Tell me how to wow my family's taste buds.

i love to cook a good casserole, it is simple, healthy, and great for the cold weather, also any leftovers could be frozen and eaten at another time.

Biases aside, but Asian cuisine is the bomb when it comes to impressing your family! It's different and unique. One that they have never gotten used to. So Asian is the way to go! You'll never go wrong! Try a Filipino or Chinese cuisine and then finish off with a Thai or a Japanese dessert. I'm sure they'd ask you to cook for them any soon! Have fun cooking!

Bambi09, From your post, I can see that you have a heart for your family and what you do, so I do not think anything you churn out from the kitchen will not be discredited. Since you are making a meal for a certain number of members in the family, I am sure you will have many run ins with individual taste buds. Familiar with the saying one man's meat is another man's poison? I do not know about you but I picked up some good old adages from my mother where one of them is you will always your favorite when the time comes. My sister and me do not have the same taste buds and least to say the choices of veggies, meats, cuts and preparations. But, my mother will always try to strike a balance to try and accommodate the whole family on the table. Practice makes perfect, so don't worry - you will get it when the time comes if you do not give up and keep up with the dishes you do not seem to have a knack for. You may not like searching for recipes online, but I do not think it will hurt if the dish does not seem to turn out as it should. Believe me, you might just catch some really needful tips that will make your dish come off spectacularly. Have a great day.

I am Filipino and we have this national dish called adobo. I've always cooked it for my foreigner friends and they loved it and have asked me to serve them the same whenever they visit. It's main ingredients are chicken or pork, soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper, onions, garlic and voila! A tasty masterpiece. All you need to do is put marinate the meat in 3 parts soy sauce to 1 part white vinegar (or lime juice will do if you find vinegar too strong). Let stand for at least 30 minutes. Then boil the meat in the marinade until tender. You may add water as desired. When meat is done, take them out from the sauce and fry them. After frying, sautee onions and garlic in a pan, add fried meat, then pour the remaining sauce. Add peppercorns and laurel leaves. Then simmer until sauce is thick. Serve with steaming rice. Yum! I'm salivating already. Good luck!

I know how you feel. I watch the cooking channel and there are so many beautiful dishes I would love to sample but reality is my family is not that much into variety. I found the things that work with them are the simple basic meals. I have tried a few here and there but when I cook I try to cook things everyone will eat. I can just imagine it if I put lamb on the table they will all say "Gross!" I made a casserole that looked good and it was but one of my kids complained throughout the whole meal. I just try the simple basic things with guests because there is always criticism. My husband's family doesn't like new things either.