Suggestions please for a tea to satisfy 2 strapping 9yo boys and 2 little pink fluffy 3yo girls AND impress the mother but not look like I've tried Too Hard

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Well? Ds's friend is coming for tea tomorrow and so is one of dd's friends from nursery, for the first time ever. She's coming with her mother (since I've never met the girl). What's more, the mother is this one, here

So, dd wants pink fairy cakes made in petit four cases, which I don't mind making at all. When I asked the other mother if there was anything dd's friend didn't eat she said 'oh anything, they'll have had a main meal at nursery won't they?' (er, will they? I don't really knwo much about what dd eats at nursery, oops and anyway she won't be there tomorrow) so she clearly thinks about these things.

So, I will have

• 2 boys who won't want baby sandwiches
• 2 girls who will
• a mother I want to vaguely impress in effortless fashion...

Do you have any suggestions please?

I am off work tomorrow and dd is easy to shop with so I can go anywhere and buy anything!

TIA.

How about wraps with a variety of fillings for the boys to assemble themselves? Our fave is tuna mayo, with cucumber batons or slices, shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, all in separate dishes, so they can put the wrap together just how they want it. Chicken salad is another possibility, also houmous. The girls will probably like these too.

Baked potatoes with a variety of fillings on table they can choose from

Homemade pizza? I always use pizza as a half way house between main meal and tea or, if you prefer, between chunky filling fare for boys and delicate pretty food for girls.

home made pizza? Can with wholemeal organic flour bases if said friend's mother is of the lentil-weaver variety? You could get the kids to help make the bases and add toppings, or make the bases (or buy them) yourself and put bowls out for the kids to slap toppings on. This is usually a good way to get some extra veg into them as most kids go mad putting loads of toppings on!

I would do like Mum but with Mexican stuff
Salsa,cheese,beans,chilli,sour cream,guacamole and shredded lettuce

Ice cream with sauce and sprinkles for afters?

Ooh yes, MoonDog, I like the way you're thinking!

chicken nuggets, turkey twizzlers , ribena .. just to see the look in her face.
Sorry, i am a joky mood!

Firstly don't try to impress such a idiot, she's not in your league of loveliness www!

Secondly I would go with mum in brum type approach, pitta or wraps and you could do a bit of chicken or grated cheese, put everything out on table buffet style with carrot sticks, celery, bread sticks and have cottage cheese and dips like salsa.

You can have it all ready for when they arrive and then bring out the fairy cakes and perhaps a few (home-made if you've got the oven on anyway) cookies....

I think that makes it look like you weren't putting in major effort but you were thoughtful in your approach

To be fair she might not be that snotty after all and you might have an ok time. Let us know how it goes www.

LOL Glove, that's what I wanted to say

I actualy wouldn't bother with sef-assembly but would go with tried and tested nursery food like macaroni cheese. But add lumps of pancetta (I always think of you as veggie but I'm pretty sure you've already told me you're not) and halved chery tomatoes. It's my foolproof playdate dish - never yet met a child who wouldn't eat it - though some do pick out the tomatoes. It's easy, doesn't loo as if you've tried, and yet is obviously homemade so satisfies food police. You can then produce pink cakes for girls, and something manly yet still sweet for boys - Choc loaf cake?

And you so are polished.

Fresh pasta, fresh pesto that people can add as desired, grated parmesan, sliced meats.diced veg for people to take as desired, garlic bread.

Can't go wrong!

homemade pizzas

i was going to suggest mac and cheese with nice green salad and crusty bread but I see prufrock has already done it.

I think macaroni cheese is out since I have no idea how to make it and suspect my cheese hating children will turn their noses up too.

Pizza is an option but I think ds would have nothing on his so suspect lots would get thrown away if I provided toppings. And bought pizza seems far too lazy for such an occasion. Although I have PE Margheritas in the freezer just in case!

ds won't eat tuna. or cheese. I doubt they'll touch guacamole although dd is more likely to try it. And ds likes bland food so chilli stuff is out. I would do pasta but ds and dd won't eat pesto and anyway, dd's friend will have had a proper lunch at nursery.

I don't think the mother will be snotty, she sounded really nice on the phone. I'm very out of practice at meeting new people (fine with new work people) so eek, am slightly nervous!

OK, I've thought of a new idea:

mini cucumber and mini Marmite sandwiches with crusts cut off. Very mini ones for the girls, normal triangles for the boys.
mini carrot sticks
mini cucumber sticks
cherry tomatoes
quail eggs (I can do them much earlier and peel nearer time)
maybe mini baby baked potatoes in their skins
strawberries and organic vanilla icecream

OK, well it went well.

I did
cucumber and Marmite sanwiches
cut up sausages
carrot sticks (yeah right, no-one touched them obviously)
cherry tomatoes
strawberries
raspberries
pink iced cakes afterwards

And she's very nice. It seems that she just doesn't know anything about any of the schools in our area, as opposed to 5 miles away, where she lives so I really don't think she's got anything in particular against ds's school, I don't think she knows much about it. Anyway, she's invited me and dd to tea next week, AND to a Pampered chef party AND to dinner AND dd is welcome to ride her dd's pony

She is very slim and pretty and well groomed too so that will also motivate me even more on my 10yy thread (she's also 7 years younger than me). Can't be a bad thing!

I'm pleased it went well WWW, and that she didn't know any particular deep dark secrets about your school.

I often come across people who are snooty about the school my boys go to; but it's because they have pre-conceptions about the catchment area, not because they have any real knowledge about the school, (which is superb btw.)

glad all went well www,and you may have made a new friend to boot, with a pony! Glad she wasn't one of 'those' types after all...