Come Dine With Me

29 June 2011

Annie has given her menu a racy theme and has titled every course with a risqué name to suit. Her starter is "Something Fishy Going On", her main course "Saucy Pork Loins with Veg" and for dessert it's "Chocolicious with a twist."

And it seems she's carried the theme on elsewhere too, as her guests discover her one and only pair of knickers during a tour of her house. But there's nothing saucy about Annie's jus - which is described as jam by her guests and leads to a heated debate.

With our host less than happy with the criticism, Ex-Navy Officer Charlie puts himself in the firing line by refusing to eat the main course because it's cold and he likes his food ‘hot and wet', which leaves Annie planning her revenge.

So, with some after-dinner entertainment involving being electrocuted, will Annie manage to shock her guests into giving her a winning score?

 

Tuesday: Next up to take on the challenge is no-nonsense car service manager Suzanne Hyde. 

After some fiery exchanges last night at Annie's, Suzanne is ready for a confrontational evening.  But she's hoping her ‘simple' style of cooking can win over her diners. 

That simple style sees Suzanne prep very little during the day and leaves her with a mountain of work to do once her guests arrive. It doesn't take long for her guests to start complaining about the amount of time is Suzanne spending in the kitchen and soon a row starts between her and Annie about her absence from her guests. 

With tempers flaring and tensions running high, Suzanne just has her entertainment and dessert to try and win over her guests. Will it be enough to appease her guests and put her in a position to win the thousand pound prize?

 

Wednesday: It's the third day of the culinary competition from Plymouth and the turn of former sailor Tony Wade to go for the title. Tony considers himself to be the best cook in the group and plans to prove this with a range of complicated and intricate dishes.

If Tony pulls it off his guests can't fail to be impressed, if not, they'll be going home hungry and he'll be out of the competition. He plans to start the evening off with a starter of red and yellow pepper soup made tricky by an intricate method which he hopes will be a true crowd pleaser. And for the main, he's got not one, not two, but a triple bird roast to muster up.

But delivering his menu to his own high standards is not the only thing on Tony's mind. He's also worried about the ongoing feud between the first two hosts of the week, Annie and Suzanne who have spent most of the week at each other's throats. Tony's risky strategy is to bring them together on his night by simply sitting them next to each other at dinner and hoping they start to see the good in each other.

When the guests arrive, Tony's main concern is his tricky main course that his whole night hinges on and when he serves up the five individual mini-feasts he is over the moon with the way they have turned out. But with fusspots Annie and Suzanne at the table Tony has a tough crowd to please.

Will Tony's complex triple chocolate mousse dessert be a unanimous hit with the group and nab him the £1000 cash prize, or will his hard efforts go unrewarded?

 

Thursday: Day four of the competition from Plymouth, and today's host is recruitment manger Sarah Joy. 

Having witnessed night after night of rows, Sarah's hoping to bring a sense of JOY to the proceedings. But outspoken guest Suzanne has other ideas - feeling much more relaxed after getting her night out of the way, she's determined to let her hair down and ‘be herself' - which means being as rude as possible.

Suzanne cranks up the pressure as she fires off snide comments and aggressive demands all evening, much to the other guest's annoyance.  Despite Sarah's cooking going just about according to plan, there's a shock in store when she discovers her new box of dinner plates is empty - just as she's about to serve her main course. 

Undeterred, Sarah ploughs on and tops off her evening with a disco where Charlie attempts a Scottish jig and Sarah tries to wow her guests with her cheesy dance moves all to the soundtrack of 90s classics.  But is it enough to win Sarah the thousand pound prize?

 

Friday: It's the final day in Plymouth and tonight's host is ex-Navy Officer Charlie Brunel.

Charlie prides himself on his hosting skills and although he claims to be an excellent cook, he's putting the emphasis on having fun tonight. To get everyone into the party spirit he is planning on a pirate themed evening, complete with fancy dress for his guests.

In keeping with the theme, Charlie has some fish-based courses on his menu - not ideal for one of this week's fussy eaters, namely fish-hater Suzanne. But Charlie has a cunning plan - he has named his fish pie ‘Pirate's Pie' to keep his guests guessing on what's inside it. Will they be fooled when it reaches the table?

The night's entertainment comes in the form of an appearance from a Pirate of Penzance who does his best to bag some extra points for Charlie. But this doesn't go down too well with some guests who fail to see the connection. As the night and week draws to a close, will Charlie bag the £1000 treasure, or will he walk the plank with a pitiful score? All will be revealed as the final scores are given and the winner is announced.

 

Medway, Kent, week commencing Monday 30 May, 2011

Monday: Channel 4's award winning daytime show, Come Dine with Me, is back for a new series and this week the competition arrives in Medway in Kent, where poised to take the challenge is experimental cook and retired granny Nina Gaskell. She's going head-to-head with barmaid Laura Leibo, police worker Esther Kennedy, cheeky-chappy mortgage advisor Michael Dodsworth and posh art graduate Patrick Fysh.

 

 

As a kick-boxing, keep-fit crazy granny, Nina is hoping to impress her guests with some very unusual dishes which she has invented, including a cucumber stuffed with corned beef, and gravy with coconut.

