# What do people want these days at potluck meals?



## debodun (Dec 22, 2015)

I've tried and tried to figure out what people would like to have at church socials and other potluck functions. Most of the time I end up bringing home what I brought. This past Sunday, we had an after service potluck and about 30 people stayed for it. I brought home-made fruitcake, macadamia nut cookies and red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Dishes others brought were pea soup, meatballs in tomato sauce, assorted crackers, asiago cheese & garlic dip, egg salad sandwiches, peanut butter cookies and unfrosted bundt cake. 

I was surprised that the fruitcake, peanut butter cookies and macadamia nut cookies were completely gone. The egg salad sandwiches disappeared and about half the bundt cake. Some things that looked hardly touched were the asiago dip, the meatballs and my red velvet cake. It seems people aren't very interested in gooey desserts, sloppy food (like soup or food in sauces) or strongly flavored food (like the asiago dip, which I thought was very good and told the people that brought it so). It seems people around here want bland, run-of-the-mill foods. Any opinions?

BTW - most of the people at this church are age 70 or older, in fact the pastor mentioned one parishioner celebrating her 95th birthday this week.


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## Butterfly (Jan 6, 2016)

Around here, green chile chicken enchilada casserole is ALWAYS a big hit.  Don't see hardly any potlucks any more.   We used to have one among several different law firms at Christmas when I was still working.  Great food -- desserts were always kinda slow, though, because so many people are trying to stay away from high calorie sugary things -- me included, unless there's rhubarb pie or a big fat decadent chocolate cake.


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## tnthomas (Jan 6, 2016)

Butterfly said:


> Around here, green chile chicken enchilada casserole is ALWAYS a big hit.  Don't see hardly any potlucks any more.   We used to have one among several different law firms at Christmas when I was still working.  Great food -- desserts were always kinda slow, though, because so many people are trying to stay away from high calorie sugary things -- me included, unless there's rhubarb pie or a big fat decadent chocolate cake.



Well, you beat me to the punch, I was going to say that, _exactly_.    Can't go wrong with an enchilada casserole, only problem is you might not have much left to take back home...:shrug:


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 6, 2016)

I only went to one potluck at work once, and I brought a big crockpot of Great Northern Beans with ham, everybody loved them and they disappeared fast.  Other things that were good were homemade tamales, to die for!


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## Cookie (Jan 6, 2016)

At the work potlucks I attended I noticed cut up roast chicken disappeared very quickly as did things like cabbage rolls and cheesecake.


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## hellomimi (May 9, 2020)

I've always brought my noodle dish called pancit bihon and everyone likes it because I mix a lot of veggies in it.

When they ask me for the recipe, I'm embarrassed to say  I  can give the ingredients and where to buy them but I dont follow measurements. My mentors taught me to cook w/o measurements and fortunately, food turns out edible.


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## MarciKS (May 9, 2020)

deviled eggs. not trying to be a smart aleck you know cuz you're talking about church. i love deviled eggs. i could suck those down by the truckload.


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## Aunt Bea (May 10, 2020)

In the past, I've contributed casseroles of baked ziti, baked Spanish rice, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, 5 cup salad, glorified rice, etc...

For the dessert table, lemon squares and brownies are easy to make and quick to disappear.

I have to confess that although I contribute to potluck meals I can never bring myself to eat at one. 

The whole idea of not knowing under what conditions the food was prepared, stored, or transported grosses me out.


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## hollydolly (May 10, 2020)

hellomimi said:


> I've always brought my noodle dish called pancit bihon and everyone likes it because I mix a lot of veggies in it.
> 
> When they ask me for the recipe, I'm embarrassed to say  I  can give the ingredients and where to buy them but I dont follow measurements. My mentors taught me to cook w/o measurements and fortunately, food turns out edible.


Don't be embarrassed when you can't give exact measurements.. when asked , just say that ''As with all the greatest chefs , I measure with my eyes, and taste with my heart''


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## terry123 (May 10, 2020)

I always brought my peach cobbler to potlucks when I lived in that small town of Center, Texas. My best friend's husband loved it and could be seen scraping the dish clean when I went to collect it.  I made him a dish of it for his birthday and he said it was his best present ever!  Crazy, but I still have that Pyrex dish now.


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## Buckeye (May 10, 2020)

Do you think we will ever return to a time and place where we can have potlucks?  I'm guessing not.


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## mike4lorie (May 10, 2020)

I notice finger foods, and things with dip, like salsas, cheese and crackers, pumpernickel with spinach dip... pigs in blankets...


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## Liberty (May 10, 2020)

Lasagna.


