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I would probably tone it down a little. But, you dont know her family or the mishaps they have already had. At my nana's if you were told to bring rolls, they had to be Publix water rolls and if you were making mac and cheese it had be a certain recipe and God help you if you deviated. So I guess, I just think you guys are being harsh.

Ok, do you guys have big families? I mean big families. This stuff makes sense if you have foil lids you can't stack in the refrigerator. The no serving spoons is obnoxious and hard to deal with when you got 20 kids bumrushing the fruit salad. And if you've got two turkeys and a ham in the oven there is no way Aunt Julie gets to put her uncooked casserole in oven. My mom is the oldest of seven with spouses, I have 12 cousins, so we had friends, SO's, inlaws relatives, and great relations.
When I was little it was insane . There wasn't enough room for the people let alone the food. You got assignments, specific assignments about was to be brought and how. They always wanted to make sure everybody could have some of everything. They made a special bowl of potato salad cause an uncle was "alergic".
So I'm pretty sure they got phone calls that went a lot like that letter. So I wouldn't bash her. I may print out the letter so I can use it for the next family gatering and use it like a blueprint.

"Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time..."

Something tells me she doesn't.

I'm honestly grateful for any item a guest would bring. If they ask what to bring, I always answer "whatever kind of booze you want to bring". My vegetarian guests sometimes offer to bring a veggie main course, and that's just fine with me. Enjoy your guests people, that's all that matters!

LOL! I love it! Definitely have family that can relate, lol

I remember this gem. Thanks for reposting. As much OCD as I've got, this lady is waaay over-the-top controlling. She needs to pour herself a Manhattan and chill the hell out.

Too funny! I can relate to both sides, not quite to that extreme but I get it. Those of us with this "disorder" are really just wanting it all to be "perfect" and the reality is it's not going to be. It's not meant to be vicious. However when you put it in writing and read it , it could be percieved as demanding and neurotic! still quite amusing!

We're in the UK, so we don't really do Thanksgiving, but we do the family Christmas meal every year. I don't care what people bring, but if they do, I'm grateful. It is my job as a host to make sure there is enough food and drink for everyone, including unexpected guests. If you bring something, I will serve it. Last year, my in-laws showed up with half a side of smoked salmon and some fresh bread. I had made a mozzarella and tomato salad, but quickly stuck that back in the fridge. I used it to make frittata for breakfast on Boxing Day. There was so much salmon, I made everyone salmon and soft cheese sandwiches to take away for the drive home.

My point is that being a host means putting yourself, to some extent, under the obligation of the guest. Allergic to something? No problem, I'll make sure there's another option. Don't care for a particular dish? Then don't eat it. I guarantee there will be plenty of other things to eat, and if all else fails, I'll order you a pizza.

simply amazing. How do people like that go through life without realizing how they come across? And why do their relatives tolerate it?

I use a brown sugar and chili pepper glaze. I rub them with olive oil and this rub and roast the potatoes.

I use a binder for the ones I want to be sure to keep and that I won't know where to find again. But I use it less and less. It's so easy to search for a recipe online, and I usually have a good idea of whether it sounds like it will work.

A few months ago I started using MacGourmet Deluxe. Plenty of bells and whistles there for a modest price. I've copied in recipes from all sorts of web sites & blogs, even SErs.

The shopping list feature can be adapted to use as a freezer or pantry inventory. This was one of my "must haves", along with a meal planner function.

If you are on a Mac, there is a program called YUM which is really good. I've been using it for years to organize my own recipes. I have yet to find an application that has as many useful features without cumbersome bells and whistles.

As for all those magazine tear sheets & clippings....I recently scanned them all and saved them as PDF's so I could retain the original photos, comments, etc....it was a project I had been putting off, but finally just bit the bullet and just did it.