Like the Chinese restaurants in China have no idea what fortune cookies are 
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My H and I are opposites on salad/salad dressing. He likes none - I mean NOTHING AT ALL in the form of a dressing homemade store bought, lightly done - nothing!!! I like my dressing and I’ll take his. 
We went to a neighbors house recently for dinner. New neighbor, first time visiting to eat. As we were talking (and before we could say anything if we wanted to) she dressed the salad. H didn’t eat a bite. He would literally gag.
If you REALLY don’t like salad dressing light may not matter - it’s still there!!
Because they likely originated in Japan and were brought to San Francisco by Japanese immigrants, where they were discovered by a Chinese restaurant 
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If there’s something that can be added later as a condiment, such as salad dressing, or a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, it really is 1000% more polite to let guests DIY. If you put cheese or a dressing with cheese or dairy (aka ranch) on my husband’s salad he will be sick and in the bathroom. Otherwise he loves a salad and that would probably be his favorite thing at the meal, but if you put cheese or a dressing with cheese/dairy you’ve completely messed it up for him. I don’t really like many onions in my salad so I usually pick them out or if they are offered as a condiment I skip them. My MIL’s partner hates cucumbers so he picks those out. My D22’s girlfriend hates tomatoes, but I don’t think she’d eat a salad anyway. My 22yr old loves all the veggies but is vegan so no cheese please, yes to all the onions and cucumbers, though. It’s really not hard to leave this stuff to DIY. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do it this way?
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For new guests to the house, always ask about allergies and vegan/vegetarian preferences beforehand and have something prepared accordingly.
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I always ask people I invite to dinner if they have dietary preferences. I can usually accommodate most people and don’t have an issue with doing so. My youngest daughter’s bf was a vegan for a year or so and my youngest D is a vegetarian who eats fish and eggs. Boyfriend gave up veganism and now eats fish and eggs. A pasta dish (evoo with garlic or a homemade tomato sauce) is something both will eat.
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Just as a followup. We had a wonderful family dinner last night at our home for 9 of us in advance of husband’s retirement today. We did have guinness beef stew, bread and kerrygold butter, and an Irish composed salad with a creamy tarragon dressing. Everyone loved it and I appreciate all the input here about this. Happy Holidays!
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In our family we usually do pot luck and whoever hosts does the main dish…and they’ll usually tell us what they’re making so we can bring other dishes that go well with the main dish…
I made that Irish stew, my family loved it.
My husband and I were the only locals. Our kids,DIL, and our siblings(and one of the spouses) traveled from 4 different out of state locations to attend husband’s retirement. So, potluck was not possible or practical, and we were happy to provide everything. It was the least we could do in appreciation for them coming by train, plane, and automobile to attend. My sibling and H’s two siblings hosted all 9 of us last night at our favorite local restaurant after the retirement ceremony(which had a nice reception after the retirement). And a bunch of us (family and some coworkers), hung out at our favorite local brewery before dinner. It was a wonderful day.
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Wonderful. I did add some Yukon Gold potatoes(which I think the recipe did say you could do) and some worcestershire sauce, but did otherwise follow the recipe. I think it would be good over mashed potatoes too but it was a very busy day and I thought the potatoes in the stew would be easier. Glad you enjoyed it!
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I bought refrigerated mashed potatoes!
Yeah in some cases potluck isn’t possible. Usually if we have people coming from far away, we either go to a restaurant or everyone chips in to help pay for the meal or we all offer to help the cook get everything cooked or on the table…that way no one is stuck doing all the work. This year we did take out for Christmas as my step sister in law had just had surgery and we didn’t want her to have to cook or do any work
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Ok guys, invited to a neighbor’s for dinner; she initially declined my offer to bring my own food and said she thought she could figure things out. This is my response (any thoughts? It’s hard to be polite but also insistent):
Totally happy to circle back after the holidays (I understand!), but I will save you time – I do not think GF puff pastry exists, so please just go ahead and make it as usual!! And truly I don’t mind bringing something – I actually prefer it, ever since I went to a friend’s for lunch and they served me (unknowingly of course) something that had gluten . . . besides being unbelievably sick for days, I ended up needing surgery for the hernia caused by the severe vomiting. So I have some anxiety around eating away from home!
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I think your response is great!
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