Well, do YOU want to know?

[lovetoscrap]

I added this to my original thread but figured it deserved another thread. If you repeatedly make a dish to serve to others that no one likes (they just take a little to be polite, gag it down or push it around their plate until they can throw it out) would you want to know about it? Especially if it isn't an easy dish to make--involves several steps and lots of prep and cook time and lots of ingredients that add up $$$ at the grocery store.

Would you want a close relative to nicely let you know that no one likes it?

(no poll, I am too tired to make one)

 

[Sparx]

do I eat it? if i do, then yes. i'll still make it, even if no one liked it.

 

[DisMN]

To be honest a good hostess would know if people didn't like her specialty...wouldn't she? I notice when or if things I make don't get eaten. I would want to know yes so I wouldn't continue to waste my time making something no one will eat. LOL

Everyone has different tastes and sometimes I'm the only one who likes something. It wouldn't offend me in the least if people don't like one of my dishes.

 

[Acklander]

I'm aware when people aren't enjoying something I cooked.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We don't operate like that in my family. Everyone in my family knows each other's likes and dislikes.

And we don't take food to "be polite". You can freely say, I don't care for that and no one will be offended.

I would have told the person right away.

 

[Meriweather]

I answered on your other thread.
If I like it, and I don't usually cook something if I don't , then I would continue to make it.
And as a hostess, I would also notice if it was "really" being eaten or not.....might make a smaller version next time and another too. Depends on my mood.
But I do like to try new recipes, so things are likely to change from year to year anyway.

 

[ragdoll]

Yes, I would want to know if nobody liked a dish that I was making. I would rather not waste my time or money on something that nobody appreciates.

 

[PatsGirl]

That was my day in a nutshell ~ spent 90 minutes making an onion dish that no one even tried except my Mom. I loved it but now I have $15 worth of carmelized onions and leeks in my fridge

 

[OceanAnnie]

No, I wouldn't want to be told. Bad enough to see it. I think if you have the inkling that no one is enjoying a dish you made, you are probably right. I'd look at the clues (dish barely touched on the plate, lots of it leftover in the pan) and pick something different to make next time.

ETA- I would want to know, but I'd use my spidey sense.

 

[barkley]

i would want to know, but i tend to think that i could tell by how much was left sitting in the serving dish (and even more so if i hosted the event and could see how much got tossed into the garbage from the plates) if a dish was'nt enjoyed.

i think with some dishes though, for the person making it, certain holidays are'nt complete unless it is included in the menu. they might not even particularly care for it themselves, might reccognize it's not the most popular on the table-but it holds some kind of sentimentality. i see that allot with older family members-"it's not christmas dinner unless x is on the table" or "we can't forget to include my mother's recipie for z". i know it's not practical, and can be a waste of money but it's almost the process of planning to cook it, purchasing the ingredients for it, and doing the preparation that makes the holiday complete for them.

 

[lovetoscrap]

We don't operate like that in my family. Everyone in my family knows each other's likes and dislikes.

And we don't take food to "be polite". You can freely say, I don't care for that and no one will be offended.

I would have told the person right away.

That is the way that I feel with my family-- and there is no sense of "hostessing"-- we are just a family sitting down to a meal. It is just my mother and father in law and DH, me and my 2 girls. Not like it is a huge formal thing.

Yes, I would want to know if nobody liked a dish that I was making. I would rather not waste my time or money on something that nobody appreciates.

That is the way that I feel. And honestly we had so much stuff left over that we all LOVED that you can't tell by that. For 6 people I think we had enough food for about 15. And I can't wait for leftovers for lunch!


But if someone sees the recipe for what I am about to make, or knows that everytime I make that people put it on their plate to be polite and then throw it out I want to know! But I am also very thick skinned and wouldn't be offended. I would be more offended if they let me keep bringing it and didn't tell me!

 

[suejai]

I would want to know. Maybe not right on the day as I'm in the middle of making it, but I would be more upset if people kept letting me make something no one likes. I would notice though that no one was eating it and likely not make it again.

 

[NikitaZee]

I'd want to know. I never understood people (in my family and others) who take offense to a negative opinion on a dish they've cooked. I often say so right up front - 'don't be shy - tell me if you really like this or not'.

 

[Carly_Roach]

No, I wouldn't want to be told. Bad enough to see it. I think if you have the inkling that no one is enjoying a dish you made, you are probably right. I'd look at the clues (dish barely touched on the plate, lots of it leftover in the pan) and pick something different to make next time.

ETA- I would want to know, but I'd use my spidey sense.

Same here. The clues you mentioned kind of give it away. There's got to be a cook's equivilent to "spidey sense", though.

My cookie senses are tingling? (No, that's when someone buys Chips Ahoy at the store and tries to sneak it past me)

My chef's senses are tingling? (I get a weird flash on the Muppet's Swedish Chef when I say that. Doo mork mork mork!)

LOL!! I got it! How about "My common senses are tingling?"

 

[DisMN]

I feel really bad....and while I would want to know I'm not so sure my MIL wanted to know. She gave us some cookies yesterday and kept asking and asking and asking if we liked them. They were some of the most horrible cookies ever baked and as she's usually a great cook I just lied and said that I hadn't tasted them yet. (thank goodness I can usually blame diabetes for NOT having a cookie. LOL)

DH told her they were "different". She BEAMED and told us they were Pumpkin Orange cookies. We thought they tasted like a dry teabag, no pumpkin taste whatsoever.

So...did my MIL want the truth or not? LOL LOL

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I feel really bad....and while I would want to know I'm not so sure my MIL wanted to know. She gave us some cookies yesterday and kept asking and asking and asking if we liked them. They were some of the most horrible cookies ever baked and as she's usually a great cook I just lied and said that I hadn't tasted them yet. (thank goodness I can usually blame diabetes for NOT having a cookie. LOL)

DH told her they were "different". She BEAMED and told us they were Pumpkin Orange cookies. We thought they tasted like a dry teabag, no pumpkin taste whatsoever.

So...did my MIL want the truth or not? LOL LOL

Cookies are a grey area....You can let her down gently and say they were not my "cup of tea". Maybe the person will take the hint and not bake them for you next year.

 

[MsDisney23]

OK your killing me here,, what was made?

 

[lovetoscrap]

OK your killing me here,, what was made?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2339485


I was curious to see if people that said there was no way they would tell someone they don't like what was made, would want to know themselves if they had made it.

 

[C.Ann]

Yes - I would definitely want to know - and it wouldn't hurt my feelings in the least..