First impressions are so important! When I meet people for the first time--especially people that I want to think well of me, I try to carefully orchestrate the occasion. Last night I invited my new son-in-law-to-be's parents to dinner. My daughter is going to be a part of their family and so I really wanted to impress them. It's interesting that almost every important occasion revolves around food--on second thought almost every occasion (important or not) revolves around food. I've agonized over this menu for weeks. Sam, my daughter, insisited that Jon's parents are quite traditional and I should stick with meat and potatoes--how impressive can you be with meat and potatoes? I finally settled on a menu of green veggie salad, baked salmon with mango salsa, parmesan potatoes, roasted asparagas, whole wheat hot rolls, and carrot cake with slow-churned caramel pecan ice cream for dessert.
I bought a new red table cloth with red napkins to go with my white china. As I ironed the cloth and napkins to set the table it dawned on me that I should have purchased navy napkins for a bit of contrast. For about a half a second I wondered if my Heaven Father would consider this an ox-in-the-mire situation if I ran quickly to Walmart for navy napkins but I thought better of the notion. At the last minute I googled napkin folding and I chose a rosebud fold (http://www.customlinenservice.com/rosebud.htm) and centered the napins in the center of each plate. Did I make a good impression? I don't know--I'm dying to talk with Sam and get a report. In retrospect I wonder if I have my priorities right--was the night really all about the food?
I have a couple of challenges for this week: What does your mom (or spouse or even you) cook when you want to make a good impression? Include the recipe if possible. Or based on our reading from How We Eat, what is the strangest food that you have ever eaten and what were the circumstances?
7 comments:
Well, I guess i will have to use someone else as an example, because i don't really cook, in fact i'm horrible. My fifteen year old annoying brother on the other hand is amazing! He makes the greatest Tri-tip steak i've ever tasted. I would share the recipe, but half the time i don't know if he knows what he seasons it with. He puts a little of this and a little of that until everything tastes just right. He also adds these seasoned and baked potatoes with cheese melted on top as his side. You don't need any sauce or added ingredient, you just need whatever he puts in front of you and nothing else. It's that good.
I haven't figured out what I would make (or what ought to be made) to make a good first impression, but it does sound like you should cook for the class sometime...
The meal that you prepared sounds delicious. I'm convinced that you left a good impression on your guests. I wish that I could just accept who I am and not worry what other people thought about me.
hmmmm... well when i try to impress somebody, i usually try to prepare some pineapple chicken, with rice, and a salad. I probably do this because it is my favorite dish and i do not know anyone who does not enjoy it. I will have to get that recipe to you later because i do not have it on hand.
I am going to have to say the weirdest thing i have ever had to eat, well the the weirdest, but the grossest. (Keep in mind that i do not appreciate sea food.) I was at a mutual activity where we played fear factor. My challenge was to eat a can of raw sardines. Just looking at them all lined up eyes and all made me so queezy. I have no idea how i got myself or even why i did it.
That dinner sounds amazing! I would think that left a good impression.
Your meal sounds delicious. You are making a good impression on me and I was not there to taste it.
Whenever my mom tries to impress she usually cooks something authentic to our culture. She will either cook pupusas or tamales or some other ethnic dish particular to our background. My parents were both born in El Salvador so my mom's cooking is very authentic. To us the food that she cooks is saved for special occasions such as Christmas or a birthday or some other celebration. To a lot of Americans the food she makes doesn't seem all that illustrious, but to us the connotation of that food carries so much importance so whenever we share that food with somebody it means a lot in our family. Anyway the weirdest thing that I ever ate was cow tongue and chicken heart. Like I said before these two dishes aren't that rare in our culture, but to American culture it's really weird. I love my heritage because I get to be a part of two distinct cultures! I love both of them and it's great to know that I can be a link between these two peoples!
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