“Eeeeew!” I heard Ruth screech in my ear as we wandered around the party, tidbit plates in hand. “That guest over there is eating out of the dip dish. Look at him; he thinks the dip dish is his personal property.”

It was true. The gentleman (using the term rather loosely, mind you) was rapt in his own delight as he managed to consume a good portion of the onion dip with his rather large Ruffles potato chip. He plowed into the creamy dip over and over again, oblivious to the germs and pathogens he was possibly spreading. Oh the swine flu potential!

I recognized the culprit and immediately steered my way to the hostess to advise her that her dip, or what was left of it, was now contaminated with the saliva of Double Dipping Bozo. She was mortified. She was further mortified to see DDB was her husband doing the dastardly double dip, one whom you would never suspect capable of such rude behavior otherwise.

She quickly removed the double dipped trough from the table with a Medusa stare at her mate, who no doubt would get an “earful” later.  I mused that it was not all his fault; she could have provided a few things to “clue” guests into proper tidbit etiquette, therefore avoiding the double dipping dilemma.

For example, her tidbit table might have included:
- Large spoons in the dip dish to signal it should be spooned onto an individual’s plate
- Spreaders in any soft “dip-like” dish to encourage smearing vs. dipping
- Small ounce-size containers that guests could use to hold small portions

Another way to circumvent the inevitable guest who double dips is to avoid serving the type of foods that could trigger double-dipping behavior altogether (or get better friends, Ruth suggests).

This double dipping incident also reminded me why I no longer use a punch bowl, as lovely and old-fashioned as they may be. Have you ever seen someone filling their cup too much, with the overflowing punch literally washing their hands? Believe me, you won’t want to touch the stewing glop below. 

These days, I limit serving double dipping trigger foods and serve my party punch poured directly from gallon jugs or pitchers. And guess what? Ruth approves!

Happy cookbooking,

Matilda

Making a recipe book? Check out all the recipe software and cookbook binding supplies we have at CookbookPeople.com.

If you enjoyed this article, you might check out:
• How Much Food is Enough for a Crowd
• Serving Leftovers to Guests
• Holiday Parties on the Cheap

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