Nina's artwork makes a good impression on this week's youngest competitor Patrick Fysh, but the other guests find little else to be impressed by as far as the food is concerned. There's a genuine sense of fear when Nina's cucumber arrives at the table, and the guests are even more baffled by her bizarre choice of ‘palate cleansers'.

Tuesday: Laura had a great time at Nina's house on Monday but the stress of hosting her own dinner party has wiped the smile off her face. She struggles with her cheesecake recipe and decides to make it up as she goes along, and her take on what constitutes gravy is questionable.

But where her food falls down, her entertainment certainly makes up for it as her guests take part in a robotic dance-off in her kitchen - with 67-year-old granny Nina Gaskell showing a hidden talent for street dance.

Laura's night ends in complete hysterics (helped along by a generous serving of limoncello).

Wednesday: Tonight's host is picky police communications officer Esther Kennedy. She has very high standards and believes a successful dinner party means everything must be just so. Shiny cutlery, matching plates and impeccable glassware are an absolute must.

Esther has planned a gourmet dinner party menu and following two nights of riotous and raucous behaviour, she has aspirations for a more sophisticated evening to go with the fancier food. Unfortunately, encouraging sophisticated conversation from this rabble might prove difficult.

As the day unfolds, everything goes to plan and über-confident Esther believes she has a winning night ahead.  She's most pleased with her dessert, and with last night's host Laura also having made a cheesecake, the battle of the puds is officially on.

It's clear that fussy eater Michael will be pushed to his limit again tonight, with the fishy starter being his first test. And Esther's main course, which controversially includes Foie Gras, also troubles our fussy eater, but his attempts to hide it is unfortunately rumbled by Nina.

With the food receiving mixed reviews, Esther attempts to spice up the night with some entertainment. The guests are led into the glamorous surroundings of her garage for an impromptu band performance with Esther on backing vocals. Following the robotic dance-off on Tuesday, tonight there's dodgy dancing once again but how will the two compare?

Thursday: Fourth up to take this week's culinary challenge is posh actor and art graduate, 21-year-old Patrick Fysh.

Patrick is hoping to impress with his molecular gastronomy and sophisticated art conversation. But his guests have mixed expectations, and while some hope for some simple student grub, others expect posh food, in opulent surroundings.

Food preparation underway, Patrick's kitchen begins to resemble more of a laboratory than a place to prepare food, as he uses various concoctions of chemicals that will react together to form interesting foams and spheres for his main course.

When the guests arrive geezer Michael seems a little confused by Patrick's interest in surrealist feminist art, and 67-year-old Nina is left speechless when she finds some risqué pictures of Patrick's girlfriend in his bedroom.

As for the food, some of the guests find Patrick's molecular cuisine a little hard to swallow, but Patrick's dessert wins them all over and sparks off some bizarre behaviour from the group, which leaves police worker Esther Kennedy with a face full of chocolate.. 

Has Patrick's Heston-inspired menu and insight in to the arts done enough to win over the guests or will they turn their noses up at his scientific food?

Friday: It's the last day of the competition from Medway and tonight's host is cheeky-chappy, mortgage advisor Michael Dodsworth.

After a night of molecular gastronomy at Patrick's house on Thursday, Michael has decided to keep it simple and go with what he knows. Each course is a tried and tested offering, with Thai Chicken Cakes, Jambalaya and raspberry and lime sorbet all on the menu. But Michael reckons the hosting is more important than the cooking, so plans on encouraging loads of party games and jokes to help him secure a win.

Unaware of Michael's party plans, when the guests arrive they're each presented with a secret mission at the dinner table - to the amusement of some and shock for others. The fun continues with a game of piñata, where the donkey - befittingly called Dave Lamb - gets a real pasting.

With mixed reviews on his actual food, will Michael be beaten by the others or will his night of fun leave him the winner of the £1000?

 

Keighley, week commencing Monday 11th July 2011

Monday: This week we're in and around Keighley, West Yorkshire and first to host is 50-year-old no-nonsense healthcare worker, Bev Stewart.

Bev's love of her childhood leads her to throw a school days themed night complete with a menu of fish fingers, meat and potato pie and jelly and ice-cream. Understandably, her guests have a few concerns; hair salon owner Rebecca hates fish fingers, computer network engineer Adam feels a meat and potato pie isn't special enough, and super picky sales advisor Philomena hates ice-cream.  

Meanwhile, business owner Charlie takes a shot in the dark and guesses the host must be a male school-teacher. 

Bev has plenty of things in store to get everyone in the school-party mood including an apple bobbing competition. But as tensions rise between the guests, it's not long before the fun is forgotten and playground politics kick in. 

Will Bev make it to top of the class and win the £1,000 prize at the end of the week?

 

Tuesday: This week we're in and around Keighley, West Yorkshire, and second to host is 40-year-old, computer engineer Adam Bolam-Peel.

