Ten Savvy Tips For Bringing Food To Friends

As I get ready for my move and a big trip this weekend, a dear friend, Maralee McKee has graciously agreed to guest blog for Southern Plate! I know you’ll love her as much as I do! Although, after reading her introduction and how she talks about me, I feel like I am gonna owe her more than just gratitude! ~slips Maralee a twenty…~ Just kidding! Thank you, Maralee! Gratefully, Christy 🙂

Greetings to my fellow Southern Plate readers!

We haven’t been formally introduced yet, but I already feel like we’re friends! That’s because friends share things in common, and if you’re reading this then we share something very special.

Our admiration and appreciation of Christy Jordan!

I stumbled across Christy’s sight by divine “chance”! Befuddled by the fact that my iced tea never turned out quite sweet enough, or deep brewed enough for my southern roots, I was searching the internet for a tea recipe when Southern Plate appeared.

I found her tea recipe and then had a few minutes to spare so I began exploring her site. Christy’s enthusiasm, wit, (Who doesn’t love a girl who say’s “Whatever cranks your tractor!” on a regular bases?) her charm, her passion for her family and her heritage drew me in like a cool breeze.

Christy and I chatted on the phone several times and became fast friends! Now, today I’m very honored to be with you. You see, I’m the mom of a newborn. A newborn blog. My little one is not even a month old, so to partner with Christy at this early stage in the life of my blog is a special thrill and honor.

Who am I and what’s my blog about? Well, thank you for asking. I won’t bore you, but I will share just enough so you’ll know my heart in writing this post.

I’m Maralee McKee and I was born and have lived all my life in Orlando, Florida. Yep, Mickey Mouse and the whole gang are just about 25 minutes from my front door. I’m a wife and the mom of two boys. Marc is 12, and Corbett just turned 7. My husband and I have the boys convinced that Disney is a long drive, just so we don’t have to hear them beg us every week to go ride the rides!

Professionally, I’m an expert in my field, a former TV and radio host, a newspaper and national magazine columnist, and the author of three soon to be released books.

My arena of expertise…OK, I’ll tell you, but promise not to prejudge! It’s etiquette. No, not our grandma’s etiquette. (Although, that was perfect in her day!)

I’ve evolved grandma’s social guidelines so that they’re no less impressive and other centered, but so they do take into account the needs and sensibilities of your everyday interactions at home, at work, and in your neighborhood.

My passion and talent is in equipping others in the words and actions of esteeming others in our daily encounters. I teach the language (due to human nature, it’s not our native tongue) of living out-in words and actions-that lifting up. Put these easy skills into action and well…

It draws people to you. You become a magnet of warmth more attracting than true north.

It’s the way I want to live my life. I desire to be the person that boosts and elevates those I encounter, stranger and friend alike.

Most days, I don’t even need to do anything big. It’s the little moments that make up our lives. Saying, “Thanks a lot. This latte looks delicious!” to the fellow behind the coffee counter. Starting a phone call by sharing, “Hey, you’re the person I most would love to talk to right now!” to the associate on the other end of the line. Running ahead of a mom pushing a baby stroller and saying, “Here, allow me to get the door.”

My brand of etiquette isn’t about bowing, curtsying, hosting seated dinners for 12 with butler service, or hiding who you “really” are so you can falsely impress.

My brand is about determining who you want to be and then purposing to live it out 24/7 until your desire becomes your virtue.

It brings dignity and an easy poise to your life. It isn’t effortless. It is rewarding!

I’m not yet there. I’m a lot closer than I was a few years ago. I’ll hopefully get another inch closer today. I love my journey.

Please come visit me at www.MannersMentorBlog.com and subscribe. I’d love to have you join me each week!

As a special blog birthday celebration, everyone who subscribes to my blog via E-mail is registered to win a $150.00 American Express ® gift card that I’ll be awarding on May 4. Leave a comment, and you’ll receive a second entry into the contest!

Since Christy is all about food, this post is about savvy tips for bringing food to friends when they’re ill or just need some extra help. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Ten Savvy Tips for Bringing Food to Friends

When someone you know is caring for a new baby,
recovering from surgery or an accident, suffering from a death in the family, preparing for moving day, experiencing a financial hardship, or consumed with tending to a sick child, it’s a great time to ease your friend’s burden by gifting him or her with a meal.

Doing so can be just what the doctor ordered, and not just because the food provides for their physical needs.

Your meal, planned with care, made with love, and hand-delivered at a time when your friend is in the midst of stress, change, pain, or uncertainty, is an emotional salve of friendship more healing than most prescription drugs.

Before loading the car with your goodies, there are a few things you should know. Problems and disappointments arise and feelings can be hurt when the person making the food and the person receiving the food have differing expectations.

So what are your best choices?

Costco ® vs. homemade? A three-course meal vs. a single entrée? Haute cuisine vs. always reliable and tasty-if maybe boring-tuna casserole? Drop the food by at 11:00 AM so they can reheat it that evening? Bring it piping hot at 6:00 PM just in time for dinner?

Oh, the questions! Oh, the possibilities for your potential good deed to go undone.

The solution? A common list of expectations.

