DEAR ABBY: When my in-laws come for dinner, they ask what they can bring. I always say "absolutely nothing," but they bring dessert or a bottle of wine, and then take the uneaten dessert or uncorked bottles of wine home with them. What's the rule of etiquette when someone brings items to a party? -- WONDERING IN FLORIDA
DEAR WONDERING: When guests bring something to their hostess -- a bottle of wine or dessert -- it is considered a gift. For guests to commandeer the leftovers without them having been offered is poor manners.