Weirdest thing you’ve been served at someone’s house (or at a restaurant)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A long time ago when airplanes still served meals, I had reserved a vegetarian meal for a cross country flight. It arrived light green and just shy of gelatinous. I asked what it was and was told braised celery. I was hungry, but I just couldn’t fathom eating it.

The chef was clearly trying to teach you a lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got invited over for happy hour by the parents of DD's school friend. We were invited for 6pm. We got there at 6pm. "Oh, you're early!" We were the only ones invited - this was not a party, but literally four adults.

She then grabbed a dinner plate, dumped Ritz crackers on it, and squirted ketchup on some and mustard on others. As we chatted (they were lovely!) she absentmindedly fed the dog the crackers. We had a glass of wine, stayed for 45 minutes and then left.

Did you leave early becuase of the crackers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH's aunt served individual "salads" consisting of half a canned pear, a dollop of mayo, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese.

My mom used to make this when I was growing up. It was her idea of fruit.

[Anonymous]

My dad's wife is extremely frugal and refuses to waste any food. She also doesn't eat much - so when she goes out to dinner, she ALWAYS brings home leftovers and she and my dad will often split a meal. Neither one of those habits are actually that bad, considering how much restaurants serve you.

When my DH and I were dating, we went to visit my dad and do some skiing (they lived in Colorado.) The three of us (me, DH and my dad) got up early to head out to the slopes. She packed us a lunch to save a few bucks from the ski lodge rates. Much to our surprise, when we sat down to eat she had packed us a couple of day old McDonald hamburgers. My dad proceeded to tell us that they had gone to McDonald's for lunch and they bought two of the "Buy One Get One" deals. They split one of the burgers, so they had three leftover burgers for us for lunch! My DH politely told my dad he'd prefer a hot lunch and went to buy us food. My poor dad ate his and wrapped up the other two to take back home.

[Anonymous]

We went to visit my in laws when our kids were 3 and 1yo. The first morning we work up there, my MIL proudly served a breakfast casserole which was the following ingredients MIXED and baked solid in one pan- eggs, bacon, green peppers, onions, brown sugar, maple syrup, ketchup, with an inch layer of graham crackers/butter/brown sugar toasted crumble on top.

My 3yo took one bite and loudly yelled "WHAT THE....." Thankfully we are all very close and had a good laugh

[Anonymous]

One time when I was very pregnant, the heat when out in our house and we had to go stay with my in laws unexpectedly. MIL was working at the time and FIL had never cooked a meal in his life but bless his heart he had made dinner because we all had such a stressful day and he wanted us to arrive to a hot meal.

He boiled rice and chicken breasts in the same pot of water, transferred it all to a casserole dish and put shredded cheddar cheese on top and baked it in the oven (so chicken was boiled and then baked 30 mins) and served it with a side of linguini noodles with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Not a lick of salt or seasoning anywhere.

It was the sweetest gesture and you bet DH and I sat there and ate every bite of our boiled baked chicken, rice with cheddar cheese, noodles with cheddar cheese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One time when I was very pregnant, the heat when out in our house and we had to go stay with my in laws unexpectedly. MIL was working at the time and FIL had never cooked a meal in his life but bless his heart he had made dinner because we all had such a stressful day and he wanted us to arrive to a hot meal.

He boiled rice and chicken breasts in the same pot of water, transferred it all to a casserole dish and put shredded cheddar cheese on top and baked it in the oven (so chicken was boiled and then baked 30 mins) and served it with a side of linguini noodles with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Not a lick of salt or seasoning anywhere.

It was the sweetest gesture and you bet DH and I sat there and ate every bite of our boiled baked chicken, rice with cheddar cheese, noodles with cheddar cheese.

Hah, I love this story. Reminds me of when DH and I were young newlyweds and went to visit my little sister in her first apartment. She made lasagna with canned tomato sauce, noodles, ricotta, and no seasonings whatsoever. Served it with ice cold red wine and garlic bread that was still partially frozen. We ate it like it was the best meal we ever had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to visit my in laws when our kids were 3 and 1yo. The first morning we work up there, my MIL proudly served a breakfast casserole which was the following ingredients MIXED and baked solid in one pan- eggs, bacon, green peppers, onions, brown sugar, maple syrup, ketchup, with an inch layer of graham crackers/butter/brown sugar toasted crumble on top.

