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Original poster

First time cooking for boyfriend/girlfriends and expectations

20 replies

RedRuby152 · 07/06/2022 20:05

I don't have any real experience with dating anyone and the one time I tried to cook for someone I liked i was in university and they were Greek so I tried to make Greek food and it went awful, so just random musings came into my head. If you or someone cooked for you for the first time what kinda meals are expected? I doubt there's many shepherds pies going for the first meals and I feel a frozen pizza is quite common but doesn't really scream romance.

But then I thought let's say someone made something delicious is that setting the tone that people expect that throughout the relationship l, like if someone burns a pizza is that a big deal and you'd expect crap food throughout.

Sorry I'm just bored and thinking to myself and I know this won't be a situation I find myself in anytime soon but would like to be prepared if I did!

OP posts:

Applespearsandoranges · 07/06/2022 20:22

I was cooked cocktail sausages, spaghetti, Broccoli & sweet chilli sauce with a side of those frozen baguette pizzas
married ten years now and in dps defence he was moving so using up freezer stuff

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/06/2022 20:27

You learned the first rule which I don't try to cook someone's food for them. Cook your own!

The second rule is light food so you're not stuffed for the romance later

Mymoneydontjigglejiggle · 07/06/2022 20:33

The first meal DH cooked for me was chilli that was so incredibly spicy neither of us could eat it. The second thing was chicken wings with a side of....chicken. That was weird. It hasn't really set the tone - I'd say DH is a decent cook and now we have DC he is stricter on ensuring plentiful and varied vegetables with every meal than me! I can't remember the first thing I cooked DH but I'm definitely better at cooking now than when we met - as a student I lived on scrambled eggs, pizza and crisps (not all at the same time!) so couldn't really get much worse.

MintJulia · 07/06/2022 20:47

Play it safe. Cook something simple that you've cooked a million times before.

I did omelettes with a good filling, and a decent glass of wine. I can't cook well and I wasn't setting expectations that I had to live up to. 😊

BabbitAndBink · 07/06/2022 21:17

I'd probably do homemade pizza with store bought dough because it's a fun activity. In that vein - homemade dumplings, rolling sushi, taco bar.... or if I wanted it to be a light meal, maybe some frozen appetizers like mini quiche or samosas with some deli offerings like olives, cheese, dolma etc.

MarmiteOnToast · 07/06/2022 21:31

When i first got with dh we were discussing things from being small and he said about a favourite meal as a kid being turkey dinosaurs, croquettes and beans.
When he came round straight from work a later date i cooked that.
Even now occasionally he'd ask for it when we do meal planning for the week. 8 yrs later

RoyKentsChestHair · 07/06/2022 21:34

if you’re not a keen cook, don’t! It’s not a treat for him if he gets a shit dinner and it’s just stress for you. Get a takeaway or go out to eat. If you want to treat him to something nice at home, there’s better ways than with food

dunpaying · 07/06/2022 21:38

When I met my OH , I asked him to make an effort for dinner .. he wore a shirt and proper shoes , the table was set beautifully I may have borrowed some posh bits from my mum . Told him hope he's happy with white wine as it would go better with the meal , he said yes , fluffed his napkin .. then I served up
Beans on toast with a poached egg on top
It was yum and he mentioned it at our wedding ! 😂

molehill50 · 07/06/2022 21:40

Dh served homemade bread rolls as part of our fairly casual meal. I think I could have married him on the spot. He is still a brilliant host if friends and family come over.

Matildahoney · 07/06/2022 21:44

I made Goan curry the first time he came round, let's just say it ended up very overcooked 2 hours after he first walked through the door!

powershowerforanhour · 07/06/2022 21:47

First meal my first BF cooked for me was pasta all'arrabbiata. It was cooked properly but I'm not that fussed on it anyway , and he'd added tons of olives to it. I hate olives. I tried to force down as many as I could and thought I was doing quite a good job of not showing that to me olives are like oil slicked seawater in solid form. Unfortunately I ran out of pasta to swallow the olives with before I ran out of olives, and he looked at the sad little pile of leftover olives and said oh...you don't like olives. So I was rumbled and just wished I hadn't eaten any of the olives cos I'd made it through so many I was trying not to retch.

Siepie · 07/06/2022 21:55

I wouldn't try and cook Greek food for a Greek person! If he was new to the UK, I might try something traditionally British - or just take him to the pub!

Generally I'd go for something I'm confident with, rather than something I might mess up. I think the first thing I cooked for DP was a veggie curry - with sauce straight out a jar! Tasty and didn't take up too much time when we could be doing other things.

Original poster

RedRuby152 · 07/06/2022 21:56

To be fair I'm a very much improved cook than I was when I was 18! But it really was rancid I was meant to Marinade some meat I think chicken with wine and other stuff and when I went to cook it. It stunk and looked what I can only describe as a stereotypical witches potion from film's.

Like I say I don't foresee it for me anytime soon but I'm in a romance(y) mood and was just one of my thoughts, another was others exciting first date experiences but I don't think it's necessary to have two threads at once

OP posts:

ElspethBoomingHowsen · 07/06/2022 22:04

A guy once made me lunch. It was a bacon and egg cob, but both were deep fried and it was awful! So fatty and greasy and it makes me cringe thinking about it now!

Pheonixgirl · 08/06/2022 14:03

A guy I'd only been in a couple of dates with called me at work one morning to ask if I fancied lunch out and if so he'd come and collect me from work and bring me back, I was quite pleased as I thought it showed he was keen and my colleagues were very "nudge...nudge" about it all, well he duly collected me took me to his Mum's and made me a Pot Noodle...to say I was disappointed was an understatement...I was too embarrassed to tell my colleagues as I knew I'd never hear the last of it so I had to fib, after a couple more similar incidents wit him I called it a day.

Goodskin46 · 08/06/2022 14:11

DH (married 17yrs) made me fajitas and a banging strawberry daquari. I did stir fry.

Camomila · 08/06/2022 15:09

I made DH chicken dippers - we were at university and he wasn't even my boyfriend then.

DH made me inedible pasta bolognese.

We've both since learnt to cook!

TheDogsMother · 08/06/2022 15:16

My now DH made me a pasta dish with mussels. The last time I'd eaten mussels I got violent food poisoning and hadn't been able to face them since. I made myself eat them to spare his feelings.

Solosunrise · 08/06/2022 15:24

I cooked first - he asked for (and got) liver and bacon with onions and mash!
The first thing he made for me was a big ham baguette with salad, unexpected and very welcome after a morning's work.

tealandteal · 08/06/2022 15:34

I made DH a starter with avocado, bacon and onions, he had never had an avocado and hates bacon and onions! Then we had lasagne which is still one of his favourites. I went for something I knew I could cook well without messing it up, and the majority of the prep could be done before he arrived.

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