Friday, January 9, 2009

When the host tells you not to bring a thing!



With the party season behind us, it might be a little late for this tip but I thought it was worth the mention. I am the proud owner of these two carafes you see in the picture above. If you entertain at all you know how helpful these can be. I can boil my water for tea and make my coffee well ahead of when my guests arrive. I lend these out throughout the year for teachers functions, dinner parties and for anything else where they might be helpful. Lately, I have even been bringing these to dinner parties. Let me explain. You know, when you get that invitation and the host tells you not to bring a thing? I sometimes offer "The Coffee Bar". Usually the answer is an excited YES! It is always such an afterthought when I entertain - sometimes I even forget to make the coffee until I'm in a rush while another guest is serving the dessert.
When I bring these to a get-together I fill one with boiling water for tea and the other with a coffee selection. Do you like my little "Tea Tote"? I picked that clear tea case up at the Container Store for 14 dollars. It's a great way to transport a nice selection.



My mom finds many occasions to use her carafe as well. Something neat she does with hers is to convert those magnets you get in the mail to coffee labels. She just puts a name tag sticker over the magnet and it instantly becomes your carafe "Name tag". Wouldn't it be cute to put "Hello - my name is Joe" on this tall dark and handsome "Man".



Don't forget to bring some fun creamers and cute little sugar cubes. The host is always thankful and it adds a little panache to an often overlooked item.

What is the strangest thing you have ever offered to bring to a party?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you really want me to answer that? hahahaha Just Kidding!

I have a recipe for a "chocolate chip cheeseball" that was all the rage a few years ago. Everywhere I went....I was asked to bring this thing. It was butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and mini-chips shaped into a ball and rolled in pecans. I served it with graham crackers.

So...people liked it...but they also commented on how strange it was.

I am happy to say, that I have not made it in about 3 years...

Sabrina said...

What a lovely idea. I know I would appreciate the thoughtfulness.

Karen said...

That is such a thoughtful thing to bring to a dinner party. If there are children, one carafe could even be filled with hot chocolate (but would there ever be enough??) :)

Anonymous said...

Bringing a coffee bar to a party would be a welcome surprise...great idea! Thank you!

tamilyn said...

I can't think of anything "strange" I have been asked to bring, but I know this idea would have come in handy when we had our youngest daughter's Confirmation party. I forgot to make coffee, and no one said anything! They were way too polite!