Anonymous
Post 10/21/2025 07:58     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂


These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.


That poster is making a DCUM joke


I got the joke, the poster is clearly summarizing the terrible suggestions throughout this thread and I'm fully agreeing.


You did not get the joke, which is not about this thread at all


Are you for real? The emoji makes it perfectly clear. There are the usual bad suggestions in here. We all get it except for you apparently. Baked ziti, lasagna, hamburgers, wash rinse repeat. You must be new here.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2025 07:50     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂


These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.


That poster is making a DCUM joke


I got the joke, the poster is clearly summarizing the terrible suggestions throughout this thread and I'm fully agreeing.


You did not get the joke, which is not about this thread at all
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2025 07:44     Subject: Re:Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I like serving beef bourguignon this time of year. It’s not that hard to make, can be done a day in advance and reheated, and people seem to think it’s fancy. I use the Julia Child recipe and serve over mashed potatoes with a green vegetable on the side.


I think it's really tacky to serve someone reheated leftovers. That's what you feed the family when you're sick or rushing around, not a guest for a special dinner.


oh, bullsh!t. making something ahead for a party is not leftovers, ding-a-ling! i have a friend that makes about 30 dishes for a fancy gourmet dinner party. do you think she does all that day of?



I know...I want to ask if PP has ever been to a restaurant since pretty much everything is pre-cooked to some degree and just flash-finished. I worked in a high end French restaurant and this was certainly the case, especially with all the sauces that are very labor-intensive to make. All the sous vide steaks, fish and chicken are made ahead except being run through an extremely hot broiler or flash seared in a pan. They aren't starting back in the kitchen with raw ingredients when you order. Even pasta is par cooked. They wouldn't be able to function without precooked food.


We always have this discussion on here. I throw a number of very good dinner parties and you have to parse out the cooking and baking over a few days before in order to be successful.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 21:31     Subject: Re:Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
No on pasta, especially lasagna. Too casual for OPs dinner

I would go with pork tenderloin or salmon.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 21:23     Subject: Re:Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I like things that can be made ahead so that I’m not so busy while guests are there. My go to menu is stuffed shells, salad and garlic bread. Sometimes I might do a stuffed chicken breast with something like spinach, cranberries and Brie along with rice and asparagus.

I’m obviously not as good of a cook as the early posters, but just offering a do it
Ahead option.



+1 on stuffed shells or lasagna for a dinner party!


Agree that these are always a hit. I like they can be made ahead. Otherwise, I choose something simple but impressive like a beef tenderloin.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 21:09     Subject: Re:Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I like serving beef bourguignon this time of year. It’s not that hard to make, can be done a day in advance and reheated, and people seem to think it’s fancy. I use the Julia Child recipe and serve over mashed potatoes with a green vegetable on the side.


I think it's really tacky to serve someone reheated leftovers. That's what you feed the family when you're sick or rushing around, not a guest for a special dinner.


oh, bullsh!t. making something ahead for a party is not leftovers, ding-a-ling! i have a friend that makes about 30 dishes for a fancy gourmet dinner party. do you think she does all that day of?



I know...I want to ask if PP has ever been to a restaurant since pretty much everything is pre-cooked to some degree and just flash-finished. I worked in a high end French restaurant and this was certainly the case, especially with all the sauces that are very labor-intensive to make. All the sous vide steaks, fish and chicken are made ahead except being run through an extremely hot broiler or flash seared in a pan. They aren't starting back in the kitchen with raw ingredients when you order. Even pasta is par cooked. They wouldn't be able to function without precooked food.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 20:49     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:The momofuku bo seam recipe from NYT. Takes a long time, but very little actual work and everything is done ahead of time

It’s delicious and fun and different


Ah, I found it (Bo Ssam - seam was probably an autocorrect) - not OP but I'd like to try this, thanks!
Here's a gift link https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12197-momofukus-bo-ssam?unlocked_article_code=1.vE8.eryN.7g8ph_xeiQUA&smid=share-url

Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 17:37     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
The momofuku bo seam recipe from NYT. Takes a long time, but very little actual work and everything is done ahead of time

It’s delicious and fun and different
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 17:36     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂


These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.


That poster is making a DCUM joke


I got the joke, the poster is clearly summarizing the terrible suggestions throughout this thread and I'm fully agreeing.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 17:36     Subject: Re:Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I like serving beef bourguignon this time of year. It’s not that hard to make, can be done a day in advance and reheated, and people seem to think it’s fancy. I use the Julia Child recipe and serve over mashed potatoes with a green vegetable on the side.


I think it's really tacky to serve someone reheated leftovers. That's what you feed the family when you're sick or rushing around, not a guest for a special dinner.


oh, bullsh!t. making something ahead for a party is not leftovers, ding-a-ling! i have a friend that makes about 30 dishes for a fancy gourmet dinner party. do you think she does all that day of?

Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 17:33     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
short rib is fancy and not really hard. some kind of potato and green veg. voila!
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 16:26     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂


These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.


That poster is making a DCUM joke
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 16:25     Subject: Re:Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:I made Thai food recently to celebrate my son-in-law's promotion. 12 people. We also had one vegan, one dairy-free, one sesame allergy and one nut-allergy person.

Appetizers -
- Fish cake - Tod Mun Pla,
- Triple mushroom salad
- Creamy coconut soup - Tom kha kai

Mains -
- Chicken, potatoes, veggis, corn, and shallots in green curry
- Pumpkin and eggplant in panang curry
- Whole fried fish in tamarind sauce

served with rice and assorted dips/sauces

Dessert was homemade mango ice cream.


Great job, Indian home cook who spells veggies weird. I recognize you and admire your cooking skills!
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 16:25     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂


These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2025 16:22     Subject: Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’
Boxed soup is not something you can serve to company! That is what you take to work and heat in a microwave. Just no. Plus squash soup is incredibly easy to make. Gross.

Some things I have served recently are chicken tagine, homemade chicken parm, steaks, venison roast, and pork tenderloin with a lemony pan sauce. Anything is fine that isn’t from a box.