I don't understand them. They confuse me.
Today I'm confused by people who we invite over for dinner. I love having people over for dinner and cooking for them. It's one of my favorite things to do. They always insist on bringing something. That's fine. So I always say, "Please bring a side dish or a dessert." Usually they comply. Sometimes they don't.
On Thanksgiving last year we invited a family over for dinner who, like us, doesn't have any family nearby. I LOVE cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I love thawing the turkey, prepping it, and cooking it. I love making the dressing, creamy mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls. I love making pumpkin pie (for me) and peanut butter pie (for Hubs). The turkey is my favorite, though. I love turkey and there's just something about roasting my own turkey to perfection, sitting in front of the oven and watching it turn from white to golden brown. I love it. So you can imagine my surprise when the couple we invited over last year showed up with a complete Thanksgiving meal from Honeybaked Ham. I'm not kidding. They brought a huge ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, and yeast rolls. Oh, did I forget to mention the pumpkin pie, too? Yeah, they brought a pumpkin pie. And everyone ate the Honeybaked Ham meal, because it was a treat, and no one but me ate my turkey. And my feelings were crushed. Hubs did not understand. Our friends just smirked, almost like they were pleased to ruin my hard work. I considered never having people over for dinner again.
Then we started prepping our house for sale this past month. It's been a pain. We have to strip off wallpaper and paint every room. We're putting in new baseboards and crown molding. We have a lot of painting, nailing, and caulking to do. We've had a great group of friends who have helped us through it. So we invited them over for dinner and movies tonight. I asked everyone what they want to eat and they said, "Pizza!" I make my own pizza dough and sauce from scratch. I buy fresh veggies from the farmer's market to top them. It's not the normal Pizza Hut delivery pizza. So I got up early this morning to start the dough and get the sauce simmering. A few minutes ago one of the people called to say she was bringing over a roast, potatoes, and rolls tonight.
I can't win. Am I being too soft-hearted?
4 comments:
Call me cold, but that just cracks me up!! What kind of person lets you slave away all day cooking a Thanksgiving meal only to bring a complete meal??? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!
I'll tell you what - invite me over for dinner and I promise I won't bring a thing. :-)
And post that pizza recipe! I'd love to know how you make the dough and what you put on it!
BTW - just a funny side story. Everyone in my family knows I really dislike enchiladas. Don't ask me why - something to do with the red sauce and pre-frying in Crisco or something, but I just really don't like it. And what does my mother in law make for every gathering at her house? Enchiladas. And then she pouts because I won't eat it.
mmm no. this is when i go chuck-norris on their face. i love cooking. and when i invite people over they're gonna EAT it and they're gonna LIKE it.
wahaha. i'm actually a total push-over. but i can have a backbone in the blog world, right? that's allowed..?
<3
Nope, not too soft-hearted. Sadly, too many people don't care about etiquette anymore, or what it means to be a GUEST at someone's house and what that entails.
As Hagrid says in the first Harry Potter movie, "Stick to your ticket, Harry!" Good advice :)
And I second Michele--post some recipes! Your grandmother's rolls DO look heavenly :)
Michele, I'm going to do a recipe post soon and I'll put the pizza in there since you requested it! And I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they're crazy.
Natalie, it is A-OK to be a blog world Chuck Norris!
Sara, being a guest at my house means you eat my turkey! I'll post the roll recipe on my recipe post, too. Just don't tell Gram. She's all about the secrets.
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