I have a friend who is a wonderful kind woman, not much of a cook, but
really nice, and lives in a lovely home in a nice neighbourhood. One of
her neighbour's is a chef. The chef's wife called and invited her and
her husband to a party for her chef husband. Our friend and the chef
family had been to a party at my brother's where my nephew had cooked a
quick roasted beef tenderloin fir a short time in a very hot oven.

Chef's wife extended this invitation to my friend and asked if she could
bring that dish. She also asked her to bring two bottles of wine, one
red and one white. She specified which wines. Then chef's wife asked
her to bring enough of the meat dish for 20. The date of the party is
also our friend's birthday.


Current prices for a whole beef tenderloin around her are about $80. The
wines turn out to be $20 a piece. My friend was not thrilled. She
discussed it with her husband, who said screw that we'll have our own
party her for that money. She called back the chef's wife, clarified the
date..... ooops sorry. I didn't know that my husband had planned a party
for me here on that night so sorry, but we can't make it.

The next day she got a call from another neighbour asking if she was
attending the party. Our friend said they had been invited but could
not attend because her husband was having a party for her. It seems that
chef's wife had called the other neighbour after our friend canceled
and asked her to bring the two beef tenderloins... and two bottles of
wine. So our friend asked the other neighbour if she was going...... no
way !!

I have to hand to to our friend that she was able to find a nice way to
decline the invitation. I am not sure how I would react to an
"invitation to a party" that is going to cost me $200. I have no problem
with a pot luck, but being expected to supply beef tenderloin for 20
people plus $40 worth of wine is a bit much, IMHO.