Warm Food

Don't know why this is in my head right now but it is.....

How come some people just don't understand what it means when they bring food somewhere that needs to be warmed up?

At the nephew's party, one of the cousins showed up about an hour late while brother in law was prepping the chili and they were pretty much getting ready for eating time... and she brought something that needed to be warmed in the oven (and not just warmed in the oven, she needed assembly and stuff too). The lovingly named, Shit on a Shingle (aka chipped beef on toast). Browned sausage mixed with jarred cheese or melted Velveeta, put on cocktail rye and thrown in the oven. It sounds gross, it looks gross, but it's one of those perfect storms of processed foods and cocktail party ideas from the 50s that just works.

I knew my potato skins should be warm and I took them out of the oven right before we left (and also knew they were something that would get eaten even after they got cold by adults who were consuming many alcoholic beverages) but I was not counting on oven space to warm them, mostly because I didn't ask for it.

I'm one who brings food over to others and I really, really try to not have to monopolize the oven when I get there. No one needs that.

I think this is just early Thanksgiving stress coupled with the recent discovery of cordless food warming plates, and me trying to figure out how I can convince the hubby that I need one. Over the years of going to Thanksgiving at his folk's house, I've become tasked with bringing the sweet potato dish and green beans (as much as I loved the Not Yo' Mama's Green Bean Casserole by the Hearty Boys, I think it has been taken over in preference by green beans with the lemon/almond/butter mix ala the trout recipe from the Bouchon cookbook). The problem is keeping them warm. I bring them over hot, covered, keep them in an insulated bag... they get cold. I even tried relying on the microwave a bit, but the mother in law needs that too, and it's just hard to coordinate.

Grumble. Stupid additional gadget I think I need.