Regular cooked meals are good for every day eating. You may want to treat yourself every once in awhile though and cook a gourmet meal instead of the same old thing.

You may opt to include something gourmet in your regular meals. You could choose the soup or appetizer, maybe a side dish, or even a dessert to add a touch of gourmet.

If you're having a dinner party and you want to impress your guests some gourmet additions to the menu would be appropriate.

If you are trying to impress your relatives, such as your in-laws a touch of gourmet might be a good idea.

Holidays are always a good time to cook gourmet. This is when you should celebrate and go all out in your meal preparation. Remember cooking gourmet does not necessarily have to be expensive. You can add panache to a meal just by adding a few gourmet ingredients to ordinary fare.

If you have some tried and true recipes, and regular items that friends and relatives are constantly requesting you to prepare, then this a good indication that you should leave well enough alone. This means that these items of regular fare should be prepared according to their original recipes without adding gourmet ingredients to them.

If you are good at preparing a gourmet dish then by all means included in your regular repertoire of recipes.