Bring A Dish

[couponfanatic]

OK, I seem to have missed something.
All my life, when it came to summer parties, holiday events etc. not formall affairs like weddings, just the various casual ones, it was standard practice to Bring A Dish. often it was on the invitations. But even if it wasn't, you didn't dream of going to someone's house for Xmas without at least a tray of cookies.
Now I keep seeing things about people wondering if guests will be offended if they ask them to bring a dish.
Offended? heck. You're going to the trouble of the event, the least I can do is bring something.
Did this practice stop? (and I'm so old-fashioned I had no idea?)
Is it more regional? Almost seems more common in the North and Midwest.

And by the way, I was also brought up that when someone leaves a dish at your house you always return it full (of something else of course) for luck.

[XUfan]

I've noticed this trend too. Whenever we're invited to someone's house for dinner...or even just to watch a game and munch on snack foods...I always ask what they want me to bring. And I never arrive empty-handed! However, when guests arrive at my house, they seldom bring anything. I've also noticed this when we're at other people's houses. A majority of the guests don't bring anything. It seems odd to me.

But...I guess it's better than one of my relatives, who used to show up at my house with a bag full of empty containers to take leftovers home!!

[buddysmom]

I've noticed this trend too. Whenever we're invited to someone's house for dinner...or even just to watch a game and munch on snack foods...I always ask what they want me to bring. And I never arrive empty-handed! However, when guests arrive at my house, they seldom bring anything. I've also noticed this when we're at other people's houses. A majority of the guests don't bring anything. It seems odd to me.

But...I guess it's better than one of my relatives, who used to show up at my house with a bag full of empty containers to take leftovers home!!

the same thing happens to me :shrug7:

[2mnyteens]

But...I guess it's better than one of my relatives, who used to show up at my house with a bag full of empty containers to take leftovers home!!

XU fan - I thought my family was the only one with characters like that :) Julie

[shannon1189]

We have big get togethers at the hunting club. We are always having to bring a dish.

Super Bowl weekend were having a party there. All the women are bring a dish.

[saving-n-va]

I always ask what I can bring too. If they say "nothing" we still try to bring bread, a dessert, extra beverages, whatever.

I've never heard the "return the dish full" side. Like you said maybe its a regional thing.

Relatives bringing their own leftover bowls. How about a 38 year old female relative that jumps in line for food in front of her 2 -90+ year old grandmas??? Then doesn't offer to help clean up, and takes leftovers, although we are feeding the same amount of people the next day???

We all have those relatives don't we??? No really we all do right?? I'm not the only one am I??

[daisydog215]

I'm on the fence on this one. I always, always offer to bring at least one dish and rarely does the host say "no thank you". When I am the host, I nearly always accept someone's offer to bring something. However, if you don't explicitly ask someone to bring a dish, why would you be offended when they don't bring one?

[Smee]

I'm kind of a hypocrite about it, I think. I mean, I always always always ask what I should bring to any function I'm attending. If someone says "just yourself," it feels weird to me and I still feel like I should be bringing something. It's just the way things were done in my culture.

However, if I'm hosting something (like this years Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners) and someone asks what they should bring, I always say "just yourself" and expect to cover it all. I really don't want or need for anyone to bring anything.

[missdaisy118]

I must have great friends and family, because even when I say don't bring anything, almost everyone brings something.

[XUfan]

I'm on the fence on this one. I always, always offer to bring at least one dish and rarely does the host say "no thank you". When I am the host, I nearly always accept someone's offer to bring something. However, if you don't explicitly ask someone to bring a dish, why would you be offended when they don't bring one?

I'm not offended. I'm just baffled as to why things have changed so much.