Be a fabulous guest – bring a dish and a gift

Summertime is the perfect time for casual entertaining and getting together with friends and family.  Next time you offer (or are asked) to bring a dish – bring your dish in a serving piece that you leave as a hostess gift.

It’s a clever and practical idea! Simply shop at your favorite store with discounted house ware items or a fabulous clearance section pick-up some interesting and functional serving pieces that you can use as hostess gifts.

Helpful hints:

• Look for: Large plates, platters, bowls in various sizes, fun serving utensils, salad tongs, salad dress cruets, etc.
• Consider: simple patterns or a single color since they will go with items your host already has
• Select: items you would enjoy having!
• Store: Find ONE place to keep your hostess gifts. I store my hostess finds on a shelf in our guest room.

Next time the phone rings with an invitation to a BBQ, wedding shower, housewarming – offer to bring a dish and surprise your host with your thoughtful gift when you arrive with a serving piece they can keep after the party.  This gift giving technique has a unique bonus feature – you don’t have to remember to take your serving piece home!

I recently attended a Meet Our New Grandbaby open house. Since gifts were optional, I opted to help the hostess by bringing an dip and chips in her hostess gift!  Since I was very familiar with the hostess’s favorite colors I opted for a serving piece that reflected her personal style.

Black Bean Salsa

1 can black beans, drained
1 can shoe peg corn, drained
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, pealed and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced fine
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
juice of 1 lime
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine and serve with tortilla chips

I would be remiss, if I didn’t suggest the Mama Says, ‘No More Frozen Pizza!’ recipe collection as a fabulous wedding shower, housewarming gift or anytime gift.  Pair the recipe collection with a serving piece, stock pot or pot holders for a unique and thoughtful gift.

Enjoy and happy gifting.

Enjoyed this post? See these:

1. Wedding Shower – a great (thrifty) gift idea
2. Gift Ideas for Graduation, Wedding Showers, Housewarming
3. Valentine’s Day Sweet Gift Ideas

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Tags: black bean salsa recipe, hostess gift ideas

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am and is filed under Mama Says, Our Favorite Things, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.