The Dinner Guests.....

On Saturday last nine of us came to tea,

There was Alison, Claire, John and me,

and Steve & Ruth, Matthew, Graham and Shirley,

Down to Sussex our friends Sue & Steve to see.

Now poor Sue she worked so very hard to please,

The hostess with the most-est entertaining with such ease.

There was Goulash, rice, jacket potatoes and stew,

and for puddings Crumbles, Trifles and cakes too.

But there was something amiss all was not well,

As some food was not eaten and here there's a tale to tell...

Of fuss pots and picky eaters so selective in what they eat,

they had only had one thing in common, they all ate meat.

The puddings were the hurdle that day by the coast,

That challenged even the very best of a re-union host.

For the recipes used flavours normally loved by most

but sue would have done better if she'd just given them toast!

Now let me try to remember the individual fusspots one by one

and you'll understand her frustrations by the time this rhyme is done.

The trifle looked beautiful with Cointreau, Cream and Stem Ginger too,

But sadly the ginger was disliked by all but a few.

I didn't eat ginger nor did Alison or John it seemed so unfair,

because neither did Ruth, Steve,  Matthew or Claire!

Ruth didn't like coffee at all so the coffee cake was out,

along with mike, Steve, Matthew, Claire and Shirley I've no doubt.

When we looked deeper we saw that as a group we're difficult to please,

Firstly there is Shirley who cannot abide the taste of cooked cheese.

Then Graham and Matthew cringe up at the thought of a banana,

even if it were the freshest and tastiest straight from Ghana.

Sue herself doesn't help with her own choice of dish,

for the one thing she can't stand is a wet slippery fish.

Claire and Alison won't touch anything in the least bit spicy,

And offering spray cream to the Devon contingent left them a little icy.

For myself it is Banoffee pie that is my hell,

and rich cream leaves Graham feeling quite unwell.

But Steve number one is the man of the match

for he says he can eat whatever you catch.

So if you are running a party for friends just like us,

Don't treat them with care and make no fuss.

Don't bust a gut to do something special cause it'll just make you blue...

no instead tell them that there's just bread & butter and it'll have to do!

M.Thomas

So when a dear friend pulls out all of the stops and creates some fantastic food
then we really shouldn't have the temerity to let her down!


Psst But the Pineapple cake was to die for!

Dedicated and with many thanks to......

My very dear friend Sue.

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