Dinner Guest Etiquette...

Chances are, unless you are a complete recluse, you have wither invited friends to dinner at your house, or been invited to dinner at a someone else's house. With a dinner invitation, there is always the question of what you can bring.

Many times, the host will take you up on your offer of a dessert, a side dish of some sort, or at the very least a bag of ice if the parts will have several guests.

A few months ago, we hosted dinner and when asked, politely told the guests that their presence was all we cared about, everything else would be taken care of. I like to cook, and made what I thought was a great meal, complete with appetizer and dessert. When the guests arrived, dinner was close to being ready, and I had just put dessert in the oven. They arrived carrying a dessert. At that point, all you can really do is serve their dessert and put the one you prepared up for another night. Of course, since the guests usually hang out in the kitchen, it was obvious they noticed the dessert, and it was a little awkward.

Fast forward to this week. We accepted a dinner invitation to a neighbors house for tonight. When Shelly accepted, she asked if we could bring anything, suggesting maybe a dessert or a side. They thanked her and declined, asking that we just show up hungry (no problems here...).

I was at the grocery store yesterday and sent the neighbor a text and asked what his favorite flavor of beer was. He informed me that he had plenty, just show up and we would be all set.

Clear enough? Not for my wife. What is it with women that they can't just graciously accept an invitation without having to take something? She baked a loaf of bread last night. Of course, our bread machine hates us. In the 7 years we've had it, we've NEVER had a loaf turn out right. Always too dark, hard, falls, etc. This one was the proper shape, but too dark and quite hard on the outside...

She just got home, so we'll see if I win the argument about just going empty-handed...

Does anyone else have this problem? Do you take something even after being told multiple times not to?