Adam's guests aren't sure what to expect of their host - Philomena has labelled Adam as ‘a real geek' and predicts a boring evening. Care-worker Bev doesn't think Adam will be up to much in the kitchen, suave business owner Charlie thinks Adam's ‘a bit of a strange fish' and hair-salon owner Rebecca is more pre-occupied with her dislike for fellow diner Charlie.

Adam has plenty of surprises up his sleeve, from Northumbrian pipe playing to a session of self-penned poetry from the diners. But as the evening unfolds it doesn't take long for nit-picking guest Philomena to find fault with Adam's cluttered house - and to make matters worse, Charlie can't resist goading Rebecca about her teeth.

Will Adam's unusual cooking and quirky limericks guarantee him the £1,000 prize at the end of the week? 

 

Wednesday: This week we're in West Yorkshire and third to host is image-conscious salon owner Rebecca Saunders, who's imposed a "Glitz and Glam" dress code as part of her evening. She isn't a great cook and is expecting criticism from both picky Philomena and Charlie, who she's clashed with so far this week.

But as the night unfolds it seems Charlie is determined to make friends as he showers Rebecca with compliments and praises her food. Philomena doesn't buy into it though, believing there's an ulterior motive to his kindness.

As Rebecca and Charlie make up, tensions mount between straight-talking Bev and image-conscious Rebecca, as Bev tells Rebecca beauty comes from the inside and that she doesn't need a frock and make up to make her feel good. Ouch!!

Rebecca hopes her entertainment will lighten the mood, and as the guests each undergo a mock makeover, everyone is blown away by Adam's transformation.

So with friendships blossoming and tensions simmering, has Rebecca's "Glitz and Glam" dinner party done enough for her to take home the £1,000 prize?

 

Thursday: It's the penultimate day in West Yorkshire, and tonight's host is 47-year-old pernickety Italian sales advisor, Philomena Golenya.

The diners are not sure what to make of her meal because, in keeping with her Italian theme, the four course menu is all written in Italian!

Care-worker Bev suspects that Philomena's been keeping her true feelings to herself all week and hair salon owner Rebecca also thinks she's been two-faced. Computer engineer Adam is oblivious and is just looking forward to speaking some Italian, whilst business owner Charlie Walker sees Philomena as her main competition and is expecting big things.

As the night unfolds Charlie accidentally breaks Philomena's chair and Philomena has to put out a fire in the kitchen.  But her Italian dancing is a hit with at least one of her guests - Bev loves being partnered up with smooth-talking Charlie.

Will Philomena's Italian feast win over all of her guests and bag her the £1000 prize at the end of the week?

 

Friday: It's the final night in West Yorkshire and last to host is 39-year-old business owner Charlie Walker who's determined to win the £1000.

But he's got his work cut out as he's convinced his main competition Philomena has it in the bag. Charlie's menu gets mixed reviews, but it's clear he intends to put on some extravagant entertainment, with a "Stylish with Swimwear" dress code.

As soon as the starter is served, the gloves are off as Philomena openly criticises the food, which makes Charlie even more determined to beat her. Bev thinks her comments are part of her game plan and isn't fooled. But as talk turns to first impressions, it seems Rebecca's comedy outfit has made a good impression on Bev, who admits she may have judged her too harshly earlier in the week.

As Charlie's entertainment is revealed, the group all enjoy a hot tub disco and eccentric Adam has one more little surprise in store for them.

So has Charlie's entertainment bagged him the prize or will he lose out to Philomena? All will be revealed as the final scores are taken and the winner from Keighley is announced.

 

Annie has given her menu a racy theme and has titled every course with a risqué name to suit. Her starter is "Something Fishy Going On", her main course "Saucy Pork Loins with Veg" and for dessert it's "Chocolicious with a twist."

And it seems she's carried the theme on elsewhere too, as her guests discover her one and only pair of knickers during a tour of her house. But there's nothing saucy about Annie's jus - which is described as jam by her guests and leads to a heated debate.

With our host less than happy with the criticism, Ex-Navy Officer Charlie puts himself in the firing line by refusing to eat the main course because it's cold and he likes his food ‘hot and wet', which leaves Annie planning her revenge.

So, with some after-dinner entertainment involving being electrocuted, will Annie manage to shock her guests into giving her a winning score?

 

Tuesday: Next up to take on the challenge is no-nonsense car service manager Suzanne Hyde. 

After some fiery exchanges last night at Annie's, Suzanne is ready for a confrontational evening.  But she's hoping her ‘simple' style of cooking can win over her diners. 

That simple style sees Suzanne prep very little during the day and leaves her with a mountain of work to do once her guests arrive. It doesn't take long for her guests to start complaining about the amount of time is Suzanne spending in the kitchen and soon a row starts between her and Annie about her absence from her guests. 

With tempers flaring and tensions running high, Suzanne just has her entertainment and dessert to try and win over her guests. Will it be enough to appease her guests and put her in a position to win the thousand pound prize?

 

Wednesday: It's the third day of the culinary competition from Plymouth and the turn of former sailor Tony Wade to go for the title. Tony considers himself to be the best cook in the group and plans to prove this with a range of complicated and intricate dishes.

