When i used to cook professionally(sp?) the only thing i was nervous about was having enough food, never the how it was received. Now that i cook for the love of cooking it's changed a bit. Like the large pot of borscht i made Sunday. Took me the better part of the day to make. It was a combination of Craig Claibornes recipe and one i found on foodtv's site. There are no borscht recipes on the egullet site, before anyone gets down on me... :) Invited some friends and some family over to enjoy it, most had never had borscht but were willing to try it. It was a huge hit, but it had alot of my attention throughout the day wondering who would like it and if some wouldn't. I often mix and match recipes, don't know why. I guess it's just the way i cook. Sorta like i'm improving on a existing recipe. Anybody else do this?