My 3yo took one bite and loudly yelled "WHAT THE....." Thankfully we are all very close and had a good laugh

LOL this is the culinary equivalent of a scroll-down fug because I was thinking it didn't sound half bad til I got to the part about brown sugar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got invited over for happy hour by the parents of DD's school friend. We were invited for 6pm. We got there at 6pm. "Oh, you're early!" We were the only ones invited - this was not a party, but literally four adults.

She then grabbed a dinner plate, dumped Ritz crackers on it, and squirted ketchup on some and mustard on others. As we chatted (they were lovely!) she absentmindedly fed the dog the crackers. We had a glass of wine, stayed for 45 minutes and then left.

Did you leave early becuase of the crackers?

NP. It was a happy hour, not a dinner; read above.

[Anonymous]

Miracle whip

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One time when I was very pregnant, the heat when out in our house and we had to go stay with my in laws unexpectedly. MIL was working at the time and FIL had never cooked a meal in his life but bless his heart he had made dinner because we all had such a stressful day and he wanted us to arrive to a hot meal.

He boiled rice and chicken breasts in the same pot of water, transferred it all to a casserole dish and put shredded cheddar cheese on top and baked it in the oven (so chicken was boiled and then baked 30 mins) and served it with a side of linguini noodles with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Not a lick of salt or seasoning anywhere.

It was the sweetest gesture and you bet DH and I sat there and ate every bite of our boiled baked chicken, rice with cheddar cheese, noodles with cheddar cheese.

Oh my gosh, you guys had LOVE for dinner. That is a super sweet story and the two of you were troupers!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in England for a few months in the 90s and every pizza was topped with corn. Literally every pizza I saw, even the ones at the chains like Pizza Hut.

I also lived in London also in 1990s and sweet corn and tuna was a common pizza topping - as well as a common topping on “jacket potatoes” that you could buy from street carts. There were other pizza and potato toppings, too, though

I was in St. Vincent for a few months also in the 90s and corn was a popular pizza topping there as well.

I went to Berkeley, and my favorite pizza at the Cheese Board had corn on it. It was delicious and didn't seem at all odd.

[Anonymous]

I was in a bicultural wedding where one of the desserts looked like vomit. Seriously. It was the most disgusting “dessert” I’ve ever seen in my whole life.
If you plan to invite people but don’t want to spend money, please don’t invite anyone, or just have a reception for family and make sure you serve quality, simple food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One time when I was very pregnant, the heat when out in our house and we had to go stay with my in laws unexpectedly. MIL was working at the time and FIL had never cooked a meal in his life but bless his heart he had made dinner because we all had such a stressful day and he wanted us to arrive to a hot meal.

He boiled rice and chicken breasts in the same pot of water, transferred it all to a casserole dish and put shredded cheddar cheese on top and baked it in the oven (so chicken was boiled and then baked 30 mins) and served it with a side of linguini noodles with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Not a lick of salt or seasoning anywhere.

It was the sweetest gesture and you bet DH and I sat there and ate every bite of our boiled baked chicken, rice with cheddar cheese, noodles with cheddar cheese.

Hah, I love this story. Reminds me of when DH and I were young newlyweds and went to visit my little sister in her first apartment. She made lasagna with canned tomato sauce, noodles, ricotta, and no seasonings whatsoever. Served it with ice cold red wine and garlic bread that was still partially frozen. We ate it like it was the best meal we ever had.

Both of these are sweet.

I can't compete with most of these meals, but my aunt used to make my kids kraft mac and cheese by just sprinkling the cheddar cheese powder on top of the boiled noodles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in a bicultural wedding where one of the desserts looked like vomit. Seriously. It was the most disgusting “dessert” I’ve ever seen in my whole life.
If you plan to invite people but don’t want to spend money, please don’t invite anyone, or just have a reception for family and make sure you serve quality, simple food.

Bicultural? What cultures? Also are you sure the dessert wasn’t expensive and quality in another culture?