If Tony pulls it off his guests can't fail to be impressed, if not, they'll be going home hungry and he'll be out of the competition. He plans to start the evening off with a starter of red and yellow pepper soup made tricky by an intricate method which he hopes will be a true crowd pleaser. And for the main, he's got not one, not two, but a triple bird roast to muster up.

But delivering his menu to his own high standards is not the only thing on Tony's mind. He's also worried about the ongoing feud between the first two hosts of the week, Annie and Suzanne who have spent most of the week at each other's throats. Tony's risky strategy is to bring them together on his night by simply sitting them next to each other at dinner and hoping they start to see the good in each other.

When the guests arrive, Tony's main concern is his tricky main course that his whole night hinges on and when he serves up the five individual mini-feasts he is over the moon with the way they have turned out. But with fusspots Annie and Suzanne at the table Tony has a tough crowd to please.

Will Tony's complex triple chocolate mousse dessert be a unanimous hit with the group and nab him the £1000 cash prize, or will his hard efforts go unrewarded?

 

Thursday: Day four of the competition from Plymouth, and today's host is recruitment manger Sarah Joy. 

Having witnessed night after night of rows, Sarah's hoping to bring a sense of JOY to the proceedings. But outspoken guest Suzanne has other ideas - feeling much more relaxed after getting her night out of the way, she's determined to let her hair down and ‘be herself' - which means being as rude as possible.

Suzanne cranks up the pressure as she fires off snide comments and aggressive demands all evening, much to the other guest's annoyance.  Despite Sarah's cooking going just about according to plan, there's a shock in store when she discovers her new box of dinner plates is empty - just as she's about to serve her main course. 

Undeterred, Sarah ploughs on and tops off her evening with a disco where Charlie attempts a Scottish jig and Sarah tries to wow her guests with her cheesy dance moves all to the soundtrack of 90s classics.  But is it enough to win Sarah the thousand pound prize?

 

Friday: It's the final day in Plymouth and tonight's host is ex-Navy Officer Charlie Brunel.

Charlie prides himself on his hosting skills and although he claims to be an excellent cook, he's putting the emphasis on having fun tonight. To get everyone into the party spirit he is planning on a pirate themed evening, complete with fancy dress for his guests.

In keeping with the theme, Charlie has some fish-based courses on his menu - not ideal for one of this week's fussy eaters, namely fish-hater Suzanne. But Charlie has a cunning plan - he has named his fish pie ‘Pirate's Pie' to keep his guests guessing on what's inside it. Will they be fooled when it reaches the table?

The night's entertainment comes in the form of an appearance from a Pirate of Penzance who does his best to bag some extra points for Charlie. But this doesn't go down too well with some guests who fail to see the connection. As the night and week draws to a close, will Charlie bag the £1000 treasure, or will he walk the plank with a pitiful score? All will be revealed as the final scores are given and the winner is announced.

 

Medway, Kent, week commencing Monday 30 May, 2011

Monday: Channel 4's award winning daytime show, Come Dine with Me, is back for a new series and this week the competition arrives in Medway in Kent, where poised to take the challenge is experimental cook and retired granny Nina Gaskell. She's going head-to-head with barmaid Laura Leibo, police worker Esther Kennedy, cheeky-chappy mortgage advisor Michael Dodsworth and posh art graduate Patrick Fysh.

 

 

As a kick-boxing, keep-fit crazy granny, Nina is hoping to impress her guests with some very unusual dishes which she has invented, including a cucumber stuffed with corned beef, and gravy with coconut.

Nina's artwork makes a good impression on this week's youngest competitor Patrick Fysh, but the other guests find little else to be impressed by as far as the food is concerned. There's a genuine sense of fear when Nina's cucumber arrives at the table, and the guests are even more baffled by her bizarre choice of ‘palate cleansers'.

Tuesday: Laura had a great time at Nina's house on Monday but the stress of hosting her own dinner party has wiped the smile off her face. She struggles with her cheesecake recipe and decides to make it up as she goes along, and her take on what constitutes gravy is questionable.

But where her food falls down, her entertainment certainly makes up for it as her guests take part in a robotic dance-off in her kitchen - with 67-year-old granny Nina Gaskell showing a hidden talent for street dance.

Laura's night ends in complete hysterics (helped along by a generous serving of limoncello).

Wednesday: Tonight's host is picky police communications officer Esther Kennedy. She has very high standards and believes a successful dinner party means everything must be just so. Shiny cutlery, matching plates and impeccable glassware are an absolute must.

Esther has planned a gourmet dinner party menu and following two nights of riotous and raucous behaviour, she has aspirations for a more sophisticated evening to go with the fancier food. Unfortunately, encouraging sophisticated conversation from this rabble might prove difficult.

As the day unfolds, everything goes to plan and über-confident Esther believes she has a winning night ahead.  She's most pleased with her dessert, and with last night's host Laura also having made a cheesecake, the battle of the puds is officially on.

It's clear that fussy eater Michael will be pushed to his limit again tonight, with the fishy starter being his first test. And Esther's main course, which controversially includes Foie Gras, also troubles our fussy eater, but his attempts to hide it is unfortunately rumbled by Nina.

