[sfharper]

Do you invite others to bring dishes to your party or just do it all by yourself? Pot luck for me as a picky eater may mean I don't get to eat. Alternatively, I find everyone is happier to come over if they don't feel like a sponge. How do you handle it?

[seeemilywrite]

I usually like to cook a main meal. Turkey for instance. then invite others to bring side dishes. that way people can contribute to the meal, but don't feel like they have to eat everything, and they arn't really mooching they did bring somehting after all.

[beth]

The best dinner party I ever had was one where I merely supplied the venue!! We all wanted to have a party, so I said "You bring the food, you can have it at my place!" It meant that the time I would normally have spent on cooking and shopping, I could devote to decorating, so I organized the best table setting I'd ever had. It looked like something out of a lifestyle magazine, with hanging candles, flowers, a tropical theme and individual personalized place settings. Everyone loved it, and I learned that I'd much rather do a designer party than cook! Win-win for Beth!

[sfharper]

Good ideas Beth and Emily(?)! I save some of my decorations and reuse them. I'm a nut for making flower arrangements from my garden. Do you do parties very often? I used to, but everyone seemed to get bored with the big group events and I never seem to get around to planning small one or two couple events. Do you get invites back or is everyone too busy?

[LisaDK]

When I have lots of people over I like to make the main dish and then ask my friends to bring a specific type of side dish. For instance if I'm making tacos, I might get someone to bring veggies, someone else to bring salsa, someone else to bring tortillas, and someone else to bring dessert. This way you have everything you need for a complete meal, but everyone gets to contribute and it isn't too much of a burden on one person. We did this a lot when we had Bible studies with my college group. It would have been expensive for one person or family to do everything but it was much more reasonable for us to all bring one thing.

[sfharper]

Taco's are my life saver when it comes to group meals. I always put all the ingredients in separate dishes. That way, the cheese lovers can add cheese to theirs, while I can skip it entirely. Plus some people eat there's as a salad.

[writerchick]

I like to be in control of the main dishes and key side dishes, so I always leave the drinks and green salad or maybe dessert to guests who ask if they can bring something. I only assign something out if they ask, though.