Well, we did the Mother's Day dinner here, with the folks from the "doomed"
thread. Picky eaters, they, but I decided to expand their dining horizons
just a little bit.

Appetizers were cheese wontons. Half were cream cheese, half were feta. And
I made some garlic parmesan cheese-crispy-bread things. A bowl of home-made
crackers, too.

Dinner was chicken cordon bleu. I knew they'd eat this because they often
serve the frozen breaded variety with the molded-chicken stuff. The ones I
got were actual chicken breasts. I didn't roll 'em myself, but the market
had some really nice ones made, so I opted for the easy way out. I had
enough other things going on.

Tamales as a side -- both sweet potato tamales (absolutely no spiciness.
Just maple syrup, salt, and nutmeg in the filling with the potatoes) and
green corn tamales that were very mild to my taste. He ate a couple of the
sweet potato ones, and she tried both.

Edamame. Just cooked and plain. I figured they'd never eaten it, so they
couldn't say they didn't like it ahead of time. They were skeptical, but
both of them ate some. I'll use the rest in salad later, most likely.

Veggies/salad: raw zucchini, tomato, and sliced avocado. Some fresh basil
over the tomatoes and zukes, and the whole thing with just a gentle drizzle
of balsamic glaze. Considering she claims not to like basil, oregano, or
most other spices, this was risky, but I've found that if I don't mention
the spices that I use, they usually like the flavor. It was risky for him
because he never eats dressing on salad, but I didn't call it salad or
dressing and he ate it.

Bread was home made while rolls with or without sesame seeds on top.

Dessert was home made ice cream. Vanilla. With a choice of fresh
strawberries in sugar and a little sherry, and/or warm caramel or chocolate
sauce and/or nuts. Whipped cream in a can. Last time I made whipped cream,
neither ate it. Both used the canned stuff.

The weird moment was when they became fascinated with a pepper mill I had on
the table. She put pepper on something on her plate, testing the mill. But
some time back, she told me she was allergic to black pepper.

--
Donna