To be stupidly excited about finally having a social life?

[magicmummy1]

We moved house last year, to a part of the country where we knew nobody. I made a couple of good friends through work, but we have found it really difficult to get to know anyone beyond that. Finally, we are starting to find some real friends who we can hang out with as a couple (and as a family) and we've now been invited to dinner with some of them tomorrow evening. I am stupidly excited about this - a bit like my five year old before a friend's birthday party! Is this normal?!

My concern now is that I haven't done a proper dinner party for ages, and don't have a clue what to cook when we invite people back! I'm not the world's most confident chef!! Any suggestions?!! (No meat please, but fish OK!)

Congrats to you!! Enjoy your dinner party.

Just don't copy this couple when you invite them back

Hey!! Great news. Enjoy.

Just go with the flow.

I remember that thread. Don't worry, won't be serving

Am quite nervous about having people back to our house though. We used to do dinner parties etc all the time, but feel totally out of practice. Also, we don't have much space in our house and so only have a very small dining table!

Hey have a fabby time, it's good to feel excited. See what they offer you and have a browse on the net for suitable dinner options so you can return the favour at a later date.

that sounds great. Salmon is quite good.

NBU Have a lovely evening.

For returning the favour I reccomend both Jamie and Nigella for their easy recipes that just work. Don't bother with starters unless you're trying to impress people. Jamie has a yummy fish pie recipe. Delia's vegetarian collection has a gorgeous thai green curry recipe (I expect you could find it online because a lot of her recipes are). It's not posh but I really like doing something that is made in advance and just needs serving up. Last minute cooking is always guarenteed to go wrong in my kitchen. For pud Lemon meringue pie is always a big winner.

For now just enjoy your evening.

Ooh, thank you for the suggestions. I like the idea of Thai green curry, and I really like the idea of something that I could make in advance - I'll google it.

I love salmon, but don't really know what to do with it (only started eating fish again a couple of years ago, and don't cook it much!)

Lemon meringue pie - yummy! :)

Thanks all for the nice comments. Am really looking forward to having a decent night out!

If you're worried about spending all your time in the kitchen, how about a slow cooker? We use it when DH's parents are over, as I can set it to cook while I'm out on the airport run.

Anything can go in there - thai curry, chilli, casseroles. We leave a cheap beef joint in there with veg & gravy for 6-7 hours, and it is so tender!

Have a lovely time!

Risotto is good - seafood or mushroom (with truffle oil if you're feeling posh)

Jamie's fish pie is gorgeous too.

Enjoy!!

We've been in the same situation - it took a bit longer than we thought it would to make friends. Have a great time tomorrow. Why not invite them round to yours for a take-away? It takes all the pressure off having to cook and gives you more time to relax and enjoy their company