Supermarket Gourmet

by Buck Reed

Bring Something to the Table!

As I have said before, I don’t care who you voted for or what you choose to support; I judge people a different way. When you are invited to someone’s home for a party—such as for dinner, a cookout, or even to watch the game—showing up with your hands empty tells me everything I need to know about you. Frankly, if you show up empty-handed, you just were not raised right.

When given an invitation, I always ask if I can bring anything. For the person who is inviting, there is no wrong answer. Some will say not to bring anything, and some might mention something specific for you to bring. Both answers are acceptable and well within the boundaries of polite social norms. But no matter how they answer, just bring something anyway.

Try to match what you are bringing with what the party is about. For a dinner party, you might want to bring an appetizer that everyone can share before being seated. A dip usually works in this situation. Or maybe some cookies or brownies, which are welcome for any gathering after the meal. And, of course, a bottle of wine is always welcome.

For a cookout, think about a side dish such as a pasta salad or a crudité. Bringing something to throw on the grill is always nice, too. Some marinated shrimp or some sausages are always a good choice. I always bring my grill basket along and try not to get in the resident Grill Master’s way. Bring whatever salad you want, but never ever bring potato salad. Wars have been started this way. Just eat the potato salad your host is providing, and keep your “I make better potato salad than this” mouth shut. Save the fireworks for the Fourth.

On the other hand, if you want to bring deviled eggs, by all means, do so. I never saw a cookout with too many deviled eggs on the serving table. And any cookout I go to, I know there will be good beer there because I will bring a 12-pack of beer as well.

Do not bring to-go containers to take home any leftovers. I actually have a niece who regularly does this, always leaving with a bag of food. Considering she is a picky eater and doesn’t really like anything, I cannot help but wonder what she does with all that food. One time, I was serving steaks, and after the count, I managed to put a half-dozen in the refrigerator for a later meal for my family. My brother-in-law actually raided the fridge and helped himself to four of the uncooked offerings. I might not have minded if he were helping clean up and put food away or even asked, but what are you going to do?

And whatever you bring, a bottle of wine, beer, or food, if it doesn’t get cooked or it isn’t opened, don’t take it back. It is a gift, and as such, unless you are Mangas Coloradas, who never got invited anywhere for this reason, don’t try to take it back.

Naturally, no one expects you to bring such a thing to weddings or birthday parties, as you are expected to bring a gift at these gatherings. For funerals, on the other hand, bringing a covered dish or casserole of some kind is always welcome. It could be the only reason your tuna casserole is welcome because someone died.

I know we got out of practice during COVID because we were not having gatherings, but now that we are getting together more, we need to teach the younger generation about these things. Maybe if we start getting back to the more civilized considerations, we will be a better, happier nation, and we will stop trying so hard to hurt each other.