Were you taught to "Never return an empty dish?"

[The Mystery Machine]

No.

 

[onelilspark]

It sounds very familiar, but I've never practiced it. I will clean the dish off and make sure it stays clean (in other words if I clean it and it sits on my counter for a few weeks before I see the person again, I'll clean it again before I see them.) Maybe because in my family we were always borrowing dishes from one another, so it would have been a constant exchange that it was just easier to return things clean??

 

[DVC Sadie]

I always return the dish with something else on it€.

Me, too!

It's funny because my mother was raised in Rhode Island and her mother taught her to never return an empty dish, so it doesn't seem to just be a regional tradition. Even here, where I live people return dishes with something in it.

 

[Katy Belle]

I was never taught to do this, but I had a neighbor that I did it with. We both liked to cook and we both had households of 2. She and her husband were retired and me and my husband were newly married. Often we would cook a big batch of something and give some to each other...always in the same dish that we passed back and forth. It was great fun!

 

[jfoofj]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm, my mother never returned a dish. I think she thought it was a package deal. She was THAT neighbor/friend/family member. Great woman, but Betty Crocker she was not, so she never really even knew what to DO with half the dishes she had. My aunt once covertly came into the kitchen and took all her stuff back. My mother never even noticed. Yes, I am the kid that grew up thinking that Cool Whip containers were Tupperware.

 

[NMAmy]

Wow, this is an old thread! I was going to reply but I already gave my response a year ago.

 

[Aisling]

Wow, this is an old thread! I was going to reply but I already gave my response a year ago.

I didn't respond the last time, so I'll do it now.

I never heard of "never return an empty dish", until I read it here. It's a nice idea.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

That is the way we were taught . Of course I am the only one who still does it in my family LOL

I just thought it was an Italian thing because both sets of my Grandparents were old and Italian .

 

[dawson5]

I haven't been here a year but I was always taught never return a dish empty. But this didn't count for funerals or things like that. Usually if a neighbor does something thoughtful enough like bringing a dish they thought you would enjoy, it was just nice to "return the favor." My neighbor and I are in a perpetual cycle right now, she's of the same thinking also. It's nice and always a pleasant surprise when it happens.

 

[Camicar]

I had never heard of this until about a year ago on another mb.

FTR -- grew up outside NYC and have since lived in upstate NY, CO, RI, MA, DE, and WI in towns ranging from 120 year round residents to 1 million residents and never heard of this practice in any of those locations.

 

[Scurvy]

I grew up in the south and always heard this, but I agree with previous posters - I don't think it applies for things like food brought to someone after a death.

 

[MaumeeMom]

Yep, I'm in the don't return a dish empty camp. Usually, I send baked goods, wrap them up and place them in the dish so that it stays clean.

Absolutely, that was pounded in my head as a child - never return a dish empty. I've lived in Michigan and Colorado and always practiced this. It was just polite.

The only exception was if you provided a dish for a funeral, sickness or birth or something like that and now you can use disposable dishware but that wasn't always the case.

An Ohioan here, I think that you are right, this "rule" is from a time before disposables.

I was never taught to do this, but I had a neighbor that I did it with. We both liked to cook and we both had households of 2. She and her husband were retired and me and my husband were newly married. Often we would cook a big batch of something and give some to each other...always in the same dish that we passed back and forth. It was great fun!

I love this - so neighborly!

PARTIAL
Cool Whip containers were Tupperware.

We had those!

ITA. Why would I expect someone who is grieving or sick or dealing with cleaning out their mom's house to make ME a dish? I don't need the help, they do.

When I make a dish, I always use a disposable pan so they can just throw it out and don't even have to go to the trouble to wash it.

I would never expect someone who has/is enduring a hardship to reciprocate. This "Rule" is more for the - "I tried a new recipe, tell me what you think," or the "The recipe made way more than I thought it would," type exchanges or my favorite, "I thought of you today so I made your favorite cookies," smile inducing gift.