With the food receiving mixed reviews, Esther attempts to spice up the night with some entertainment. The guests are led into the glamorous surroundings of her garage for an impromptu band performance with Esther on backing vocals. Following the robotic dance-off on Tuesday, tonight there's dodgy dancing once again but how will the two compare?

Thursday: Fourth up to take this week's culinary challenge is posh actor and art graduate, 21-year-old Patrick Fysh.

Patrick is hoping to impress with his molecular gastronomy and sophisticated art conversation. But his guests have mixed expectations, and while some hope for some simple student grub, others expect posh food, in opulent surroundings.

Food preparation underway, Patrick's kitchen begins to resemble more of a laboratory than a place to prepare food, as he uses various concoctions of chemicals that will react together to form interesting foams and spheres for his main course.

When the guests arrive geezer Michael seems a little confused by Patrick's interest in surrealist feminist art, and 67-year-old Nina is left speechless when she finds some risqué pictures of Patrick's girlfriend in his bedroom.

As for the food, some of the guests find Patrick's molecular cuisine a little hard to swallow, but Patrick's dessert wins them all over and sparks off some bizarre behaviour from the group, which leaves police worker Esther Kennedy with a face full of chocolate.. 

Has Patrick's Heston-inspired menu and insight in to the arts done enough to win over the guests or will they turn their noses up at his scientific food?

Friday: It's the last day of the competition from Medway and tonight's host is cheeky-chappy, mortgage advisor Michael Dodsworth.

After a night of molecular gastronomy at Patrick's house on Thursday, Michael has decided to keep it simple and go with what he knows. Each course is a tried and tested offering, with Thai Chicken Cakes, Jambalaya and raspberry and lime sorbet all on the menu. But Michael reckons the hosting is more important than the cooking, so plans on encouraging loads of party games and jokes to help him secure a win.

Unaware of Michael's party plans, when the guests arrive they're each presented with a secret mission at the dinner table - to the amusement of some and shock for others. The fun continues with a game of piñata, where the donkey - befittingly called Dave Lamb - gets a real pasting.

With mixed reviews on his actual food, will Michael be beaten by the others or will his night of fun leave him the winner of the £1000?

 

Keighley, week commencing Monday 11th July 2011

Monday: This week we're in and around Keighley, West Yorkshire and first to host is 50-year-old no-nonsense healthcare worker, Bev Stewart.

Bev's love of her childhood leads her to throw a school days themed night complete with a menu of fish fingers, meat and potato pie and jelly and ice-cream. Understandably, her guests have a few concerns; hair salon owner Rebecca hates fish fingers, computer network engineer Adam feels a meat and potato pie isn't special enough, and super picky sales advisor Philomena hates ice-cream.  

Meanwhile, business owner Charlie takes a shot in the dark and guesses the host must be a male school-teacher. 

Bev has plenty of things in store to get everyone in the school-party mood including an apple bobbing competition. But as tensions rise between the guests, it's not long before the fun is forgotten and playground politics kick in. 

Will Bev make it to top of the class and win the £1,000 prize at the end of the week?

 

Tuesday: This week we're in and around Keighley, West Yorkshire, and second to host is 40-year-old, computer engineer Adam Bolam-Peel.

Adam's guests aren't sure what to expect of their host - Philomena has labelled Adam as ‘a real geek' and predicts a boring evening. Care-worker Bev doesn't think Adam will be up to much in the kitchen, suave business owner Charlie thinks Adam's ‘a bit of a strange fish' and hair-salon owner Rebecca is more pre-occupied with her dislike for fellow diner Charlie.

Adam has plenty of surprises up his sleeve, from Northumbrian pipe playing to a session of self-penned poetry from the diners. But as the evening unfolds it doesn't take long for nit-picking guest Philomena to find fault with Adam's cluttered house - and to make matters worse, Charlie can't resist goading Rebecca about her teeth.

Will Adam's unusual cooking and quirky limericks guarantee him the £1,000 prize at the end of the week? 

 

Wednesday: This week we're in West Yorkshire and third to host is image-conscious salon owner Rebecca Saunders, who's imposed a "Glitz and Glam" dress code as part of her evening. She isn't a great cook and is expecting criticism from both picky Philomena and Charlie, who she's clashed with so far this week.

But as the night unfolds it seems Charlie is determined to make friends as he showers Rebecca with compliments and praises her food. Philomena doesn't buy into it though, believing there's an ulterior motive to his kindness.

As Rebecca and Charlie make up, tensions mount between straight-talking Bev and image-conscious Rebecca, as Bev tells Rebecca beauty comes from the inside and that she doesn't need a frock and make up to make her feel good. Ouch!!

Rebecca hopes her entertainment will lighten the mood, and as the guests each undergo a mock makeover, everyone is blown away by Adam's transformation.

So with friendships blossoming and tensions simmering, has Rebecca's "Glitz and Glam" dinner party done enough for her to take home the £1,000 prize?

 

Thursday: It's the penultimate day in West Yorkshire, and tonight's host is 47-year-old pernickety Italian sales advisor, Philomena Golenya.

