are we just different?

I love pretzels dipped in chocolate! I'm good with that. You would notice how much I'm enjoying by the amount I'd eat

Beauty is in the eye (or mouth), I guess. I have been to just one fest. With few exceptions, the food there was horrible! The pretzels would have been a welcome treat. I was so hungry by the time I left, I had to stop at Burger King on my way out of town. Haven't been to a fest since.

I am with you on this. We entertain a lot, have my husbands coworkers over, friends. Always really good food and plenty of drinks and snacks. I was raised that you treat your guests almost like royalty. So when they invite us over, which is not much, we are served, get this, Stouffers frozen vegetarian lasagna. Yep, you heard it. It was awful. My dinner that night...cheese and crackers.

On the other hand we have friends who can't reciprocate for a variety of reasons so they take us out to dinner once a year. We have a lot of fun and eat great food.

Totally agree Tony! When I'm hosting guests I always aim to get the "Awe holy **** balls this rocks!" I don't want to serve some hum drum crap that they can pick up in the Wal-Mart. I'd be mortified if somebody said "wow this tastes just as good as the grocery store deli section". #-o

I'm with you.  Whenever we host a party we go all out.  The last one we did had naked cirque du soleil performers swinging from our chandelier and serving bacon-wrapped lobster tails.  

Party snob here as well. We do a neighborhood party for about 50 people every year. Everything is made fresh and good quality. Spiral ham, pulled pork, home made lasagna, home made ziti, marinated roast beef for sandwiches, fresh rolls, six dozen stuffed cabbages imported from the coal region of PA, crab dip, cheese tray, cream cheese and pepper jam dip, fresh baked poppy seed and nut rolls, cookies, cheesecake, nuts, candy, beer, wine, punch, Kielbasi, shrimp tray, crab claws, fresh salsa............ The last party we went to at one of the neighbors, I took 20 pounds of pulled pork and rolls. (Everybody was asked to bring something). Next closest thing to real food was cocktail weiners wrapped in crescent rolls. Lots of chips and dip, a veggie tray, cheese and crackers, fruit.

Yep , we are different, for better or for worse. The same can be said of hobbyists of almost any type.

Re: food at parties , etc. folks provide what they are capable of - whether  because of financial reasons, lack of culinary skills, pre-occupation with work/kids/family, and so on. Like many others here, I would rather go all out to feed folks coming to my house because that is what I like to do. If the audience is appreciative, it is a definite bonus.

But I've also learned to appreciate what others provide, because I give them the benefit of the doubt that they had good intentions. My pops inadvertently taught me a lesson in humility this summer, which I'll share with you after I've purloined a few of your beers in Salado next March. Don't want to go into details here, but it was a useful lesson for me to learn. Make sure you remind me.

I don't eat out much anymore. The primary reason is the food and the cost. I had friends, co-workers, neighbors ...  say how great a steak at a restaurant was. Went there and for $18+ had a bland meal.

A good friend years ago raved how good a Mexican restaurant was. He traveled 40 miles every weekend to go there. I went there twice; figuring I hit them on a bad night the first time. I sort of felt bad for the guy. His girlfriend had a hard time boiling water without screwing it up.

When cooking for guests I will normally make something I am familiar with. If it's something new like an appetizer, I'll make a batch to sample.

caliking said:

Yep , we are different, for better or for worse. The same can be said of hobbyists of almost any type.

Re: food at parties , etc. folks provide what they are capable of - whether  because of financial reasons, lack of culinary skills, pre-occupation with work/kids/family, and so on. Like many others here, I would rather go all out to feed folks coming to my house because that is what I like to do. If the audience is appreciative, it is a definite bonus.

But I've also learned to appreciate what others provide, because I give them the benefit of the doubt that they had good intentions. My pops inadvertently taught me a lesson in humility this summer, which I'll share with you after I've purloined a few of your beers in Salado next March. Don't want to go into details here, but it was a useful lesson for me to learn. Make sure you remind me.

I agree, if your talking about people who can and enjoy cooking that puts out garbage then they are probably just lazy. However everyone can't or don't like to cook so just appreciate the fact they are willing to have everyone in their home. I was always taught and it's something I battle with our 5 year old to appreciate what you have and what others give. Since we all share a deep love of cooking we want to show off those skills and put out some awesome food. 

I'm with you henapple.  If I'm cooking for an event (family or whoever) I try to bring my A-game.  I want to wow them and hear the omg this is soooo good!

I try to deliver my best in everything which includes food for entertaining. I think it is lost on some people and those are folks who open a few jars and bags when they entertain. Different strokes for different folks.