Follow the savvy, sincere, and simple tips below, and when you volunteer to prepare a meal you’ll know the full extent of your obligation. Also when you’re on the receiving end of the meal, you’ll know what’s coming your way and what additional plans you might need or want to make.

Add these tips to your repertoire and the only thing that will be remembered and appreciated longer than your meal is the love and friendship that you so obviously put into creating it!

1. What time? Ask your friend what she prefers. Usually, dropping food off piping hot from the oven just in time for dinner is the best, even if it cools off a little in the car on the ride over and needs to spend a minute or two reheating in the microwave.

2. Special kindness: Ask your friend on the phone in advance if you can serve them the meal. Make it clear you don’t want to join them, you want to serve them. Make yourself the headwaiter and chief bottle washer. This means setting the table, getting the kids ready for dinner, serving the food, then clearing the table, putting the leftovers in the fridge, loading the dishwasher, and cleaning the kitchen.
As soon as you finish, leave so your friend doesn’t feel like she needs to entertain you.

Caution: only do this if your friend has given you the green light. If she feels awkward about being served, this isn’t the time for you to try and change her mind. In the months ahead, she’ll remember the awkwardness more than she’ll appreciate the meal.

3. Costco ® or homemade? There’s a joke that says frozen food is the homemade food of the 21st Century! So, which to bring? Homemade is usually the better option for the entrée because you pour more of yourself into it.

Now, if you’re truly not a good cook or just really busy, then frozen or packaged food is OK, as long as you set your friend’s expectations when you volunteer. “Liz, I want to bring you a meal one evening this week. I wish I was kidding, but cooking isn’t a particular talent of mine. The London broil they sell at Costco® is really good and I’d like to bring that if it sounds like something you all would like.”

Another option is to offer to pick up food from their favorite restaurant. The problem is, that when you ask them what they’d like to order, it puts your friend in the awkward place of determining how much money you’ll be spending on them. In this case, it’s nicer to give them a gift card to the restaurant in advance so that someone in the family can pop in one night and bring dinner home.

4. If you do bring frozen or packaged foods, make sure you completely prepare them before you arrive. Keep in mind, you’re bringing a meal, not groceries.

A minute or so to reheat and spoon food onto their plates is the only task your friend’s family should have to handle prior to eating. So, prepare the frozen peas, pop open and bake the can of crescent rolls, and defrost the frozen cake pie before you leave your house.

5. Haute Cuisine or tried-and-true? In times of sadness or illness, we’re most comforted by the familiar. Even if you’re friend is a foodie, she’ll probably appreciate the standards of her childhood: casseroles, roasts, pot pies, soups and stews, meatloaf, etc.

6. When planning the meal, take into account who will be eating it. Ask your friend how many will be at dinner and whether or not there are any special dietary needs or food allergies. Keep in mind that spicy food is bad for breastfeeding moms and those recovering from certain surgeries. (Also ask about: caffeine, milk products, and chocolate.)

7. Ask what their children will eat. Mom and Dad won’t enjoy their meal half as much knowing they have to make one for the kids as soon as you leave because there is no way their five-year-old twins are going to be convinced to take a bite of your spinach lasagna and Cesar salad even though your own little ones gobble up every bite.

8. Bring as much of the food as you possibly can in disposable pans. It doesn’t look as pretty, but it saves your friend from dishwashing duties and from hearing empty casserole dishes rattle around in the back of her van for three months until she gives them back to you.

9. Make it clear when you volunteer to bring food whether you’re bringing just a particular dish or a whole meal. When many people are bringing food at one time (like after a death in the family), its fine to bring just one type of item: an entrée, side dish, or dessert.

However, when signing up to bring food one evening for a family, you are volunteering to bring the whole meal. This might be more food than you typically consider for a weeknight dinner. Think more along the lines of an old-fashioned Southern Sunday meal.

You’ll want to provide: a salad (fruit salad is a good choice if there are children in the family, because many young ones won’t touch a garden green; I know mine won’t!), an entrée, a vegetable, a starch, bread, drink (ginger ale and iced tea are nice choices), and dessert (homemade or bakery fresh).

I also like to bring something special just for the kids-a box of savory snacks and a box of sweet ones or cookies for the days ahead. If your budget allows, bring a little extra something when you come. A friend of mine who brought dinner after my first son was born included a CD of Michael McDonald Lullabies. (She had already given me a baby gift at my shower.) I still have the CD. It reminds me of the special first days with my baby and of how special of a friend she is!

10. One last thing: don’t cancel the day of and don’t show up late. If so, apologize profusely and make up for it soon by providing a meal they can keep in their freezer for future use.

Special Note: If you’re on the receiving end of the food make sure you call your friend that evening to say how tasty everything was and how much you appreciate their kindness. Within a week drop them a thank you note in the mail so that they have a permanent reminder of your thankfulness!

Add these tips to your repertoire and the only thing that will be remembered and appreciated longer than your meal is the love and friendship that you so obviously put into creating it!

Thanks for reading and please click here to subscribe www.mannersmentorblog.com!

Blessings,

Maralee McKee

www.mannersmentorblog.com

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~  Aristotle

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