Dinner with guests tomorrow evening

[springiscoming16]

My italian cousins (wife, husband And two children aged 8 and 4) are coming for dinner tomorrow evening. They are fussy children (and grown ups) and annoys me that they say Italian food is the best one in the world and that's not true.

Anyway, I would like to cook something to make them realise there is something good also in the other cultures.

What would you cook? British or ethnic cuisine, I don't mind. I also need a pudding. Thanks.

It's dead easy spring. Classic British stodge.

If you can make a meaty sauce like bolgognaise and mash potato you can make shepherds' pie.

BBC good food has a really lovely cottage pie recipe which I have made for guests. I wouldn't usually see it as dinner guest stuff but this one is lovely.

Hang on and I will see if I can find it

This one
[[http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775643/cottage-pie is good]]

Woops to link fail

definitely dead easy - just check your seasonings, and give it plenty of cooking to let the flavours really mingle :)

I would steer well clear of shepherds pie- it's quite basic and not dinner party food.

Lamb and cous cous sounds lovely. Chicken basque is also delicious- check Delias recipie.

I would do a summer berry pavlova for pudding, chocolate brownies and ice cream and a cheese board with Parmesan, Gorgonzola, walnuts and grapes, Cornish yarg and a Cornish or somerset Brie.

If you end up doing lamb with couscous then this salad would be a delicious starter or side dish.
salad

Well , a quick update for all of you ladies that were so good to help me. The dinner was a success.......well, for my children and my husband.
I made lamb cous cous, with salad, olives garlic bread and pudding of apple crumble with custard. My cousin and husband had one plate (she actually said she liked it but not the husband) while the girl had three mouthful and then she said she didn't like it and ate only garlic bread and the boy had a tantrum at the table crying the food was disgusting.
My children had two huge plates each

Pudding, only the husband had the apple crumble with custard. The wife wanted only a bit of the "crumble" (the burnt part, even!! Because apparently she doesn't like soft and creamy food) while the kids wanted only an apple because they were disgusted by the custard.

I feel like screaming. I thank god I don't have fussy children.
They really put me in a bad mood.

Your food sounds wonderful. They sound like bellends. I hope you have left overs to enjoy tomorrow at your leisure

Hahah, yes, left overs for today. Can't wait it is lunch time!!!!

Oh I just came on to check how it went, food sounds fab doesn't sound like they're the sort of guests you want back in a hurry though! How strange, I thought all Italians are friendly, happy, love their food types! These are obviously the exception.