Last-Minute Gifts for the Home Lover

Saturday was our annual Christmas party. As I mentioned, the menu was over the top. Far more food than was needed to feed the thirty or so attendees. I imagine we will be sharing leftovers with neighbors and friends for days to come.

A recurring joke in years past is whether or not I will remember the punch ladles. Once—once—when the party was held at the firefighters’ hall, I forgot them and had to run to a local store to buy something that would make do. Soup ladles. I did not forget them this year.

We did, however, encounter another small issue.

When we used to host the party at our house every year, these things never came up. But once we outgrew our home and moved the celebration elsewhere, the logistics of serving dishes, cups, glasses, and the like became more complicated. At home, we are well stocked. Party plates for a hundred guests, easily. Enough serving platters and bowls that I could triple the menu and still be fine. Wine glasses, punch cups, holiday-themed old-fashioned glasses, Christmas mugs—we are golden.

Serving utensils, however, are another matter.

At home, we simply default to extra forks or spoons from the silverware drawer. When you’re hosting at a venue that is not your own, that solution is not always available.

Several years ago, Kathleen purchased two sets of catering-style serving utensils specifically for parties. Last year, while washing and transporting dishes back to Matthew’s house, I noticed we seemed to be short on them, so I supplemented with extras from our own kitchen. Around that same time, Matthew had received a set of silverware as a gift from a young woman he was seeing, for his new house.

After last year’s party, all the plates, dishes, and assorted paraphernalia were packed into storage tubs and returned to our home, where they stayed. This year, I simply transported the tubs back to Matthew’s and washed everything for use at the party. I did notice, however, that there were no serving utensils beyond the aforementioned ladles. I picked up an assortment of plastic disposables during one of my errands.

I did not pick up enough.

As we were setting out the food, much to my embarrassment, people kept asking where the serving utensils were. Eventually, I had to rely on Matthew’s silverware. That was when I learned that when he and his lady friend ended their relationship, she took back the silverware she had given him. He has been making do with three place settings and a handful of larger spoons ever since.

So, regardless of whatever advice the December 1925 issue of Better Homes and Gardens offered for “Last-Minute Gifts for the Home Lover,” I believe the most appropriate gifts this year are clear: serving utensils for me, and a full set of silverware for Matthew.