Friday, May 16, 2008

No Love At Dinnertime

ok guys...i know i can be quite the etiquette snob sometimes. i admit this. but i DO feel there are some things that are just inexcusable. as a young whippersnapper, i was raised to always be polite when at someone's house, especially if they prepared dinner. i was raised to eat whatever i was offered without the "ewwwwwwwwwww" and "i don't like that" unless it was something outrageously different like pig's feet or something. for instance, the first time i tried okra, i had never heard of it and i certainly did not enjoy the slimy texture, but the few little fried green monsters did not kill me. i just held my breath and swallowed...no biggie!



oh, but now as an adult, i take a little more offense to foods that are prepared when i am an invited guest. let's speak from my point of view...if i'm having a party or an event, i will usually take some type of inventory as to what people eat/like/enjoy. i will not serve solely according to my tastes and i will usually choose pretty neutral or calmer versions of dishes. WHY!?! because everyone does not like everything doused in hot sauce like you, or covered in salt, or topped with octopus. its just a consideration in my opinion.




so lately, i've run into some (imo, inconsiderate) hosts who have served me some of the most disgusting dishes EVER! and you'd never guess what they were...on one occasion it was macaroni and cheese and the other was lamb. what was the issue with these? well the mac and cheese had SUGAR in it. so much sugar that you couldn't even taste the cheese. this was an occasion where i had to politely cover my plate with my napkin and toss that crap. EVERYONE was wondering about the sweetness and finally someone asked why was it so sweet? the host said, i like sugar in my mac and cheese. um, YOU like that mess. that is not a "common" staple in the dish...its something you added cuz you have an 'interesting' palette...but by no means should you be serving it to a bunch of people. i understand adding a twist, but is it hard to keep the twist along the lines of the original recipe like perhaps adding another type of cheese to it...maybe a differet type of pasta besides the elbow macaroni....


then there was lamb. what irked me the most was that the host asked everyone if they liked lamb. i do not. well, lamb was prepared along with some other things so i wasn't tripping, until i saw they drowned a number of dishes in the lamb gravy. ok, if everyone does not enjoy lamb, why pour the juices on stuff? and it was bland to boot!!!!! UGH! so that blocked out an extra two dishes because they were sporting lamb cologne.


i really don't feel like i am being a prude on this one. i mean, who wants to have a party and have everyone complaining or tossing their food? or leaving hungry because you either did not have a diverse menu or considerations for other tastes? so unlike my childhood, i no longer stifle the disapproval that erupt from gross food. and while i won't stand up and throw my plate on the floor and make a scene...i will however, make a mental note of this occasion *hint, hint*


***WHAT HAS SOMEONE SERVED YOU THAT WAS SO GROSS OR OFF-THE-WALL THAT COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD IF THEY WEREN'T PLAYING SELFISH CHEF? DO YOU THINK PCD WAS RUDE TO NOT EAT THE DISHES? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN EXCITED TO EAT SOMETHING THAT LOOKED GOOD, BUT WHEN YOU BIT INTO IT, YOU DISCOVERED AN "EXTRA" INGREDIENT"? SHARE...........***
***amendment*** ok, i feel like this is right up the alley of what today's topic is. so my daughter had a play-date scheduled for today. and while the mother totally ruined what i had in mind, i agreed to still continue. i rearranged to oblige her suggestion and she JUST called to cancel. things happen...thats cool. but she literally called and said "i'm cancelling for today."
there was no explanation, no apology, no suggestion for a reschedule and i'm HOT! is it too much to say, "i need to cancel for today because i am really running behind with my other errands, and i'm sorry for calling at the 12th hour, but maybe we can do something on monday." IS THAT HARD? what is with the rudeness these days? i mean, you are being very last minute, but to top it off like that is so uncalled for. i'm at my limit with this mess....PCD is about to bloooooooooow!!

9 comments:

The Pew View said...

Now baby you knows I like you since you reminds me of ma'self when I was younger so I ain't gonna take offense to you saying pig's feet is nasty. Me and my 2nd late husbands Leroy Lee loved us some pickled pig's feet. That some good eating right there at least where I comes from.
Anyway baby you ain't got to eat something you don't like to keep from being rude. Alls you got to do is sneak that mess theys tryin to feed you to their dog. If they ain't got no dog pretends your breasts knocked the plate on the floor. I do that alls the time when I eats at Mabel house. That's my best friend and all but Lawd knows that chile' can't cook to save her life. Take care now.

Signed
Ruthie Ann

12kyle said...

Believe it or not...a few years ago my co-workers bought me a chocolate cake for my bday. The problem...I hate chocolate cake. In fact, I hate chocolate cake and ice cream. The most chocolate that you'll see me eating is a Snickers candy bar. That's it. All of my friends know this. I dunno why my co-workers did that. I took one bite and threw it in the trash. I didn't wanna come off as ungrateful but I wasn't feelin' it...at all!!!

Angelia said...

I don't think you were rude at all not to eat these dishes! Yuk.. mac, sugar and cheese!
I have a very strong opinion about this subject because I don't eat beef, pork, chicken or milk products.
I have been to more dinner parties/events than I can count where I was asked about my dietary preferences... then completely ignored... I have even brought it to the hosts attention and been told once that my eating choices were "weird".
I've left many a party hungry. I am not eating something I don't want in my body just to be polite..esp. when the host is so rude!
People are crazy rude and inconsiderate! Good topic!
Love your blog!

Adrienne said...

I don't think you were rude at all! THe worse thing I've EVER had was a broccoli dish...I have NO clue what it was but it was terrible!!!

HOW RUDE to just call and cancel! People don't relize there is a way to do EVERYTHING.

Dreamy said...

I hate when people make some nasty azz potato salad. I love that stuff but some people potato salad is just plain ole nasty. And I dont feel that you were wrong for serving food that you know some people may take offense to.

And baby if you cant cook macaroni and cheese then something is totally wrong,lol.

And dont go off, ill come and taze them for no fee*smile*

Mizrepresent said...

Why would anyone in there right mind put sugar in mac and cheese, OMG! That has to be the nastiest...i guess i haven't been to anyone's house to eat in a while, so i havent' experienced anything weird, but to me, that was the weirdest, for real. And no, i don't think it was rude of you not to finish, what would have been rude is if you gagged, choked and spat it back onto the plate.

Eb the Celeb said...

thx 4 the bday wishes

Jameil said...

i may be ill at the sweet mac & cheese. i like to try new recipes for the first time on people. maybe not the wisest but it's usually something almost everyone likes. sigh.

Elle said...

Sugar in mac and cheese? Um, hale no.