Spiff told me tonight that I "offer ambiguous cookies". And it's true. I apparently don't know how to properly offer cookies to my guests, and it makes for awkward moments.
Spiff was over at my house one night, just after we met and started dating (five years ago!). I opened up a bag of some yummy raspberry-filled butter cookies I bought at the World Market. I offered him the opened bag while we were chatting, thinking he would take a cookie or two, and we could share the yumminess together. He thought I was offering him the entire bag, and being surprised by this, he awkwardly packed them up and took them home with him.
Just this afternoon, I was making a batch of cookies to take to some friends, and the home teacher came over while they were baking. It was a small batch (only 24 cookies), and I needed enough to take to our friends. However, I thought it might be rude not to offer freshly baked cookies to our guests, with the smell of deliciousness in the air. So, I put a few on a small, glass plate and offered them to the two guys. The first home teacher took a cookie. The second one took the plate and put it on his lap. I didn't get to offer Spiff a cookie. When the visit was over, the guy with the cookies asked for a paper plate so he could take them home. I retrieved the plate from him and divvied the cookies up into separate plastic bags before giving them back to the home teachers to take home.
I was so struck by the awkwardness of this situation that I can't stop thinking about it. I didn't think I was offering "take homes" tonight. It's fine that they had cookies, and I had plenty left over to take to our friends, but I'm baffled. Was I really that ambiguous? Is offering a plate of cookies, on a glass plate, to a group of people in a room, really that ambiguous?
What is the proper way to offer cookies to guests?
What would you have done?
4 comments:
Not to women probably, but we attend a lot of cookie centered functions. You could always spell it out "I made some cookies for a function, would you like to try some?" Then again they are delicious cookies and maybe they just got greedy. Why not offer dried macaroni next time?
I guess I am right there with you. I am also baffled why someone would ask to take them home. From what you have said, I would have understood the situation just as you did. Hmm...
You must make pretty good cookies for them to take a leave of their senses like that! Maybe next time just hand them a cookie or two and then put it back out of sight in the kitchen? :)
That is hillarious! I had never thought of "how I offer a cookie". Perhaps you should say, would you like ONE cookie, or when they eat more than one you could say, "I can actually see you getting fater!"
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