Is it weird if I cook for my neighbours?

[poppymaewrite]

I like cooking when I can, and sometimes I think it would be nice to share that food with neighbours. Would they find that weird?

Some things to note:

1. The food would be vegan
2. I don’t tend to talk to the neighbours much
3. The food might be dishes like mild curries, pasta dishes and bakes, soups. South Asian, East Asian, Mediterranean, Italian inspired.

Is this okay/weird? Are certain foods not okay, apart from obvious stuff like nothing too spicy.

crossed fingers that OP is my neighbour

I’d personally find it a bit odd unless your neighbours have particular needs such as are elderly, infirm or are new parents.

I’d love it if the neighbour was also a friend, I’d find it a bit odd if someone I hardly knew turned up on my doorstep with a curry.

If you don't talk to them much, it does seem odd. Maybe you could bake a cake or some mince pies and see how people react to that? It would give you chance to get talking to them, if nothing else.

Sorry, it’s very nice of you but if you don’t know them at all I’d find it a little weird unless you have reason to think they’re in need

When I make cakes at home I always make twice the mixture and take some to my neighbour. It started when DS came home from school food tech with 20 fairy cakes. Now I always include them.

They've never moaned.

Maybe start with one thing, say you had some mixture left over so you thought they might like some...and see how it's received.

Come live next door to me! I’d love it!

Why don't you find a local lunch club for vulnerable people, and volunteer as a cook?

Can you deliver vegan food to my house every night please.

I'd personally love to be your neighbour, what a nice thought/gesture!

We make mince pies for the elderly NDN at Christmas, seems to go down well. God, I'd bloody love it if one of my neighbours cooked me a curry!

I wouldn't mind if you spoke to me or not.
I'd eat the food and be thankful, because I loathe cooking.

I would be delighted if my neighbours did this
Why does there have to be a reason?

Thank you for those making the suggestion to give something a little lighter like cakes and mince pies. I actually gave a few neighbours fruit recently, some were a bit awkward but others really friendly. One of the friendlier neighbours has a two month old, so I feel that going to her with a curry might not be so odd.

Thanks for everyone’s replies, and understand people saying it’s odd to go straight in with cooked meals!

I'd find it weird. Generally speaking unless I know someone well I wouldn't eat anything they cooked. You know how sometimes at work someone might bring in some home made cookies or cake or something; I can just imagine their cat stretching on their kitchen counter tops or them sneezing whilst kneading the mixture or whatever. Of course it can be a nice gesture but if you don't know them then just make food and freeze it for yourself for the coming week.

Really nice to see people saying they would love it. I suppose there might be a bit of trial and error in figuring out which neighbours are okay with it and which ones aren’t.

It is completely weird, op, but I would welcome it with open arms. I'm imagining some kind of movie scene where neighbours start congregating at your door like zombies, demanding food. Like no good deed goes unpunished!

Why did you give fruit to q neighbour that you don't speak to much?
Was it fruit from your own tree, or the supermarket?

(Own tree = fine)

My elderly neighbour delivered homemade cake to everyone in the street at regular intervals during lockdown.

It was nice, but still a bit odd and there was kind of a reason at the time.

I think it would be hard to establish which ones really like it. If you came to me I'd be very polite and thankful and willingly eat the food, but it would leave me uncomfortably wondering why you did it and if/how I should reciprocate.

Would you be happy to accept offerings from neighbours in return?

Would you just be turning up with the food or would you warn them in advance? As most people would have their dinner sorted.

Also, you know that not everyone is that into vegan (or veg.) food and they don't consider it a proper dinner. And yes, I say this as a decades-long vegetarian who is currently aiming to go vegan.

I'd feel a bit obligated to reciprocate

Its odd to share food as a matter of course - unless you were friends and knew each other’s tastes.
I’ve had neighbours turn up with treats, or extras from a BBQ for example which is fine but not ‘I made too much for dinner’ because I’d wonder why you didn’t just freeze for another day.

I’d think it was odd to bring a main round. Not everyone has a freezer, so I would probably have trouble storing it as well.

Cakes etc would be fine if it was a neighbour I knew, if it was somebody from ten doors down I would also think it was odd.

Are there no deserving causes you can cook for? Soup kitchen, stay and play, daycentre, PTA, Women’s Institute? Somebody who has asked you to cook, rather than trying to palm your food off on people who haven’t expressed any interest?

Weird if you dont know them.

Even if you do ots not a regular thing with regular food.
If we cook a big fancy dessert or have something unusual we might share it with our neighbours. But i would not pop round with a veg curry.

I used to have a neighbour whose job was testing recipes and as she lived alone, she couldn't eat everything she cooked so would regularly pass some on to me.
BEST NEIGHBOUR EVER