How do you handle unexpected visitors at dinnertime?

I think it is rude for people to just drop by at any hour, especially at meal time uninvited. However if it were to happen, I would offer them food to be polite.

It happends to me sometimes so I just ask if they would like to join us for dinner.Most of the time they just say no that they ate allready.So my hubby and I just sit down and eat. I dont like doing this, but my hubby says there is nothing wrong with it.

In Nepal ,there is great respect for unexpected visitors. Those who visit us without notifying about the visit , we respect them. There is one philosophy behind it.According to the philosophy " The God has frequent visit plans to everyone without notifying the visit."

definetly i will offer my dinner to he guest.

I was raise in a very large and close family so I am very used to people just dropping by unanounced. It is not a big deal to me actually it is better for us as I have never really learned how to cook for less then 8 people and we only have 5 in our family. Company is always nice to have and I like knowing that no matter what I always have enough to feed whoever may stop by. If for some reason I don't have enough, like you I usally have a backup in the fridge or freezer that can be added real fast. This very seldom happens unless of course it is my family dropping by then who knows how many there will be joining. I don't mind as I rather enjoy it.

Really i always get nervous from the unexpected visitors "i don't wanna say from the expected ones too" but if this situation happened to me,from the polite i should invite them to the dinner even if it is just enough for me and then made a tea or something and chat a little while i trying to ending the visit. By the way thanks for the chicken cooking procedure.

Well, that is so great for you. It sounds like you are really a nice person and welcome people like that. I would get mad when pople do that too, I just think it is rude to do that without calling first. So, that maybe I can have plenty to feed everyone.

I usually dont run into this very often, but when I do, I offer whatever we are having for our guests. My husband doesn't like people over at dinner, and he gets mad, or just quiet, which I think is rude. It's not like we have a sign outside our house that says...Dont stop by it's dinnertime...so I'm just happy that whoever stopped by, is there. Theres always something in our cupboards or fridge to accomodate an extra guest or two, so I dont see the big issue, I like company, he doesnt.

My husband grew up with a different background. He has a large family (8 kids) and his parents each have/had 13 and 15 siblings. So lots of cousins and stuff. People always drop in where his family is. I have a hard time adapting to that when we go for a visit. There is constantly people around. Of course Dh's mother is used to cooking for a crowd so always has plenty of food on hand. I was raised differently. People always called before stopping by. No unannounced visits. I do not have enough food to serve people who drop in. Just yesterday DH's cousin dropped in. DH came to me and said they were taking the kids sledding. I held up my hand and told him I had a schedule. DD has Taekwondo at 6, dinner is at 6 because I have physiotherapy at 6:45. He said, okay, we'll be back in an hour. No notice, no asking, just says yes to anything someone wants to do because he loves socializing. He did it again tonight. His brother phoned from the airport. He was on layover and had a couple of hours to kill so DH said he was going to see him. Hold on! DD has newspapers to deliver which you have to help her with because it's bloody freezing outside, and tonight is soccer registration at 6pm. Not only did we not know his brother was going to have a layover in Toronto, we didn't even know he was flying from anywhere. We didn't even know he had left home. He just phones out of the blue and says, "I'm here. Come see me." Sorry but I am a very scheduled, organized person and hate when things go off the beaten path for me. I know, I should learn to be flexible. But I think people should respect others by calling ahead. We can't always drop everything just for "you".

Unexpected visitors what are they ? ... I haven't had visitors for years .. let alone unexpected ones ..heheh!! Everyone knows I have my fibro problems .. they know I am not always feeling at my best .. so no one comes round without ringing first .. and mostly I go to others houses because it is less work for me to get myself to their home than it is to make my home tidy and visitor friendly ..

in our country, it is in our culture to be hospitable so in this situation we do invite the guests to have dinner with us. personally though i prefer that the guests plan their visits or make announcements that they are coming so that i could prepare something for them

If that visitors are my friends, I will ask if they want to join us, but if they are stranger, I will asked them to wait until I finished. I know it is annoying if you got visitor at your dinner time.

I come from a big family and we always had more then enough. Now that I am married I don't know how to cook small amounts. There are only three us. So if they stop by it really isn't a problem.

I have never had drop-in visitors at dinner time. One of the advantages of living in a highrise with doormen who have to be passed before anybody can get near the elevator is that they can be instructed not to admit unexpected guests ae dinner time. I don't think any of my neighbors ever get surprise visitors at dinner time either. In addition, at leasty in this part of the US, it is considered bad manners to show up at a person's house unannounced. People always phone in advance before actually coming over. Even within the confines of my apartment building, even on the same floor, we telephone first. People will say, "This is not a good time; how about tomorrow" if they're busy. Nobody ever just appears at anybody; else's door unexectedly, much less at dinner time. How is it that people are rude enough to come ringing your doorbell unannounced, and at dinnertime, in your area?

Handling unexpected visitors varies from one culture to another. When we speak of hospitality it is not advisable to reject visitors no matter who they are even if they are Jehova's witness going house to house, they deserve to be accepted and hear their part before rejecting them if they're unlikable. Offering food is a must. In the case of my culture's mentality, we are glad to accept visitors specially those we haven't seen for a very long time then have meal with them if it's meal time or have snack with them. On the other hand let's think of professionalism and etiquette..... It is unethical to pop up on someone's house without notice because the person being visited might be busy or not in the mood to accept visitors but remember visitors deserve not to be rejected.

This is something like what I would do too Elusive. I usually make enough dinner for two days, so if a visitor calls there's more than enough to go around. If a visitor calls on the second day then I'd throw some pasta into a pot to cook, fry up some peppers, onion and garlic and tinned chopped tomatos, add to the cooked pasta, throw a bit of cheese on top and hey presto. We've all got enough to eat.

Bluntly: Tell them to bugga off, im avin dinner, or Nicily: Tell them your having dinner and can they come back anohter time, or you will go and see them.

Get a barbecued rotisserie chicken and a package of chili seasoning mix and a package of flour soft tortillas from the supermarket. Cut up the chicken into shreds. Follow the instructions on the chili mix package and use the shredded chicken as the meat. Serve either rolled up in warmed tortillas or in bowls accompanied by a plate of warmed tortillas. Serve with sangria or with margaritas or with coffee with cinnamon added to go with the theme. Probably 15 minutes to take the chicken off the bones and chop it and probably another 15 minutes to heat it all together. is that quick and easy enough? You could even do the chicken chopping hours before the meal and start the chili early so you would not have to worry about anything when the guests are starting to arrive.

I usually will ask them if they would like to eat together with us.. usually it is my friends or someone I know quite close that came to us.. however.. if they dont want to eat together.. then usually they just wait for me.. play in the computer.. or just watch tv or something.. it is no trouble because as i said that we are close enough for that.. usually i cooked for dinner and also for breakfast in themorning.. so it is always more ... and people can join in to eat as well :) I rarely have any thing prepared in my fridge except for that week's menu :)

I always make enought to feed an army, so it really doesn't make too much a a difference to me. My husband is always bringing home a friend or two, my boys usually have a friend, if not a couple of them. Most of my friends realize that I always have plenty. I love a crowd.