This Saturday, the Wife and i are having a New Kitchen Party. (Sorry if you weren't invited, but we're already up to around 40+ people in a 1400 sq ft house. Feel free to pester me and i'll invite you to a proper sit down dinner after we move the hordes through.)
Needless to say, everyone is asking "What can i bring?", to which we generally respond "Nothing."
Of course, everyone ignores that. They want to bring something because if they don't they know that all the other kids will laugh at them… or something. i'm not really sure what the reason is, but quite truthfully, with 40+ folks in the house, having more stuff isn't really a good idea.
Still, folks feel the need to help, and if left to their own devices, they'll probably bring Edible Bouquets or ice sculpted statues of Han Solo or something. What i (as host) need to do is figure out something that makes them feel like they're contributing when in reality, they're on a snipe hunt. Here's a list i'm tempted to have folks fetch:
- 4 eggs
- 7 #2 pencils (unsharpened)
- a bag of medium rubber bands (around 20 or so)
- a roll of peppermint mentos
- 10 paper clips (medium or large will do)
- 5 packets of hot sauce
Basically, it's like a hobo bridal registry for folks that are just very eager to be helpful. The more eager, the more detailed the request. If they ask why you need 17 sticks of mint flavored gum, i'll just wink, smile slyly and say "Well, you'll see at the party."
And if they REALLY press, i'm not terribly sure they'll be that enthused about sampling the gummy mento-chip cookies with hot sauce.
