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Cornish game hens, rack of lamb, Gruyere stuffed chicken, steaks. Those are the mains dishes on my "fancy" repertoire, and I like to look for new recipes all the time. It's fun to try something new, or attempt something you've had at a restaurant.

I would recommend the Cornish game hens, they are super easy and they take about an hour to cook (at least), so you can put them in the oven and spend time with those delightful in-laws. I know you're so looking forward to it. ; )

Anyway, just salt and pepper the hens, and maybe add a little of any other spice you particularly like, maybe garlic. Rosemary is also very good with this. Add a few little pats of butter on the skin, (or brush it on, the pats are easier), and broil for about 5-7 min., this will make sure the skin gets crisp. Then reduce heat to 350, and let cook for about an hour. Throw together a salad, and make some quick cook rice, and voila, easy, delicious, and very impressive.

Good luck, and don't forget to tell your in-laws to mind their own business...after you've fed them a delicious meal, of course.

I like the lasagna idea because you can make it all ahead of time, the salad too, here is how I make my lasagna "fancy":

I don't use ricotta, I only use mozzarella. I also use meat sauce that I've made. The key to good meat sauce is seasoning the meat while it is raw. I use garlic powder, onion powder, and all seasoning salt. (careful not to go overboard with the salt.) I sprinkle liberally before the meat gets brown. Once the meat is brown I add Ragu sauce from a jar and let it simmer for a while to break down some of the toughness of the meat. If fat floats to the surface, skim it off.

So my suggestion is tonight make a big batch of sauce and serve it with spaghetti or ziti. That way you'll know if the sauce tastes good ahead of time. Save the remaining sauce for your Sunday dinner.

Layer the lasagna with the sauce, noodles, mozzarella and two secret ingredients: a little bit of Alfredo sauce and fresh spinach leaves in each layer to add richness.

Also, to make a "fancy salad" use romaine lettuce and consider adding a fruit such as green apple, strawberries, or dried cranberries. Also consider adding toasted almonds or walnuts. I toast my own walnuts by heating a non stick skillet with PAM cooking spray and adding the nuts, stirring occasionally till they look and smell toasty. I then add salt.

POT ROAST!!! It's easy on the budget and very nice for company. I just found an easy recipe (had it last night!) and it might work for you:

2 cans cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 packet of Onion soup mix, 1 can beef broth, 1/2 c. water. Stir it all up for the sauce, pour over the roast and some root veggies in a crock pot. Cook it on low for 9 hours and you're good to go!

I wish my in-laws would say something like that about my child. Ooh no maam. Stand up for yourself and your daughter. Ok, sorry about that, for dinner. Hmmm. I would go all the way italian. Just because Lasagna, stuffed shells (hamburger meat, spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese) EZ. Something like that would be in the oven. Do a nice salad, garlic bread, and some sweet tea with lemon, lemonade for your daughter. And then make a nice apple crisp for desert. Look on BettyCrocker.Com.for recipe. That site has lots of good ones. Try there. And girl, dont let them "bully" you around. Let them know how you feel, and if they don't like your parenting skills why are they coming over? If your husband gets mad, he'll get over it, just let him know you are tired of taking their "crap" and are not going to be their door-mat any longer. Good luck.

Roasted chicken with roasted garlic ( just put it in the pan with the chicken) and vegetables ( roasted carrots are yummy), mashed potatoes, a salad with blue cheese crumbles and pecans.

For dessert... a bread pudding ( can be made the day before) with apples topped with vanilla ice cream.

Since when is a 10 month old able to be in or out of control??

Good luck with the in-laws! Don't let their petty comments get to you ... they have selective memories of what these years of raising children are really like.

Baked Ziti dish with salad and garlic bread

Or some roast type thing in the crockpot with tons of veggies.

I’m not really the “fancy” type no matter who comes over.

Make a roast in the croc-pot or the oven! Get it started about 4hrs before they come on 225 if using the oven with potato's and carrots. when they walk in the house will smell yummy and you really didn't do a thing besides throw it in the croc-pot or oven with like maybe 15 minutes prep time.

I love lasagna rolls. I make mine vegetarian and the kids and hubby's with meat.

Cook the *lasagna noodles and lay them flat. Spread some cream cheese and sour cream on each one, layer with thawed spinach, a bag of thawed frozen veggies, cooked crumbled meat, shredded cheeses and any other cheeses you like, salt, pepper and anything else you like, roll each one up slowly and put it in a casserole dish in the fridge.

When they arrive, stick it in the oven on 350 for 45 minutes and the last ten minutes take it out and pour spaghetti sauce on top and put it back in.

You can make it the day before and stick it in the fridge. Just wrap it tightly and the meat and veggies and cheese will be fine until you bake.

Also, you can do chili and make *gourmet* he he grilled cheeses. Add jalapeno peppers to some, or chopped tomato in a few and some regular, as well. Just slice each one in half and put them all on a serving dish to go with the chili.

Roast is always a big hit around here. I put mine in the oven in one of the oven bags and season mixes with chopped up carrots, potato's, and onions. To go with it I usually have salads and some other kind of vegetables.

Catfish, wild rice and salad. Prepare everything ahead of time and when its ready to eat just heat it in the oven and you are done. Get you some Vidalia Onion dressing dip your fish and bake on oven.