Returning part of a gift

My wife often makes some "goodies" that we take to the city when we visit the kids and grandkids. She usually puts them in a Tupperware container, and leaves the container. On the next trip, we pick up the previous containers, and leave another....kind of like "recycling" the containers. If its just something that we are bringing to a birthday party, for example, we put it in a disposable aluminum platter, and the kids can toss that when its all used up.
 
Yes, I would assume the gift giver of something like a pie on a pie plate would want the plate back, especially if it was a close neighbor or friend. Many times if there's a death in the family, a neighbor may bring over a home cooked meal for the family so they don't have to cook while in mourning. On these occasions, unless it's an aluminum pan, it's returned within a reasonable amount of time. My neighbor once gave us some homebaked cookies in a small glass Santa jar for Christmas, that was obviously part of the gift package and was meant to be kept.
 

That's what I do Jujube, either use an aluminum pan/plate or a disposable plastic container. That way it's clear that they don't have to bother returning anything.
 
I was asking because a friend was telling me that she sent a pie to a family member mourning a loss. That was six months ago and the recipient still hasn't returned the plate. When she brought it up when she saw the recipient, the recipient said that when you give something to someone, you don't ask for parts back. Seems a little odd to me - why keep a pie plate?
 
I agree with everyone else, aluminum and you toss it. Any other material and you wash it well and return it with a sincere thank you.
 
When my father in law was living with us and passed away on Christmas Day, one of our neighbors brought over a steel baking pan with a nice roast and vegetables. We cleaned the pan afterwards and returned it with heartfelt thanks, as Fur suggested.
 
I've had several food items given to me but unless it was in disposable containers, I gave all of them back after i washed them.There is only one time that I didn't and it was because she voluntarily told me that she didn't want it back.
 
debodun said:
If someone gave you a food item along with its container such a a pie and a pie plate, would you assume the giver wanted the container back?
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Absolutely! You wash up the dish or pan or tupperware thing and give it back, with thanks. I think not do do so would be VERY rude. If I'm giving food to a family in mourning or someone who is ill, I put a small piece of tape on the bottom with my name on it so the person knows which one is mine.

Now if the pie was in one of those disposable pie plates, that's another story, but I still think I'd ask if the person wanted the plate back.
 
Butterfly, that is a great idea, a subtle way of letting the person know only the food is the gift, not the container. I'll remember that.
 
Redd said:
Butterfly, that is a great idea, a subtle way of letting the person know only the food is the gift, not the container. I'll remember that.
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Besides that, the person on the receiving end doesn't have to try to figure out which dish is whose. When my mother died, people brought food, and I spent a lot of time asking people if their dish was the white dish or the blue dish.
 
The tradition where/when I was growing up is that you're supposed to clean the dish and return it with food in it. For instance, a pie gift begets a quiche returned in the dish. Or cookies. Or another pie. Anything, really, so long as the dish doesn't go home empty.

Deaths in the family are another matter: I definitely don't expect to get my dish back filled, but I do like to get it back. I stick on the bottom one of those return address labels that charities are always sending. My friend buys containers and odd plates at yard sales and Dollar Tree, and doesn't care whether she gets them back.

Generally speaking, in my opinion, the gift is the food; not the dish.
 
Butterfly said:
Absolutely! You wash up the dish or pan or tupperware thing and give it back, with thanks. I think not do do so would be VERY rude. If I'm giving food to a family in mourning or someone who is ill, I put a small piece of tape on the bottom with my name on it so the person knows which one is mine.

Now if the pie was in one of those disposable pie plates, that's another story, but I still think I'd ask if the person wanted the plate back.
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:D That reminds me of my mom. After she learned tape (the old fashioned yellowish kind) would bake onto the pan never to be removed, she initialed the pan with nail polish. That must be where I learned to return pans--until they came out with all the neat disposable ones--with covers even, they have now.
 

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