Holiday meals during COVID
4 years ago
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Curmdgeon's rules for 'helping' during the holidays.
Comments (18)yogacat writes: 13)It's neither polite, nor helpful, to arrive at the host's house TWO HOURS early. I knew a couple who always arrived anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes earlier than stated on the dinner invitation. The first time it happened to me, I tried to lighten my annoyance by joking that they were lucky that I had on any clothes that early. The second time they did it, I was in the shower and not amused. I got out of the shower, marched to the front door with hair and body dripping wet and answered the door stark naked. They never arrived early to my dinners after that. I think I may try that tact at my next foray into large group entertaining. I wasn't feeling quite up to par with a nasty head cold, but did the whole nine yards anyway. Decided to take a short catnap, only to hear the phone ringing as my head hit my pillow. Thought it was one family member or another who live in other parts of the Country, calling to say Happy Thanksgving. No, it was a local family member/one of our guests, asking if it was okay for the five of them to come by earlier. ONE AND A HALF HOURS early. Well, I while tried to explain that I hadn't had time to shower, hor d'oeuvrs were coming with another guest, so nothing out to nibble on. Hadn't had a chance to do some last minute cleanup, etc. DD was napping in order to do some midnight holiday shopping, yada yada. I felt as though I was speaking some foreign language, and what my guest heard was ~ sure, that's fabulous, we would love for the five of you to come by two hours early~. After the explanation of why it would NOT be great for me, the guest offered to help with the last minute stuff. As I expected, that didn't happen. So, I did a few last minute things, and left the rest to DH, as it seems that it is his side of the family who seem to appear for things somewhere between 1 and 2 hours early EVERY time. UGH. I enjoyed a lengthy hot shower, and took my good ole time getting ready. I appeared downstairs in my home at the time I would have, had the early birds had the sense to spend a bit of time doing something else rather than arriving so early. When this has happened in the past, I rush through my shower, and don't get that 10 minute break I so badly need before the crowd descends on my home. Maybe the naked thing would've worked better, or at least send the guests a loud and clear head's up - please show up closer to the invitation time (which we had confirmed by phone the day prior)! I would never do that to any host/hostess. Oh, and I know you may be thinking these guests just don't know any better, you see, but they do. These people were raised "properly" and regularly attend cocktails parties, holiday parties, and the like as adults as well as through their entire childhoods. Entertaining and being entertained is something not foreign to them. Just cannot for the life of me, figure out what they were thinking other than they were already out, and didn't think better of killing two hours sitting in my LR while the last minute stuff was accomplished. So glad I am not the only one. Had I not been a bit under the weather & been my usual self, I would have been much better able to roll with it. But having last minute vacuuming and a few other things other than food-related things to do in the house, is very different than a guest coming in a few minutes early to share a cocktail and help you set out some things to nibble on. That kind of early is a-okay. Yes, we also have the guests who rummage through everything. But wait, they aren't just looking for a forgotten serving utensil, or linen bar towel to dry a pot. Nope, just plain curious I suppose. Another subject altogether! There's really no way to stop that behavior short of super-gluing the cabinets and drawers closed....See MoreWhat Beverages Do You Serve At Your Holiday Meals?
Comments (45)Drinks from the bar before dinner - lots of bourbon drinkers. In winter, I prefer a glass of dry sherry $ dont like holding a cold glass with ice in cold weather, and I could drink ant whiskey “neat” if a gun where put to my head! With Thanksgiving Turkey, Beaujolais Nouveau is served - perfect with the richness of turkey. With lobster stew dinner champagne before and during the meal. Christmas Eve beef tenderloin means a good red wine. Water goblets are always at each place as well, and children /teens still prefer milk. Beer and soft drinks are onky served at a very informal cookout. I never serve ice tea. I know - a sacrilege in the south! I used to drink it all the time - leftover from breakfast pot of tea. I no longer make a breakfast pot and don’t like instant....See MoreBooster Club Fundraising during Covid -19??
Comments (8)Our high school music program has been having all kinds of fundraisers for years--the one that worked best was an online fundraiser where kids and parents spammed everyone they knew with requests. It was awful, but it worked. The online business took a large chunk that was not disclosed to donors. It seemed sort of a scam but they did end up making more money than ever before. (After seeing how our largeish donation was added to the running total in a much reduced form, we canceled our donation and made it directly to the program.) It turns out people are happy to donate and don't even need something in return. And once you itemize how much stuff actually costs, people think, "oh, ****!! I had no idea!!" I think a group can cobble together a similar online fundraiser without the third party taking a cut. Have the kids do videos--sad mopey videos of them in their own lonely homes :)--explaining why their old fundraisers won't work. Put it on a web page with a list of expenses and suggested ways to make payments (check, paypal, credit?)... But whatever method, online begging really does work....See MoreChanging family room to dining room?
Comments (15)My son and his wife purchased their first home and wanted to buy a large dining set for their open area near the kitchen, as they love to entertain. Given they were wanting to start a family, everyone suggested waiting to see how their space would be utilized. Ended up doing the opposite to your plans, as they wanted to interact as a family in one accessible space and large dining space was less of a priority. If your children are young, personally I’d leave, so you can keep your eye on them, interact, etc. Nice to be in kitchen and interact with family and friends, other than during meals. Also consider you have the option of dining outside a lot. Suggest weighing the pros and cons of both. Also, if it‘s not a big deal to switch, test it out and live with it for a bit. Would there be an option for improvement to your kitchen‘s dining? If you do update kitchen seating, consider painting panelling....See More- 4 years ago
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