The diners are not sure what to make of her meal because, in keeping with her Italian theme, the four course menu is all written in Italian!

Care-worker Bev suspects that Philomena's been keeping her true feelings to herself all week and hair salon owner Rebecca also thinks she's been two-faced. Computer engineer Adam is oblivious and is just looking forward to speaking some Italian, whilst business owner Charlie Walker sees Philomena as her main competition and is expecting big things.

As the night unfolds Charlie accidentally breaks Philomena's chair and Philomena has to put out a fire in the kitchen.  But her Italian dancing is a hit with at least one of her guests - Bev loves being partnered up with smooth-talking Charlie.

Will Philomena's Italian feast win over all of her guests and bag her the £1000 prize at the end of the week?

 

Friday: It's the final night in West Yorkshire and last to host is 39-year-old business owner Charlie Walker who's determined to win the £1000.

But he's got his work cut out as he's convinced his main competition Philomena has it in the bag. Charlie's menu gets mixed reviews, but it's clear he intends to put on some extravagant entertainment, with a "Stylish with Swimwear" dress code.

As soon as the starter is served, the gloves are off as Philomena openly criticises the food, which makes Charlie even more determined to beat her. Bev thinks her comments are part of her game plan and isn't fooled. But as talk turns to first impressions, it seems Rebecca's comedy outfit has made a good impression on Bev, who admits she may have judged her too harshly earlier in the week.

As Charlie's entertainment is revealed, the group all enjoy a hot tub disco and eccentric Adam has one more little surprise in store for them.

So has Charlie's entertainment bagged him the prize or will he lose out to Philomena? All will be revealed as the final scores are taken and the winner from Keighley is announced.

 

Annie has given her menu a racy theme and has titled every course with a risqué name to suit. Her starter is "Something Fishy Going On", her main course "Saucy Pork Loins with Veg" and for dessert it's "Chocolicious with a twist."

And it seems she's carried the theme on elsewhere too, as her guests discover her one and only pair of knickers during a tour of her house. But there's nothing saucy about Annie's jus - which is described as jam by her guests and leads to a heated debate.

With our host less than happy with the criticism, Ex-Navy Officer Charlie puts himself in the firing line by refusing to eat the main course because it's cold and he likes his food ‘hot and wet', which leaves Annie planning her revenge.

So, with some after-dinner entertainment involving being electrocuted, will Annie manage to shock her guests into giving her a winning score?

 

Tuesday: Next up to take on the challenge is no-nonsense car service manager Suzanne Hyde. 

After some fiery exchanges last night at Annie's, Suzanne is ready for a confrontational evening.  But she's hoping her ‘simple' style of cooking can win over her diners. 

That simple style sees Suzanne prep very little during the day and leaves her with a mountain of work to do once her guests arrive. It doesn't take long for her guests to start complaining about the amount of time is Suzanne spending in the kitchen and soon a row starts between her and Annie about her absence from her guests. 

With tempers flaring and tensions running high, Suzanne just has her entertainment and dessert to try and win over her guests. Will it be enough to appease her guests and put her in a position to win the thousand pound prize?

 

Wednesday: It's the third day of the culinary competition from Plymouth and the turn of former sailor Tony Wade to go for the title. Tony considers himself to be the best cook in the group and plans to prove this with a range of complicated and intricate dishes.

If Tony pulls it off his guests can't fail to be impressed, if not, they'll be going home hungry and he'll be out of the competition. He plans to start the evening off with a starter of red and yellow pepper soup made tricky by an intricate method which he hopes will be a true crowd pleaser. And for the main, he's got not one, not two, but a triple bird roast to muster up.

But delivering his menu to his own high standards is not the only thing on Tony's mind. He's also worried about the ongoing feud between the first two hosts of the week, Annie and Suzanne who have spent most of the week at each other's throats. Tony's risky strategy is to bring them together on his night by simply sitting them next to each other at dinner and hoping they start to see the good in each other.

When the guests arrive, Tony's main concern is his tricky main course that his whole night hinges on and when he serves up the five individual mini-feasts he is over the moon with the way they have turned out. But with fusspots Annie and Suzanne at the table Tony has a tough crowd to please.

Will Tony's complex triple chocolate mousse dessert be a unanimous hit with the group and nab him the £1000 cash prize, or will his hard efforts go unrewarded?

 

Thursday: Day four of the competition from Plymouth, and today's host is recruitment manger Sarah Joy. 

Having witnessed night after night of rows, Sarah's hoping to bring a sense of JOY to the proceedings. But outspoken guest Suzanne has other ideas - feeling much more relaxed after getting her night out of the way, she's determined to let her hair down and ‘be herself' - which means being as rude as possible.

Suzanne cranks up the pressure as she fires off snide comments and aggressive demands all evening, much to the other guest's annoyance.  Despite Sarah's cooking going just about according to plan, there's a shock in store when she discovers her new box of dinner plates is empty - just as she's about to serve her main course. 

