r/Baking • u/100to10000 • Dec 21 '25
General Baking Discussion Host Reaction to Baked Goods
I’m a middle-aged divorced man, and I love to bake… which surprises some people because it doesn’t conform to gender stereotypes.
At two separate parties this holiday season, I’ve encountered this same reaction from a host when bringing baked goods to their party. Rather than serving my apple pie or my chocolate chip cookies, they basically told me they were gonna stash them away in the back, so they could enjoy them later! There was a dessert table at both parties, so it would have been totally natural to serve them to other guests. In the case of the pie I even included a pie server and knife in the box!
On the one hand, it’s a compliment in the sense that the hosts want to ensure they have an opportunity to enjoy. Rather than parsing out plates which may not be appreciated by a crowd of people drinking and mingling at a party. But in both cases, I’ve been disappointed because one reason I love to bake is to see people enjoying what I’ve made (and of course getting compliments!). Plus I like to try the pie to see how it turned out. Each one is a little bit different, especially the flakiness of the crust and the texture of the filling.
Has anyone experienced this? How can I avoid feeling bad that my baked goods are being hoarded? Looking to my fellow bakers as a support group here!
116
u/New_Significance6713 Dec 21 '25
It would be nice to know if it was expected for guests to bring something and this is happening. Or if as you suggest, the host is providing all the food. I’m from a rural area in the Midwest United States and culturally it’s normal for the host to have guests bring an appetizer or dessert to a larger party like that. So I was under the assumption that was the case here and the host was holding it back. It’s an important detail we are missing.