Have you guests in for a feed of spuds? Could the budget not stretch to a few scallions to make a pot of champ,
https://youtu.be/zPkfjGnn6cg
An afternoon with rod and line could put a couple of herrin on the table, a nice treat. The trouble with spuds is the anxiety to try and pair them with a good wine or frothing ale, buttermilk is not conducive to unenforced gaiety. But your guests, probably of the female kind, tend not to linger and you wonder why you invited them in the first place.