I can see forgetting to buy ice, but not having enough utensils? I would have volunteered to run to the store and get some plastic ones. Was she embarassed at all?

While I have a lot of mix and match plates and glasses, I always make sure I have enough if I'm having a party. Usually it involves buying plastic as I don't want to have to clean up after a lot of people. If you get the nice bio-friendly ones, it's even a great conversation piece.

borrow from a friend. or make it part of the party, everyone should bring their own items and load everything in the dishwasher while you have your coffee.

br0wneyed,

I LOVE the idea of having others bring their own utensils and popping them in the dishwasher after the meal! Going to suggest this to the group of gals that I potluck with!

In defense of the recently graduated, poor young professionals, surviving off entry-level salaries---sometimes the company you keep is more important than the details! Number one is to not judge your friends--and maybe buy them a set of utensils for their next birthday!

I went to a potluck party at a friends who recently went Veg so she wanted Veg dishes which was fine. But then I get there (with a baked pasta dish which was awesome and a bottle of wine) and she had NO DRINKS ready. We are talking no soda, ice, full brita pitcher nothing. And the only thing she made was a salad that wasn't anything but greens, cheese, and some TJS dressing.

If you are going to invite people over for a potluck...have the basics like WATER.

And...end of rant.

somewhere emily post is turning over in her grave...even if you're a recent college grad you can afford to buy plastic utensils. or cheap silverware from the dollar store. i agree in not judging but if you're throwing a dinner party than the least you can do is make sure you have the basics. doesn't need to be fine china or anything but you absolutely need enough of everything.

This reminded me of a great dinner party I attended in college. About 15 people, hungry for a spaghetti dinner. The host had provided the real plates, but unbeknownst to us, the silverware was to be a different matter. As each guessed arrived at the door, we were asked to choose two kitchen utensils from a large basket, and to keep them handy. No explanation was offered. Cocktails ensued. Long story short, I ate my spaghetti dinner with a wire whisk and a spatula! One of the best dinner parties ever!

how do you not have enough utensils?

as a reply to the poor, college grad comment:

i graduated from college last year, am completing a year of service (read: volunteering for a living), and STILL found utensils. they are from target, cost 5 bucks, but are used by me and my 4 roommates. there are options out there.

hahaha that's terrible

I'm with DreaAST; How do you not have enough utensils? It seems such a basic requirement!

fuzzles, that is a great party idea. So much fun...

Well, I can't say it would be all that fun if I had to eat spaghetti with a whisk, but... it's a cute idea.

I agree with you Party. That is so weird and it is NO excuse, especially if they knew it would be a potluck. Maybe they thought since it was a potluck it was also the responsibility of the guest to BYOU. (Bring your own utensil!) hahahah

you can buy forks for a dollar at wal mart or the dollar store. you get four to a pack, I think. they are not the best quality, but they work.

And I am just trying to figure out how you can survive with only four forks in your house. seems like a lot of dishwashing or a lot of eating out would take place for that to work.

Those hand models are great xo.

wanna bet the hostess put them somewhere "safe" so no one would use them before the guests arrived?

i had a friend of mine who lived in a house where they only had two forks to be accounted for - two! there were four of them in the house and the lack of forks was blamed on the fact that everyone ate on the go and just had to have a fork. this made for many a meal eaten with spoons, like steak

I always have about 5 extra utensils ready whenever I have a dinner party. very important!

Party, let me know where they are. I will buy them a set.

I love the picture!

We had that issue last year - a friend was sharing his flat with just another person, and when we had dinners with around 10-12 people he'd ask us if we could bring a few plates and utensils.

However I don't understand how you can be 5 people and only have 4 forks!

Okay forks are a basic requirement. Like I wouldn't expect people to drink from the bottle. If I didn't have enough plastic would work. How bizarre.

Okay, I was hosting a bigger dinner party for new years. I have a full set of silverware but even with that I realized I was low on knives (not sure how)...so I asked a friend who was coming to bring so of her own.

I was not shy about asking people to bring a few extra chairs or plates (this was a much larger party than I anticipated!)

Point being: if you have friends enough to have a party for them....then you have friends enough to let you borrow a fork or two.

I can see how that would be sort of bohemian and cool, like "let's just go with the flow people!" But if it's a nice dinner party, I would assume it would be nice to have things that matched and have enough of those things to pass around to everyone. If all else fails and you don't want to splurge on another set of nice silverware...paper plates and plastic utensils are cheap! lol my bf and i are going to have to do that when we host a casual dinner party at the end of the month.

Absurd and cruel! How can you not have forks? HUGE oversight - and the no water thing is awful! Look, I was a poor college grad and now, I'm a poor, unemployed, mother/artist. ANd I NEVER FORCE MY GUESTS TO EAT WITH THEIR FINGERS - there's a thing called "friends"..."hey friend, can I borrow some forks for this event?" and then there's a thing called "parents or sisters or boyfriend" or theres FREECYCLE (get stuff for free) or goodwill stores (10 cents or less per utensil) or YOU CAN "TAKE" FROM THE PLASTIC FORKS AT THE MALL FOOD COURT..I mean really.

run to the store and buy more forks, plastic ones if you have to

Believe it or not my mom had this problem until last year (when I made her buy a new set of silverware). My sisters would either throw them out accidentally or when they took lunch to work they never brought them back. Children (mind you they are 20 and 22.

It seems absurd to me to not have more forks than people at all times. 5 people, 4 forks? It sounds like she forgot to do the dishes or someone ran off with a few (work, bedroom). I'm single and have an 8-person set of silverware. I hate doing the dishes.

Yep I have totally done this. Except for me it was we only had about 5 CLEAN forks. Or I'll need to wash a plate or something. I just walked around the house looking for an extra fork to wash.

Also, before dinner parties I'd have to ask my roomate to bring down all of his dirty dishes, he'd come down the stairs with about 8 glassses!

I don't think this is about money, just about preparation. Probably was the last thing the person though about while they are trying to clean the house, make the food, etc.

Maybe this is also why you should set the table beforehand?

yea that's really not cool. i'm all for the mismatched stuff at times because i know that not all people are fortunate enough to have an over abundance of matching glasses (i do but not everyone does) but not enough silverware? come on - go out and buy plastic ware if necessary!

if you have a stash of chopsticks leftover from deliveries, you might want to take a pile over to her house! you can eat a lot of stuff with chopsticks, not just asian food...

When I first met my Bf we went to his friends house for dinner and drink and they only had two of everything. Just enough for the two of them. I thought is was so funny.

Utensils are key. Always make sure you have some extra!

I feel for the girl who didn't have enough utensils. She's probably just really busy with work and super social do she didn't have time to properly prepare. Throw her a freakin bone!

I can not believe that someone would let this happen, especially if they planned the party themselves. If this did happen I would go looking for chopsticks, but it sound like this type of person may not even have those.

I actually had this problem last Christmas. I'd recently moved into my new apartment and my former roommate was the one who had the silverware. I decided to host an "Orphan's Christmas" for friends who had no other family in the area and was planning for what we'd need and realized that we only had 2 forks in the apartment (3 people, but one is Taiwanese and the other Japanese), although we had tons of chopsticks. So, off to Target for a set of silverware the day before Christmas!