Lacking Inspiration

In about two weeks I will be called upon to create a gourmet meal in celebration of my husband's 43rd birthday. Here's the problem: he's no help at all. When I queried him about a particular ingredient or type of food, he merely said, "I don't know." That was two days ago. This morning he said, "German - I think I want German food."

My first reaction to this was "It's all meat and potatoes." However, he insisted that there had to be something more interesting. After an hour-and-a-half on line tonight, I disagree. I found many recipes for meat and potatoes with side dishes made from noodles, cabbage, carrots, beets, and brussel sprouts. The problem with this selection is two-fold. First, Jeff doesn't really care for cabbage, beets, or brussel sprouts. Next, one our guests doesn't eat meat. (He does eat fish, but I had limited success finding German fish recipes and the side dishes remained the same.)

So, I'm back to square one with the menu planning. I am in favor of Greek, Italian, Spanish, or Mediterranean in general, but Jeff hasn't expressed any real interest in those types of foods. (I guess I'll have to save those for my birthday dinner!) Last year, he chose an ingredient (chocolate) and I built a menu around it. (Yes, there was some form of chocolate in every dish of the six-course meal.) Unfortunately, he hasn't been forthcoming with an ingredient this year. (I'm considering pumpkins or squash as a versatile menu basis.) Truly, the whole situation flies in the face of family tradition. Around here a body is supposed to choose his favorite meal for the special occasion rather than leave it up to the cook!

In hopes of finding further inspiration, I have spent some time online looking at sample dinner party menus. The majority of these seem to fall into three categories: 1) easy buffet, 2) Mexican or Italian food, 3) effort beyond reason. Since none of these seem to be what I'm looking for, I need an alternate plan of attack. Perhaps I should bombard Jeff with main dish ideas until something strikes his fancy and then build a menu around his choice. Maybe photos from my favorite cookbooks will entice, but I'm certainly open for suggestions.