I put my foot down this year and I’m not hosting because I have been hosting EVERY event for the whole family for two years (after our remodel). I’ve also hosted every other event for about 10 years prior to that. I’m just tired of being abused. It costs a lot of money to provide ALL of the main dishes for a large group of people.
It was always about 25 of us. Now it’s 20 and any extra visitors they bring.
My family used to be really good about bringing main and side dishes. With the most recent events, I’ve had to supplement everyone because they “didn’t have time” or “it didn’t turn out”. So I end up with a bunch of sodas and a bunch of rolls and water bottles.
They “compliment” me saying “but nobody can bake a ham like you can”. Please! We have the same recipe passed down from our Texan grandmother. There is no reason why they can’t make a brown sugar ham or bring something else!
I make the mac & cheese recipe that I found several years ago on YouTube and my kids can make it with their eyes closed.
Making a salad is the easiest thing to do; you just have to buy a bunch of bagged lettuce! They insist that I make a great salad because it’s fresh.
So to summarize I told them that I wasn’t doing Easter brunch. Of course they’re upset. Where are they going to go now? I offered going out to a restaurant and no one “can afford it”. They offered to bring takeout, but that just means that they assume that we’ll pay for it. “No” means no.
There is a beach brunch that I haven’t checked out but I keep getting the hotel’s emails. They’re probably booked but if not we stay home and play games.