Cooking to Please

I am having good friends over for dinner tonight, whom I absolutely adore. However, I do not adore cooking for them, as is the case with most of my friends and family. As a passionate cook, creating meals to please the lowest common denominator is always a challenge that dampens my spirits. There are allergies and other medical conditions, vegetarians, and plain old fussy eaters to contend with. My own children are pretty adventurous, but they are not always hearty eaters and that is also hard for me. Nothing pleases me more than when others enjoy my food as much as I do. Luckily, my husband is a bon gourmand, so I can always count on him to equal my enthusiasm at the table, except for dessert, which he prefers to be of the chocolate variety, and there are only so many chocolate cake variations a girl can make.
I just received Laura Calder's new cookbook this week, French Taste, and she also speaks about how difficult it is to entertain in North America these days because everyone seems to have dietary restrictions of some sort. She is a wonderful cook who uses the best ingredients to prepare simple French dishes that are often loosely interpreted, which suits me fine, because I believe that always being shackled to recipes removes all creativity and the chance to create something truly amazing. That is not to say that recipes are not essential to the perfect results of some dishes...but I digress. Today, while trying to concoct a menu that would please all palates, I came across a passage in French Taste that reminded me of why I love to be in the kitchen. Calder writes about how her father is a great inspiration to her. He is a casual, fearless cook who loves to "play". Her explanation for his carefreee style is that his approach " has to do with cooking to please yourself, instead of striving, martyr-like, to do whatever it is you decide will please the rest of the world. (And also) it comes down to not taking yourself or your food too seriously." I don't know how serious I am about my food, although I take my ingredeints very seriousy, but I sure spend a lot of time trying to please all of the eaters around me. So, I have decide to cook for my own pleasure more often. As a matter of fact, on Monday, the kids will be out, and I plan on making something absolutely fantastic for me! Phil can have some too, I guess, but really it will be my meal. I will have to come up with something new. I'll keep you posted...
In the meantime, short of not inviting anyone over anymore, I will need to cater to my friends and family this weekend. So for the menu tonight, I have come up with:
Aubergine Tartines (I don't know who will eat it, but I think it will be delicious!)
Chicken burgers marinated in fresh herb, olive oil and garlic on fresh ciabatta
Garden salad (from my garden)
Quinoa tabbouleh
Fruit tart, plum/apricot and peach blueberry (they just came out of the oven and look fantastic)

Not too shabby if I do say so myself!