Undeterred, Sarah ploughs on and tops off her evening with a disco where Charlie attempts a Scottish jig and Sarah tries to wow her guests with her cheesy dance moves all to the soundtrack of 90s classics.  But is it enough to win Sarah the thousand pound prize?

 

Friday: It's the final day in Plymouth and tonight's host is ex-Navy Officer Charlie Brunel.

Charlie prides himself on his hosting skills and although he claims to be an excellent cook, he's putting the emphasis on having fun tonight. To get everyone into the party spirit he is planning on a pirate themed evening, complete with fancy dress for his guests.

In keeping with the theme, Charlie has some fish-based courses on his menu - not ideal for one of this week's fussy eaters, namely fish-hater Suzanne. But Charlie has a cunning plan - he has named his fish pie ‘Pirate's Pie' to keep his guests guessing on what's inside it. Will they be fooled when it reaches the table?

The night's entertainment comes in the form of an appearance from a Pirate of Penzance who does his best to bag some extra points for Charlie. But this doesn't go down too well with some guests who fail to see the connection. As the night and week draws to a close, will Charlie bag the £1000 treasure, or will he walk the plank with a pitiful score? All will be revealed as the final scores are given and the winner is announced.

 

Medway, Kent, week commencing Monday 30 May, 2011

Monday: Channel 4's award winning daytime show, Come Dine with Me, is back for a new series and this week the competition arrives in Medway in Kent, where poised to take the challenge is experimental cook and retired granny Nina Gaskell. She's going head-to-head with barmaid Laura Leibo, police worker Esther Kennedy, cheeky-chappy mortgage advisor Michael Dodsworth and posh art graduate Patrick Fysh.

 

 

As a kick-boxing, keep-fit crazy granny, Nina is hoping to impress her guests with some very unusual dishes which she has invented, including a cucumber stuffed with corned beef, and gravy with coconut.

Nina's artwork makes a good impression on this week's youngest competitor Patrick Fysh, but the other guests find little else to be impressed by as far as the food is concerned. There's a genuine sense of fear when Nina's cucumber arrives at the table, and the guests are even more baffled by her bizarre choice of ‘palate cleansers'.

Tuesday: Laura had a great time at Nina's house on Monday but the stress of hosting her own dinner party has wiped the smile off her face. She struggles with her cheesecake recipe and decides to make it up as she goes along, and her take on what constitutes gravy is questionable.

But where her food falls down, her entertainment certainly makes up for it as her guests take part in a robotic dance-off in her kitchen - with 67-year-old granny Nina Gaskell showing a hidden talent for street dance.

Laura's night ends in complete hysterics (helped along by a generous serving of limoncello).

Wednesday: Tonight's host is picky police communications officer Esther Kennedy. She has very high standards and believes a successful dinner party means everything must be just so. Shiny cutlery, matching plates and impeccable glassware are an absolute must.

Esther has planned a gourmet dinner party menu and following two nights of riotous and raucous behaviour, she has aspirations for a more sophisticated evening to go with the fancier food. Unfortunately, encouraging sophisticated conversation from this rabble might prove difficult.

As the day unfolds, everything goes to plan and über-confident Esther believes she has a winning night ahead.  She's most pleased with her dessert, and with last night's host Laura also having made a cheesecake, the battle of the puds is officially on.

It's clear that fussy eater Michael will be pushed to his limit again tonight, with the fishy starter being his first test. And Esther's main course, which controversially includes Foie Gras, also troubles our fussy eater, but his attempts to hide it is unfortunately rumbled by Nina.

With the food receiving mixed reviews, Esther attempts to spice up the night with some entertainment. The guests are led into the glamorous surroundings of her garage for an impromptu band performance with Esther on backing vocals. Following the robotic dance-off on Tuesday, tonight there's dodgy dancing once again but how will the two compare?

Thursday: Fourth up to take this week's culinary challenge is posh actor and art graduate, 21-year-old Patrick Fysh.

Patrick is hoping to impress with his molecular gastronomy and sophisticated art conversation. But his guests have mixed expectations, and while some hope for some simple student grub, others expect posh food, in opulent surroundings.

Food preparation underway, Patrick's kitchen begins to resemble more of a laboratory than a place to prepare food, as he uses various concoctions of chemicals that will react together to form interesting foams and spheres for his main course.

When the guests arrive geezer Michael seems a little confused by Patrick's interest in surrealist feminist art, and 67-year-old Nina is left speechless when she finds some risqué pictures of Patrick's girlfriend in his bedroom.

As for the food, some of the guests find Patrick's molecular cuisine a little hard to swallow, but Patrick's dessert wins them all over and sparks off some bizarre behaviour from the group, which leaves police worker Esther Kennedy with a face full of chocolate.. 

Has Patrick's Heston-inspired menu and insight in to the arts done enough to win over the guests or will they turn their noses up at his scientific food?

Friday: It's the last day of the competition from Medway and tonight's host is cheeky-chappy, mortgage advisor Michael Dodsworth.

After a night of molecular gastronomy at Patrick's house on Thursday, Michael has decided to keep it simple and go with what he knows. Each course is a tried and tested offering, with Thai Chicken Cakes, Jambalaya and raspberry and lime sorbet all on the menu. But Michael reckons the hosting is more important than the cooking, so plans on encouraging loads of party games and jokes to help him secure a win.

