Come Dine With Thy Neighbour
Have you seen Come Dine With Me? It's the only programme (apart from The Apprentice) that I make a point of sitting down to watch. I love it. As does Karen.
If you've not seen it (I don't know if the format is used in any other country) it's where four strangers from the same city go to each others houses on consecutive nights of a week and get cooked for (and "entertained") by the one whose turn it is to host. After each night the other three guests give the host a mark out of ten. The person with the highest score at the end - after they've all cooked for each other - wins a grand.
Well, like an idiot, I suggested our own take on this format to some of our neighbours a while back, as we discussed the programme. The idea being that we do it with three couples off the street, but (and here's the twist) it's the men that cook.
Why I suggested it I don't know. I think I'd had a few beers and didn't think we'd actually get to doing it.
Like a lot of men I "can" cook but I don't. I looked after myself for ten years and can prepare a square meal that's editable, but I never cook for other people. Therein lies the challenge.
On Saturday night things got underway and we went next door where Pete cooked for the six of us. Alpha male competitiveness aside I have to say he did a great job and has set the bar pretty darn high for Rob (who cooks late May) and I (who has until at least a month or two to prepare).
Pete prepared his own carrot soup, followed by fillet of pork with peppercorn sauce, boiled spuds, asparagus and carrots. For pudding he made a raspberry creme brulee (he even blow-torched the top!). All very nice.
For post-dinner entertainment we played Guitar Hero on the XBox -- complete with a pair of guitars, mic and drumkit. Whilst fun I have to mark him down on that as I soon bored of it and there's little to no interaction with your guests. All it did for me was confirm that I have no rhythm and am completely tone death.
Overall I am going to score 7 for his night. I have a feeling others will mark it higher though and I'm already predicting a win for Pete.
What am I going to do!? Should I start looking for inspiration or can you guys help?
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"...and can prepare a square meal that's editable..."
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@Dragon: My wife wants to know why that's funny, while my eyes are watering from laughter. Good one.
Hey Jake
Haha, wicked. Defo must've been a few too many beers :-)
Inspiration? Why don't you start a Domino-powered www.comedinewiththyneighbour.com and let people put their recipes, rankings and positions online :-)
And forget Guitar Hero ... how about Wii ? Maybe a bit more group interaction friendly?
And I agree with David - maybe something that's editable ... it'll offset you being tone death :-) (Jake, I'm pulling your leg - I'm not used to you making typos, hehe)
Re food - bizarre as it may sound, my fave cookbook because whatever I've done from it has always worked beautifully - http://www.jamieoliver.com/jme/books/info/cook-with-jamie/100003.html :-)
Keep us updated how it goes and we'll promise not to take the mick out of typos anymore :-)
Marky Mark
Haha. Editable meals. Sounds like the future of cooking to me.
You could always dish out enough alcohol that no one would remember! LOL - just kidding
Why not have some form of entertainment first, then you could eat. Afterward you could perhaps enjoy a different game.
We have some friends that enjoy putting on themed house parties (in a few weeks they're having one with an Alice in Wonderland theme). But all of the kids are there so the theme is really for them.
This sounds like a fantastic idea! I may steal it and implement it here in Seattle.
Oddly, Wii and Mark Bittman recipies work well for my wife and I when it comes to entertaining guests.
I have long been converted by the Jamie Olivers and Gordon Ramseys of the world- I tell you, if you can get started there will be no stopping you. I've had a "Come dine with me" setup with a few mates for years now and there's nothing better.
There's been loads of good stuff on Ramsey's "F - word" program, really tasty and easy to prepare. These are a few of my favourites... (though you'll finds loads of gems on the C4 website from different shows)
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/popular-dishes/pasta/crab-linguine-with-chilli-lemon-garlic-and-parsley-recipe_p_1.html
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/black-bream-peas-recipe_p_1.html
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/salmon-en-croute-recipe_p_1.html
All I can say is, do as much as you can before anyone arrives- no matter how easy anything appears, if it has to be cooked while you have friends waiting it stops being fun.
Good luck!
(For what it's worth, GH is excellent for post dinner entertainment. I always find poker to be fun too, but it's always the first timers that win!)
I'm not going to speak to the cooking side of things, but something you can do for entertainment is a game like Cranium (http://www.hasbro.com/games/cranium/home.cfm). I get together with a group of friends at least once a year to play the game and it always results in lots of fun. We usually pair up the guys vs the gals, which creates a great dynamic, since you are probably more likely to rag on your "better half". For added fun you can even place a bet for the winning/losing team at the end of it all. At our last gathering, the losing team had to sing karaoke, with each song chosen by the losing team's "better half".
If you have 4 couples...total of 8 people...try something like 'How to Host a Murder Mystery Party'...which basically makes your guests part of the entertainment...it is fun, and takes a couple hours and can be done during the dinner hours as well.
At least I can give you an easy recipe of my favourite meal. But be careful: Once starting to eat you cannot stop because it is so delicous...
http://domino.do.funpic.de/phpnuke/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7
Good Luck,
Mark
This looks good http://www.potnoodle.com/
Obviously plan A is to dazzle them with a brilliantly cooked meal, sparkling conversation and sophisticated entertainment.
If that fails goto plan B.
Get 'em drunk, server M&S nibbles and play Twister.
Nowerdays... there is nothing to worry about this task for you!
Just think of... the most powerful american is today black, the best rapper today is white and the most popular cook is british....
My assumption is that Oliver or Ramsey is the popular cook? I say thee nay!
If you're feeling adventurous, Jake, Rock Cornish Game hen can be really tasty prepared on the grill. Keeping with that theme, marinading some summer squash, red and green peppers and red onion in Italian salad dressing over night in a plastic bag in the fridge and then roasting them in a basket or on skewers makes a flavorful and robust side dish. Round it out with some baked potato (in foil, on the grill or around a fire) and you have a great summer meal that can be cooked as part of the pre-dinner entertainment out in the garden.
Entertainment that involves a game console seems like a cop-out to me. No offense to those who enjoy it but I remember real dinner parties thrown by my grand parents when I was a wee lad - the staple was party games made up by the host that got everyone interacting with each other, laughing at themselves and one another. It helped a lot that almost everyone had three or more fingers of bourbon or scotch in a tumbler.
Have fun, Jake, and don't be afraid to experiment (with some cookbook inspiration).
Best rapper in the world is white MM? - Surely some mistake.
Good luck with the meal Jake - You'll have cooked, digested and forgotten the thing while I still struggle with xpages - Like starting out all over.
Jake
just read this about a recent series of CDWM did any of your meals go on so late?
http://www.liverpoolconfidential.co.uk/Entertainment/TV-and-Film-Reviews/Come-Dine-With-Me-exposed_16021.asp?eid=1030
Hi David.
No, ours all ended respectably early.
Interesting read though. I'd always expected "reality" TV was partly fabricated.
Jake