Recently, I had the opportunity to entertain my in-laws to my house. My partner and I usually visit them at their home, but my mother-in-law was practically begging for an invitation for weeks. Whenever we saw that she would ask, 'when are you going to invite us to your place?"or"we would really like to see your location, when us come?" She went so far as to write this nagging question in a thank you letter after Christmas! Finally, I gave in and we invited them to dinner at our place.
Entertain the in-laws
One could say that the first thing I did wrong was to invite over all, but at the moment where I felt that it really could not be avoided. If I did step entertain the in-laws, they just keep asking until he became clumsy little by little, and then I would have a situation on my hands that I really didn't. And now, I'm glad, it's over with, but throughout the night will go down in history as one of the evenings more irritating that I hosted. Of course, any good host or hostess knows that if a party is not fun, it's his fault, because she or he was responsible for the list guests a good time. I feel this way in this case, too, but believe me, they are not the easiest in the world people, please.
Sticky mother-in-law
My mother-in-law, in particular, is known to be extremely critical. Even if she is a woman of pedestrian tastes, she thinks that she is at the height of the fashion, so anyone who does not share his taste for the mundane and the sticky, it takes for an inhabitant of underdeveloped cave. Worse still, it is the Backwaters of a State in the Midwest, so she knows (or thinks she knows) that anyone who disagrees with it is all simply misinformed, and adopts a very paternalistic tone when it gives people instructions on how to dress, to live and behave. In other words, invited on was a lot of pressure, and I wanted to serve something truly delicious.
Dinner
My father-in-law is a gluten-free diet, and I am a vegetarian, so my cooking options were limited. In the end, I settled on a recipe that I made once, several years ago, and which has been a great success. It is a recipe for scalloped potatoes and fennel, and I thought it would go over really well. I followed the recipe faithfully, but for some reason any he just did turn out very well. It was a little bland. For worse, Olive Tapenade I made for the occasion was too strong, because of the fact that I had never done before. Suffice it to say that I have had much better results if, instead of trying to impress, I went with something that I knew would turn well.
After dinner
The part after the evening dinner is not much better. The in-laws do not seem to love the music that I chose, my mother - and father - in - law took turns to monopolize the conversation, and at the end of the night we were all struggling to stay awake in each other's company. I should have prepared some topics of conversation or activities in advance (not that fun-loving my in-laws), or at least instructed a friend to simulate an emergency at an opportune moment.
The greatest lesson I've learned from all this is never, under any circumstances, to invite my in-laws to dinner. If I had to do it again, however, I'll try to be a little better prepared. I hope someone can learn from my mistakes.
Recently, I had the opportunity to entertain my in-laws to my house. My partner and I usually visit them at their home, but my mother-in-law was practically begging for an invitation for weeks. Whenever we saw that she would ask, 'when are you going to invite us to your place?"or"we would really like to see your location, when us come?" She went so far as to write this nagging question in a thank you letter after Christmas! Finally, I gave in and we invited them to dinner at our place.
Entertain the in-laws
One could say that the first thing I did wrong was to invite over all, but at the moment where I felt that it really could not be avoided. If I did step entertain the in-laws, they just keep asking until he became clumsy little by little, and then I would have a situation on my hands that I really didn't. And now, I'm glad, it's over with, but throughout the night will go down in history as one of the evenings more irritating that I hosted. Of course, any good host or hostess knows that if a party is not fun, it's his fault, because she or he was responsible for the list guests a good time. I feel this way in this case, too, but believe me, they are not the easiest in the world people, please.
Sticky mother-in-law
My mother-in-law, in particular, is known to be extremely critical. Even if she is a woman of pedestrian tastes, she thinks that she is at the height of the fashion, so anyone who does not share his taste for the mundane and the sticky, it takes for an inhabitant of underdeveloped cave. Worse still, it is the Backwaters of a State in the Midwest, so she knows (or thinks she knows) that anyone who disagrees with it is all simply misinformed, and adopts a very paternalistic tone when it gives people instructions on how to dress, to live and behave. In other words, invited on was a lot of pressure, and I wanted to serve something truly delicious.
Dinner
My father-in-law is a gluten-free diet, and I am a vegetarian, so my cooking options were limited. In the end, I settled on a recipe that I made once, several years ago, and which has been a great success. It is a recipe for scalloped potatoes and fennel, and I thought it would go over really well. I followed the recipe faithfully, but for some reason any he just did turn out very well. It was a little bland. For worse, Olive Tapenade I made for the occasion was too strong, because of the fact that I had never done before. Suffice it to say that I have had much better results if, instead of trying to impress, I went with something that I knew would turn well.
After dinner
The part after the evening dinner is not much better. The in-laws do not seem to love the music that I chose, my mother - and father - in - law took turns to monopolize the conversation, and at the end of the night we were all struggling to stay awake in each other's company. I should have prepared some topics of conversation or activities in advance (not that fun-loving my in-laws), or at least instructed a friend to simulate an emergency at an opportune moment.
The greatest lesson I've learned from all this is never, under any circumstances, to invite my in-laws to dinner. If I had to do it again, however, I'll try to be a little better prepared. I hope someone can learn from my mistakes.
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