PF and I make seafood chowder when we want to impress without working too hard. Its a little expensive to get the seafood, but it can be done in less than an hour and can make a whole meal with a salad and fresh bread.

What do you do when you find out company is coming for dinner TONIGHT?

roasted vegetables with goat cheese in puff pastry.

sounds complicated, but is actually incredibly easy. you can either put the goat cheese in the pastry with the veggies or make a white sauce with goat cheese. while the veggies are roasting you have time to frantically clean the visible parts of your house.

A phone call to Papa John's.

Barbecued sausage with sides or chili.

This time of year? Tomato salad:

- heirloom tomatoes
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- fresh basil
- lots of garlic

Serve it on toasted "good bread" with fresh mozarella.

Although if company were actually coming *tonight* I think I'd just get fancy pizza and fancy salad from the fancy pizza place up the street...

Probably steaks.

either chicken cheese crescents or we grill some chicken.

Main dish: Whatever's in the fridge, placed in a nice serving dish and tarted up with some "fancy" garnishes like lemon zest, twisted citrus slices, or sprinkles of paprika.

Sides:
- Fresh peaches from the neighbor's tree (which hangs into our yard). Serve with plenty of napkins.
- Add your choice of almond slices, roasted peppers, kalamata olives and/or feta or goat cheese to the usual salad.
- Some fancy bread with small bowls of oil and balsamic vinegar at each place. If you have time, peel and cut garlic cloves in half and toast the bread slices. They can rub the bread with the garlic right at their place before dipping.

Dessert: Sliced oranges sprinkled with cinnamon. Tastes sweet, but everyone loves you for not spoiling their diet. Offer iced coffee as well (make ahead of time and take the pot off the coffee maker before dinner to cool).

Other: White tablecloth and candles on the table. Cloth napkins. Percussion instruments out of reach of toddlers.

It's all about the extras.

prolly tofu hot wings or Mexican food. I have a tendency to cook man things.

but the lady can whip out all kinds of stuff. She has been representing with recipes from 2 cookbooks lately: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and Vegonomicon.

We're big into Veganomicon here too. We just got it and it is full of yummy things.

Chicken and beef teriyaki kabobs, cucumber, tomato, and onion salad, French bread or baguette.

I make my own teriyaki sauce with soy sauce, honey, mirin, rice vinegar, freshly grated ginger, and pepper (and I'd add some red pepper flakes if kids were not involved). Marinate cubed (1.5"x1.5") chicken thighs and beef (a roast of some sort) for at least a couple of hours, better if overnight.

Put on skewers with mushrooms, onions, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini, etc. and grill. My mouth is watering.

For cucumber tomato salad, thinly slice peeled cucumber, red onion, and tomatoes. Toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, freshly chopped basil, freshly ground pepper, and salt, if desired.

Buy the bread.

Wine or beer to accompany.

kanachick, Papa John's, Yes! Can not beat it.

If I find out early enough, I throw a roast in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots, and onions. Heat up a can of peas and make gravy, and it will just have to do. If they're really lucky, I'll have some "real" (not fluffy sandwichy) bread that I can toast with garlic and butter.

But since I usually find out people are coming when they wander through the front door, and since those esteemed guests are usually males between the ages of 15 and 25 and come by the half dozen, they get spaghetti with sauce from a can. It's cheap and can be made in large quantities, and if they complain, I throw things at them. If they're nice, they might get kool-aid instead of water to drink.

Yeah, I'm a great host.

pork cutlets, with either rice or mashed potatoes and buttered peas. It's quick, easy and doesn't take a lot of work.

For dessert, brownies that are pure chocolate and nuts with some ice cream on top.

Hot dogs, Annie's Mac and Cheese, and beer for the adults - oh yeah! I rule!

Annie Mac and cheese rocks my world Sadie!

Our friends and family know that I LOvE to cook and entertain, so it's not unusual for us to get a phone call at least 2 or 3 times a week that someone is stopping by in the evening.

This time of year I grill dinner every night because it's too damn hot. It's usually some variation of what's always in our fridge:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts/Pork Loin Chops/Ribeyes/Shrimp/Fish with Balsamic & Honey or Fresh Garlic & Fresh Rosemary

Multicolored Bell Peppers, Portabellos, Apsaragus, Sweet Onions, and/or Broccolini on the grill with EVOO and Fresh Garlic, then topped with Fresh-Grated Parmigiano Reggianno

Basmati Rice or Grilled Red Potatoes

Fresh Fruit, Frozen Sarah Lee Poundcake, & Whipped Cream for Dessert

When it's cold I make a lot of roasts, baked pastas, and soups.

Something grilled: usually steaks w/ this roasted garlic rub or pork chops in raspberry chipotle sauce.

Veggies: tossed salad with fun stuff or roasted broccoli w/ garlic cloves. I *heart* the salad bowl I use for company. It's the pewter-looking stuff made to look like it's made of giant lettuce leaves. The servers have subtle Beatrix Potter-esque bunnies on the handles.

Cous cous or a good loaf of bread if we need to fill out the menu.

Dessert: I often ask our guests to contribute that if they ask. Otherwise, I've been a big fan of ice cream cakes and ice box pies this summer. Cranberry-apple pie for my husband (his b-day, x-mas and Father's Day). Cupcakes, if there are kids involved.

When it's cooler, I make Sofrito Chicken in the crock pot for chicken tacos, round it out w/ tortillas, black beans, salsa and guac. When it cools off, we need to rememeber to start a thread for everyone's favorite crock pot recipes. Not too soon though. I'm in Texas, so I'll be ready for this in November!

Salmon fillets poached in orange and red wine in the oven. serve with tiny new potatoes, asparagus, that sort of thing, or a roasted tender veg mix. and wine. and i would totally make either tapenade toasts or gougeres for nibbles. And baked cheesecake desserrt flavoured with whatever is good for the time/people (so like berries, or mars bars, or whatever semms like a good idea at the time.)

it's winter here, can you tell?

ps - i freaking love seafood chowder. and that habit you usa's have of serving it in a round loaf. freaking wicked idea.

If I have enough notice to let dough rise, then this time of year I'd make grilled pizza--fresh dough, fresh tomatoes, basil, and hot peppers from the garden, and fresh mozzarella from the store down the street. And then grilled fruit (whatever looks good) with vanilla Haagen Das for dessert.

If not, or in the winter, then depending on who is coming, either a vegetarian lasagna (layered eggplant, sauce, fresh spinach, cheese, and pasta) with garlic bread and salad. Or a shrimp/chicken/fish/whatever's in the fridge curry with lentil, whatever vegetables I have on hand curried up, basmati rice, poori, and a yogurt-cucumber-onion salad.

In either case I'd bake some kind of cake and serve it with fruit for dessert.

if it was summer, i'd do the asian thang. All of it. Cos i love.

Everything sounds so colorful and yummy. I wish we could start a dinner club!