Awkward guests.

I only have my niece & fiancé to stay. She is vegan & he’s well, a pain in the back side- Covid six times so can’t taste anything so all my herbs & seasonings disappear into his cooking pot.
They also seem to like to eat at different times
TBF, she will bring a bag filled with the stuff they like.

I think it will be a very long week with such a friend.
I do feel that she should have warned well in advance of her diet and offered to buy the expensive items herself.

Late 80s and having friends to stay and having to cook for them. ….and said friend only eats fish??.
No way would I put up with that, even though I am younger than OP.
The last time I had anyone staying with me, was my lovely sis-in-law from Canada and that was when I was in early 60s. And tbh, she’s an excellent cook and did most of the cooking.
I couldn’t deal with house -guests now.

Ver bad manners IMO not to state any food intolerances/fads well in advance.

I once phoned dh in his car - he was on his way home from Heathrow after fetching 3 of his Canadian relatives who were coming to stay. It was around 7 pm so I was already cooking the dinner in preparation, when he said, ‘Oh, by the way, Suzanne (youngest of the 3 generations) said to tell you she’s veggie.’

They were all a PITA in other ways, too. Never again! Funnily enough my own Canadian relatives are all a PITA, too.

Maybe your friend could have a mystery bug necessitating a day of so in bed? I hope her guest is not also doing the fetching and returning.

Doodledog

I always ask about food preferences when cooking for others. Sometimes a little thing such as leaving out coriander and serving it in a bowl for those who like it to add to their meal can make the difference between something a guest would love or hate.

I do think that when someone is on a restricted diet they should warn their hosts though. I have a well stocked freezer, but don’t keep fish in it, as neither of us eats it - I’d be stumped if a guest expected me to cook fish for a week😯. I’m not sure I know how.

Waitrose fish pie, Tesco Finest fish pie, Charlie Bigham fish pie or haddock gratin or salmon en croute.
That's five days.
Salmon and brocoli with new potatoes.

The chippie on Friday.

Ta da!! Sorted!

I have family with special dietary needs (not preferences) so know what and what not to buy when they come. However, they usually go food shopping too. If someone can't or doesn't eat certain foods, you need to know in advance.

This guest, however, just sounds rather difficult.

or just drop the whole invitation thing and suggest they meet up midway between their homes and possibly book a night in a b&b.
Fallingstar The best idea.

A couple we know came to stay some years ago. They live in a different town. We went out for lunch to a pub we recommended. As we pulled onto the car park, the woman of the couple asked her husband to go into the pub to look at the menu as she could only eat salmon.

After driving to four different venues she was eventually happy although she kept asking the waitress several questions about what the desserts contained.

They were at ours for breakfast so we brought sausages, bacon, eggs (cooked however they wanted), beans, several cereals, white and wholemeal bread, butter, low fat spread, various types of milk. Plenty of options for them.

We stayed with them sometime later and when we got up on the morning she said 'I've made porridge.' I said ',Thank you but I don't like porridge'. She said 'I haven't got anything else'. No breakfast for me then
'

FriedGreenTomatoes2

"O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!"
Robert Burns in 1786

Very true.

I always ask about food preferences when cooking for others. Sometimes a little thing such as leaving out coriander and serving it in a bowl for those who like it to add to their meal can make the difference between something a guest would love or hate.

I do think that when someone is on a restricted diet they should warn their hosts though. I have a well stocked freezer, but don’t keep fish in it, as neither of us eats it - I’d be stumped if a guest expected me to cook fish for a week😯. I’m not sure I know how.

People have so many allergies, and changes in taste nowadays, that I nearly always ask their preferences some days before they arrive. Even with family.

Not so many surprises on what is going to be eaten, but better that, than the other way.

"O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!"
Robert Burns in 1786

What a difficult guest to have for a whole week. Yes, the food preferences should definitely have been mentioned before arrival. I wonder what the first night's meal consisted of and whether she ate any of it, if it contained meat. I feel sorry for your friend as the host.
Even when we have good friends to stay, it's never more than 3 nights, and there is usually one meal out included.

I have a dear friend who is the biggest nightmare when it comes to food and drink.

When she last came to stay I decided to preempt all the drama and just cook and have in what I know she eats and drinks.

I warned my husband!

So green tea, breakfast pastries, her special coffee, favorite crisps, supermarket bread etc.

No, she had gone off most of that and won’t even drink tap water any more,it has to be boiled and cooled.

She always says she is not difficult to please as she will just leave what she won’t eat.
She has no bloody idea how difficult she is.

Your poor friend its very rude to put such limitations on food I am afraid she would be having the food I had already brought or go without.

Sorry, if I were the hostess I’d be asking that person to leave……I couldn’t cope with such unreasonable demands. She must think she’s in a five star hotel rather than staying with a friend.

What an unreasonable guest (?friend). No way would I impose my expensive dietary requirements, not that I have any, on my host. She should definitely have explained to you before she arrived about what she preferred to eat these days, and perhaps given you some money to buy the fish.

Oh dear it will be a long week.
Some guests are low maintenance because they don’t want to cause too much work, others are high maintenance because they don’t care if they cause too much work.
Next time your friend might want to ask her to come for a couple of days, or just drop the whole invitation thing and suggest they meet up midway between their homes and possibly book a night in a b&b.
Sounds exhausting and exasperating.

I'm guessing this awkward guest won't be invited again!

I no longer have guests to stay because of this type of problem and when we are invited anywhere we stay in a local hotel on a bed and breakfast basis and three days is always enough.

Of course the guest should have told her host beforehand. She will have made preparations, shopped, spent money unnecessarily. I’d be very miffed.
The least the guest could do is to treat the host to a meal out.

However I think as host I would have asked in advance of any dietary requirements or preferences.

What's the expression "guests, like fish, go off after 3 days''
More than apt in this situation!