Linen coasters or guest towels.

I would say for a WASP-y family like that, the thoughtfulness and effort of the gesture matter a lot more than the dollar value.

1 - treat them to a meal. Either take them out, or purchase all the ingredients and make something. My BFF is of Indian descent and made my family an awesome meal using her dad's recipes and veggies from her garden.

2 - sometimes keeping your eyes open while you are there will help you pick something out that works with their taste. Guest towels for the powder room, coasters, etc.

3 - home made / grown food gifts are a nice consumable that they can't get just anywhere.

If dinner, wine.

If wknd, wine and maybe some nice olive oil, chocolates, etc.

I think you should get what you like. If they grill, a Penzey gift box would be nice: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/c-Gift_Boxes.html

I got this once.

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/8450953265863996706?q=the+wasp+cookbook&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&ei=bDGsU7fXJoqu8AGIpoDoBA&ved=0CB4QuSQ

But like the coffee tea idea above.

In my WASPy family wine is very much a go to gift. WASPs like to drink wine, and those like me who are exceptions like to receive wine as gifts so that we have something to take when we visit our relatives.

If I was going for a whole weekend, I'd take the family out to eat one day. WASPs like eating out too.

Anonymous wrote:Maccarons.

Not sure I would go for that - it's so humid up here they would get soggy quite quickly. I had some soggy macarons at Central recently and they were not very good.

Are you invited for dinner or the weekend? If it's just dinner presumably you are staying on Nantucket already and can just pick up something cute in one of the shops there. Dinner is pretty low in terms of expectations, weekends a little more expected.

Maccarons.

Definitely something consumable. Alcohol is fine but a pain to travel with. You can do a mail order gift basket maybe, or make a basket as PP suggested (again keeping travel in mind - the planes to Nantucket are very small if you are connecting through Hyannis and you can't take on any carry on luggage). Or just offer to take them out to dinner.

Also check out the cute nautical stuff at Paper Source.

We have guests at our Cape house a lot (but aren't scary rich WASPs like your friend) and are happy with whatever guests choose to bring.

Just regift this

A nice port would be good. Yum!

Go to Cork and make a treats basket or go to Chinatown Coffee Co. and make a coffee & tea basket. Great liquor is always good but I like to bring local gifts to hosts.

A friend of mine from law school invited me to her family's Nantucket summer home for a weekend three weeks from now. She's a New England WASP and her family has lots of old money. I'm from a very un-fancy middle-class background and I'm not sure what to bring as a gift. Usually when I'm called for dinner I bring a bottle of wine, but I don't know what WASPs bring when they visit each other for the weekend? Should I bring anything at all? I want to take something, to show that I have manners.

I was thinking of taking a very high-end rye or bourbon, perhaps. Any suggestions? What is appropriate?