I'm looking for a little help. My FIL is coming to visit next weekend, and I've never cooked for him before. This is only the second time he has come to visit since I've been married, and the first time I was three weeks post-partum...and did NOT cook. Anyway, I was wondering what you ladies cook when you are trying to wow company (but doesn't keep you in the kitchen all-day-long)?

Indian food... can be made ahead of time, for the most part, and it's exotic enough that people seem nicely wowed by it.

Either that, or a roast. Again, doesn't keep me in the kitchen forever, and it looks impressive when you carve it up at the table!

Tough question to answer since I'm not sure about your cooking style and likes and dislikes but here goes...

1. If you make some fresh bread ala this recipe you could serve it with day old mac and cheese from a box and he'd be impressed. The technique takes a bit of practice to learn how it works with your oven but it's easy and delicious. Here's some help. This is the method I use for our regular bread baking (different recipe) and the stuff gets inhaled.

2. My latest favorite recipe source is "Chocolate and Zucchini." There's a book and a blog. Her chicken stew is delicious. And thankfully someone else has typed it into the internet so I don't have to.
Now, a, don't let the amount of onions scare you. I'm not fond of onions but I love this stew. and b, don't let the cost of those onions scare you. It's totally worth it. Serve with rice or pasta. And the leftovers make a lovely sauce for pasta. I've also made this more weeknight-ish and used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and it still turned out great. You could cook this while baby is napping, stash it in the fridge and then just reheat it when it's time to eat.

If it would work better for you, I have a curry chicken recipe that assembles in about the amount of time it takes to preheat the oven and cooks almost as fast. Just let me know.
Good luck, and have a great visit!

if you want to be scary easy - you can steam veggies, frozen stuffed pasta, and a fancy jared sauce (think vodka or cream sauce - Chris has easy recipes for both, but also available via jar) and just throw it all together! Serve with a bag salad with dried cranberries and nuts plus a good loaf of bread and olive oil! and wine! yummm!

hmm maybe i need to invite someone over and make this myself! hahaha!

Lylah! i love indian food and am so afraid of making it! I am clueless about spices other than 'italian spices' or 'lemmon pepper' ... i need to buy a book with pictures

Hey all, after I posted this question, I got to thinking...do I really want to make something that I've never made before, when I'm already nervous about results?...the answer came down to a big fat NO. So I thank you for all your suggestions, but I made enchiladas instead. I used a rachel ray recipe that I've made before and love. It worked out well...I think people were impressed, and I didn't end up freaking out (usually a good thing). I'm going to have to try out your suggestions though (as they sound absolutely delicious).