DEAR ABBY: We have a couple we occasionally invite over for games and dessert. For the last several months, they have been asking me if the dessert I’ve made is from a mix. They are not joking; they are serious. I’m a good cook and baker. They’ve eaten here often and know I cook from scratch. I try to make something special every time they come. To ask if I used a mix is an insult and very hurtful.
I tried showing them the recipe for whatever dessert I’ve made for an evening, but it hasn’t put the issue to bed. I invite them to our home less often because of this. If it were just me, I’d quit seeing them altogether, but my husband plays golf with the husband, and I don’t want to mess that up.
How can I figure out why this started and get them to stop? If I get into it when it happens, it will ruin our evening. -- TRYING TO GET ALONG IN NEVADA
DEAR TRYING: Call the wife and ask her calmly and privately why she and her husband keep doing this. Remind her that she knows darn well that you prepare the food you serve them from scratch, and you are puzzled about why she has been implying that you didn’t. Then let her explain.
After that, ask if she and her husband would prefer that, instead of you spending hours in the kitchen before their visits, you simply order pizza and a salad?
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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