Unaware of Michael's party plans, when the guests arrive they're each presented with a secret mission at the dinner table - to the amusement of some and shock for others. The fun continues with a game of piñata, where the donkey - befittingly called Dave Lamb - gets a real pasting.

With mixed reviews on his actual food, will Michael be beaten by the others or will his night of fun leave him the winner of the £1000?

 

Keighley, week commencing Monday 11th July 2011

Monday: This week we're in and around Keighley, West Yorkshire and first to host is 50-year-old no-nonsense healthcare worker, Bev Stewart.

Bev's love of her childhood leads her to throw a school days themed night complete with a menu of fish fingers, meat and potato pie and jelly and ice-cream. Understandably, her guests have a few concerns; hair salon owner Rebecca hates fish fingers, computer network engineer Adam feels a meat and potato pie isn't special enough, and super picky sales advisor Philomena hates ice-cream.  

Meanwhile, business owner Charlie takes a shot in the dark and guesses the host must be a male school-teacher. 

Bev has plenty of things in store to get everyone in the school-party mood including an apple bobbing competition. But as tensions rise between the guests, it's not long before the fun is forgotten and playground politics kick in. 

Will Bev make it to top of the class and win the £1,000 prize at the end of the week?

 

Tuesday: This week we're in and around Keighley, West Yorkshire, and second to host is 40-year-old, computer engineer Adam Bolam-Peel.

Adam's guests aren't sure what to expect of their host - Philomena has labelled Adam as ‘a real geek' and predicts a boring evening. Care-worker Bev doesn't think Adam will be up to much in the kitchen, suave business owner Charlie thinks Adam's ‘a bit of a strange fish' and hair-salon owner Rebecca is more pre-occupied with her dislike for fellow diner Charlie.

Adam has plenty of surprises up his sleeve, from Northumbrian pipe playing to a session of self-penned poetry from the diners. But as the evening unfolds it doesn't take long for nit-picking guest Philomena to find fault with Adam's cluttered house - and to make matters worse, Charlie can't resist goading Rebecca about her teeth.

Will Adam's unusual cooking and quirky limericks guarantee him the £1,000 prize at the end of the week? 

 

Wednesday: This week we're in West Yorkshire and third to host is image-conscious salon owner Rebecca Saunders, who's imposed a "Glitz and Glam" dress code as part of her evening. She isn't a great cook and is expecting criticism from both picky Philomena and Charlie, who she's clashed with so far this week.

But as the night unfolds it seems Charlie is determined to make friends as he showers Rebecca with compliments and praises her food. Philomena doesn't buy into it though, believing there's an ulterior motive to his kindness.

As Rebecca and Charlie make up, tensions mount between straight-talking Bev and image-conscious Rebecca, as Bev tells Rebecca beauty comes from the inside and that she doesn't need a frock and make up to make her feel good. Ouch!!

Rebecca hopes her entertainment will lighten the mood, and as the guests each undergo a mock makeover, everyone is blown away by Adam's transformation.

So with friendships blossoming and tensions simmering, has Rebecca's "Glitz and Glam" dinner party done enough for her to take home the £1,000 prize?

 

Thursday: It's the penultimate day in West Yorkshire, and tonight's host is 47-year-old pernickety Italian sales advisor, Philomena Golenya.

The diners are not sure what to make of her meal because, in keeping with her Italian theme, the four course menu is all written in Italian!

Care-worker Bev suspects that Philomena's been keeping her true feelings to herself all week and hair salon owner Rebecca also thinks she's been two-faced. Computer engineer Adam is oblivious and is just looking forward to speaking some Italian, whilst business owner Charlie Walker sees Philomena as her main competition and is expecting big things.

As the night unfolds Charlie accidentally breaks Philomena's chair and Philomena has to put out a fire in the kitchen.  But her Italian dancing is a hit with at least one of her guests - Bev loves being partnered up with smooth-talking Charlie.

Will Philomena's Italian feast win over all of her guests and bag her the £1000 prize at the end of the week?

 

Friday: It's the final night in West Yorkshire and last to host is 39-year-old business owner Charlie Walker who's determined to win the £1000.

But he's got his work cut out as he's convinced his main competition Philomena has it in the bag. Charlie's menu gets mixed reviews, but it's clear he intends to put on some extravagant entertainment, with a "Stylish with Swimwear" dress code.

As soon as the starter is served, the gloves are off as Philomena openly criticises the food, which makes Charlie even more determined to beat her. Bev thinks her comments are part of her game plan and isn't fooled. But as talk turns to first impressions, it seems Rebecca's comedy outfit has made a good impression on Bev, who admits she may have judged her too harshly earlier in the week.

As Charlie's entertainment is revealed, the group all enjoy a hot tub disco and eccentric Adam has one more little surprise in store for them.

So has Charlie's entertainment bagged him the prize or will he lose out to Philomena? All will be revealed as the final scores are taken and the winner from Keighley is announced.