to think it is too late to tell me she is now vegeterian?

[listsandbudgets]

having 2 couples round for dinner tonight. this was arranged about 3 weeks ago.

just had text message from Mrs W

"hi lists just to let you know I decided to turn vegeterian just before Christmas.. so no meat, fish, gelatine , meat fat etc. Thanks."

AIBU to serve jersey a tin of macaroni cheese while everyone else enjoys starter of smoked salmon followed by roast lamb and all the trimmings?

I agree with pictish and kirsty's message. That is so rude of her, make her sort it out herself.

And yes, wouldn't be surprised if she eats the meat after all.

I've got the greatest respect for thoughtful choices, but this sounds worryingly like attention seeking ... and if it is, anything you do will be met with more of it

PP are right; text back asking her to bring something for herself, and be prepared to see her eating off the meat eaters' plates

I would maybe nip to shops or dispatch significant other for goats cheese for her starter, but make a point of getting it into the conversation that it you happened to have one in - wasn't that lucky?? Then for mains, I would do a separate bowl of roast spuds etc. with no animal fat, if there's room in your oven, and a separate jug of veg gravy, along with a tin of macaroni cheese or whatever else can be rustled up quickly from store cupboard items. I would neither go to any great effort to accommodate, in view of the short notice given, nor inflict Bisto on my other guests.

Seriously though, COULD it be a prank? As Clash points out, it's a rum old time of year to convert to vegetarianism.

very attention seeking.

Microwave cheese and tomato pizza it is

I love these kind of threads, a cheeky twat just dropping this on you.

Bread, hummus , a boil in the bag nut roast and tinned fruit salad for pud.

Sorted.

It might be a prank, actually, but you're going to have a cold response if it's not!

Puff pastry if you get some, cut into a circle, then tomatoes and pesto on it and bake.Otherwise,whatever salad bits you have in chucked in a bowl and dressed. A baked apple for pud. The lack of notice word be a deal breaker for me. Beans on toast as an alternative?

Cheeky to tell you today esp as stores will be rammed, but if you get a baked Camembert and stick that in the oven with some a fresh sliced baguette, it will make it seem as if you put loads of effort in to it. Drizzle honey and rosemary on top of Camembert too.

I am totally off meat and realised before Xmas Day that I had probably turned veggie...however I didn't tell my dad then because he had bought the food already.

she needs to bring her own. I do understand that sometimes these decisions just happen but you provide for yourself if it's happened at short notice.

I've got some Quorn lardons in my freezer. No idea how they got there. They look fucking dire.

Oooh, I love Quorn lardons and they seem to have stopped selling them! I'll take them!

As a fellow vegetarian: this woman is a rude twat giving the rest of us a bad name. I'm always mortified when people go to a lot of trouble for me, and offer to bring something for myself as standard. I can't believe she didn't offer when telling you on the day itself!

She is very rude and cheeky, but I would be the bigger person in this situation and make her something discreetly so she doesnt get what she wants (attention).

Some great quick and easy ideas upthread.

You have enough to do today without going last minute shopping to accommodate this last minute revelation. So unnecessary to tell you at this stage. I agree that you could send a very nice text saying that you don't have time to go shopping again and could she bring something suitable and of course now you know, you'll be able to plan in advance what to make for her. Grrrrrr.

If it is a prank, then minimal effort means you're less likely to be pissed off about it.

If it's not a prank, minimal effort means less stress anyway.

Plenty of good ideas here for something effective for minimal effort, and as she's been rude to let you know at short notice, well that's all she deserves.

"Haha, very funny but I'm not falling for it. If this was for real no way would you be rude enough to drop this on me last minute."

I am a vegetarian and I say get her a ready meal. Bonus points if you can find a red onion andgoat's cheese tart. She may as well get used to that dish.

I get a heavy whiff of 'look at me, I've gone veggie, please make a MASSIVE fuss of me!' in this!

Hence if you don't accommodate she'll probably whine and complain to everyone she knows about how awfully inconsiderate you were (not that this is a reason to accommodate her, but just a quite likely outcome I'd say).

I don't think last minute it would be at all unreasonable to ask her to bring something even if not for both courses, for the main. Be honest - if you have something in the house that you can cook for the starter for example then do it. I'd be annoyed because if I knew someone was veggie I'd want to go to a certain amount of effort (the kind of effort that can only happen with notice) to ensure that they had something really nice to eat.

And can I just say, I like Bisto gravy... .

Nip out and buy some vegetarian ready meals and hope she gets indigestion.

How rude.

I'd ponce out and give her cheese for the starter and whatever veggie easy warm up thing they have in Tesco. But then I live opposite Tesco.

I wouldn't bother about doing separate potatoes etc. What I might do though is put some into a separate dish, and pretend I had done them to suit her...

She's incredibly rude unless she's joking. In any case, just continue with your dinner menu and make her some pasta with pesto stir in sauce. It will literally take no time at all. She can have that with garlic bread.

Just make her an omelette with some left over Xmas cheese. I'd be happy with that (though I would've offered to bring my own main anyway.

I really hope you send the text as pp posters had suggested and not go out of your way to accommodate her - how bloody rude!

Its very poor manners - I'd expect an 'apologies for late notice' message and an offer to bring something which fits the rest of the menu.

Assuming that you want to rise above it all for the sake of the evening, a small goats cheese or hummus pot or avocado are all light on prep time. If you have anyone going to shops buy a small ready made nutloaf/nut cutlets/quorn fillet or even veggie sausage and shove in the oven with the lamb. If you have instant gravy make a small amount - its only granules/hot water to sub for the meat gravy.

I might struggle to resist a sweet but snarky 'terribly sorry its not home chiselled nutstuff, but I didn't know what else to do with half a days notice'.

I'm a veggie and have been for years, and I still think that text is bizarre. I don't see the need to share your week-old vegetarianism with anyone.

I would have asked what you were cooking, and then figured out what I could eat. I mean it's one meal FFS, if she only gets a plate of veg, she's hardly going to starve to death!