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Thanks, everyone! From now on, bangers and mash is off my dinner party menu and onto my TV dinners menu.

Peppercorn: you just go ahead & cook what YOU want to cook! Don't allow yourself to be dictated to by celebrity chefs or anyone else. You are the one doing the cooking, the hard graft, so you of all people should be happy with what you're presenting & eating. I have to say, I do like what Nigel & Nigella produce. I don't see it as 'dumbing down', more taking the fear/stress out of cooking. They are so relaxed about it, which is great, but I feel the results are still superb even though they don't saddle them with posh or foreign names. May you have many happy dinner parties Peppercorn! :-)

We were dinner jackets and invite guests for our Christmas dinner ( Which is on Christmas eve)

I agree peppercorn, it also makes me laugh when celebrity chefs mock fusioin food, then create oriental food with olive oil, bizzare, and gross.

But yes it is my pet hate when they start talking about simple food, like mash and pie.

Imagine serving Pie and Mash at a dinner part, you'd become a laughing stock.

I am all for simple food, but I agree why do they always poo poo complex foods?

But my biggest gripe is when they poo poo fusion food, but then do the the weirdest concocion and call it something like Australian- Asian or something silly like that, but infact it's glorified fusion food.

Peppercorn, while I do agree in principle with a lot of what you say, I don't agree that people like Nigella & co are guilty of "dumbing down" cooking.

In an age where more than half of 20-35 year olds admit to living almost entirely on ready-prepared meals, I think that programmes like Nigella's are a marvellous incentive to learn to cook proper food for yourself. OK, she doesn't show the most adventurous meals, but I think the whole point of her recipes are to prove that you don't need to spend half your life in the kitchen to eat good, wholesome food.

I think if you're a more experienced cook and want to prepare more exotic and complicated dishes for your friends, fine. Let's face it, nobody's going to be able to tell you what to do in your own kitchen anyway, are they? For my own part, I'm not a very adventurous cook, so most of my friends know that when they come to eat at my place, they're not going to get Lobster Thermidor or a dessert James Martin would be proud of.

It's surely about enjoying cooking rather than what you cook, isn't it?

Hi Peppercorn, some of your comments I wholly agree with, some, im a little against. But that isnt the point.

Just a thought, if you know well in advance when you are having a dinner party. You could write some menus for each couple or guests and the majority vote wins and thats what you cook. So you can put on there say 3 options. Two of them are the stuff you want to cook and one that you think they would want you to cook. You would have a head start in the percentages and really get a feel of what people really like to eat and the perception.

When we go out to dinner with friends they very rarely ask for fish pie (gordon Ramsey or not) or sausage and mash. So I think you might be pleasently surprised. To be honest I would be so grateful if someone went to all the trouble of cooking a lovely "posh" dinner. You have very lucky friends and boyfriend. You cook away pet.

Yes I agree with you.

Look at the menu of the week even the main course is listed as advance when would you cook it? Unless it is for a special meal to share with others you will never try it.

This does not mean if you cannot cook up a storm you should but if you can cook up a storm then go for it with all the airs and graces of a banquet. I like going round freinds and having basic pasta on my lap and I love going round friends and dressing up.

You do it and not just for your fella eh?

There are some good recipes on this site not just Ross Burden who makes some great dinner party meals but many of the others.