and entertain... then sunday I went to my aunts and let HER do all that

MattCameronKicksButt

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

Yep, Chalky! Poor fella. Beer with fennel? I don't really like fennel but sounds like an interesting concept.

LOL yeah I like his rants.. He kind of gets a bit carried away and trails it off with 'Um.. yeah.. sorry, I just get passionate.'

yeah.

I'm not a huge fan of fennell but I was surprised that it was really nice. I think the beer's called 'chalky' but I'm not sure. :rolleyes:

harmless_little_f***

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

yeah.

I'm not a huge fan of fennell but I was surprised that it was really nice. I think the beer's called 'chalky' but I'm not sure. :rolleyes:

So it's on general release? I can get it?

Heineken Helen

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

Rick Stein is good at doing recipes. I find his easier to follow because he doesn't miss out on big chunks of information, you know?

I'm not a particularly good cook because growing up on fish fingers and mash, I never had much chance to learn what most things are supposed to taste like. (That sounded far more self pitying than I meant it).

never heard of him

my sister has a couple of Neven Maguire books... He's a fairly local chef who had a couple of spots on tv, does ads and won lotsa awards. We've always gone to their family restaurant for special occasions and the food's amazing. His recipe's are all easy to make and the ingredients are all easy to source.

http://www.ivenus.com/food/features/MO-feature-Neven_Cooks-wk135.asp

MattCameronKicksButt

Heineken Helen wrote:

never heard of him

my sister has a couple of Neven Maguire books... He's a fairly local chef who had a couple of spots on tv, does ads and won lotsa awards. We've always gone to their family restaurant for special occasions and the food's amazing. His recipe's are all easy to make and the ingredients are all easy to source.

http://www.ivenus.com/food/features/MO-feature-Neven_Cooks-wk135.asp

I don't know Neven Maguire so don't worry.

Rick Stein mainly deals with seafood.
(harmless) I'm not sure if he makes it anymore. I think he only did it for a little while. I'll ask later.



(Helen, tell me too shut up if I'm ruining your thread. Don't ACTUALLY say shut up though, or I'll cry).

Edit-That makes me feel hungry, looking at that.

Heineken Helen

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

I don't know Neven Maguire so don't worry.

Rick Stein mainly deals with seafood.
(harmless) I'm not sure if he makes it anymore. I think he only did it for a little while. I'll ask later.



(Helen, tell me too shut up if I'm ruining your thread. Don't ACTUALLY say shut up though, or I'll cry).

Edit-That makes me feel hungry, looking at that.

Ahhh... me no likey seafood :(

MattCameronKicksButt

Heineken Helen wrote:

Ahhh... me no likey seafood :(

Actually, I'm pretty picky about seafood too but he does do other food as well and he obviously cooks a lot of fish which I do like.

I made a good Moussaka (sp)? From one of his recipes, simply becaue he made it easy to follow for a moron like me. Anyway...

Heineken Helen

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

Actually, I'm pretty picky about seafood too but he does do other food as well and he obviously cooks a lot of fish which I do like.

I made a good Moussaka (sp)? From one of his recipes, simply becaue he made it easy to follow for a moron like me. Anyway...

it really makes a huge difference when the ingredients are stuff you've actually heard of and more than likely already HAVE

I WANT to like seafood but it makes me gag... I just can't eat it, dunno why.

MattCameronKicksButt

Heineken Helen wrote:

it really makes a huge difference when the ingredients are stuff you've actually heard of and more than likely already HAVE

I WANT to like seafood but it makes me gag... I just can't eat it, dunno why.

maybe because it tastes like eating rubber but just tastes of salt. I know what you mean. I find it hard to chew. It's like my throat closes up.

harmless_little_f***

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

maybe because it tastes like eating rubber but just tastes of salt. I know what you mean. I find it hard to chew. It's like my throat closes up.

Come on you girls MUSTN'T have had decent seafood... no other explanation for it. Seafood shouldn't be any chewier than the 'nice fish' you said you like..

Seafood makes the world go round..

Actually the sea makes the fish go round but hey..

Heineken Helen

I dunno hlf... it's like she said... like my throat closes up... and I've never had any mental block towards it, it looks fun and interesting and I WANT to like it. Prawn cocktail are even my favourite crisps but I guess it's like uptting a really thick pink worm in my mouth

Heineken Helen

ooooohh... just saw that restaurant got the Irish restaurant of the year this year

http://www.ireland-guide.com/award/restaurant_of_the_year_2007.1526.html

it really really is soooooooooo fab.

http://www.bestofbridgestone.com/listman/listings/l0223.html