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## jujube (May 10, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> *deviled eggs. not trying to be a smart aleck you know cuz you're talking about church*. i love deviled eggs. i could suck those down by the truckload.



My great-grandmother told me that she had been severely criticized by one of the "church ladies" for serving Devil's Food Cake when they had the new minister over for Sunday dinner.  Apparently that wasn't appropriate.  She said, "Well, he ate it just like it was angel's food cake, he did, and he had a second piece!"


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## MarciKS (May 10, 2020)

I would've had six!


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## Pinky (May 10, 2020)

My potato salad always goes quickly, as do my "chicken on a stick" (marinated in low-sodium soy sauce and onion for a few hours first, then coated in egg & flour). Also, tomato/cucumber/olive salad in tomato/feta dressing.


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## debodun (May 10, 2020)

There's a woman that brings "deviled" eggs to the church coffee fellowship every 4th Sunday of the month. I could make a meal of her DEs. The pastor says we can't call them by their popular name; we have to refer to them as "angel" eggs or simply stuffed eggs. Sometimes I think people can carry religion too far - after all, a rose by any other name....


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## MarciKS (May 10, 2020)

They're just food. It's no one's fault that they were titled that way. I don't know why churches get in such a twist over it. It's not like we invited Satan to dinner.


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## RadishRose (May 10, 2020)

debodun said:


> There's a woman that brings "deviled" eggs to the church coffee fellowship every 4th Sunday of the month. I could make a meal of her DEs. The pastor says we can't call them by their popular name; we have to refer to them as "angel" eggs or simply stuffed eggs. Sometimes I think people can carry religion too far - after all, a rose by any other name....


Your pastor is either crazy or just kidding around.


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## RadishRose (May 10, 2020)

Most of it is high carb. I appreciate veg and green salad dishes. They may keep my face out of the potato salad bowl.


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## terry123 (May 10, 2020)

No going to pot lucks anymore for me!  It is not healthy for any of us any more.


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## Liberty (May 10, 2020)

terry123 said:


> No going to pot lucks anymore for me!  It is not healthy for any of us any more.


One more fun food tradition bites the virus dust.  We used to like salad bars, too.  No more...sigh!


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## MarciKS (May 10, 2020)

hell i miss the salad bar at work. i got no use for that little 3" plastic box that's premade.


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## terry123 (May 10, 2020)

Used to love salad bars also.  Krogers used to have a salad bar in the store. You could get a container, fill with different types of lettuces, cheeses, meats and veggies.  Since I have been having groceries delivered, I don't know if they still have it or not.  It was sold by the pound so you could get a ton of stuff for about $2.00.

It would last me a few meals since I could take out as much as I wanted and keep the rest in the fridge.  Already had several kinds of dressings to finish with.


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## MarciKS (May 10, 2020)

I'm not sure about that now. I don't think these places are allowed to have anything out that's self serve. It's gotta pre-packaged.


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## terry123 (May 10, 2020)

Don't know either but the entire set up had a plastic shield face covered that you could not move.  You had to reach inside.  The long spoons were already in each item.  You could not get your face past the plastic shield.


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## MarciKS (May 10, 2020)

You could still get your germy hands in there though. LOL


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## Liberty (May 11, 2020)

Yeah, unfortunately anything hands touch multiple times will be deemed non virus proofed and will disappear I bet...at least until they get a vaccine.  Maybe its a "wait it out now" syndrome...to see where the dust settles.  Speaking of sneeze shields, my hub would even eat canned beets under a salad bar sneeze shield!


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## In The Sticks (May 11, 2020)

Buckeye said:


> Do you think we will ever return to a time and place where we can have potlucks?  I'm guessing not.


My church does one Sunday out of every month, then more on special occasions.  Why would we stop?

For goodness sake, the Swine Flu infected 55,000,000 people and killed almost 60,000 and it was a Nothing Burger.  This is beyond silly.


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## MarciKS (May 11, 2020)

At work right now I try to avoid anything I haven't prepared myself because I haven't noticed any handwashing going on in the kitchen. Those sinks hardly get used. ~wrinkles nose~


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## In The Sticks (May 11, 2020)

It's funny to be at potlucks when everyone's done eating and we're all begging each other to take _our_ leftovers home! Just the look of dismay on our faces at the thought of having to eat all that stuff we made...

 I think I'd miss that part if it all got eaten.

Personally, I've stopped making so much.  I no longer worry about making enough so that every person gets to sample it.  I don't think the problem is the nature of the dish, it's the aggregate volume of slop in the trough.


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## debodun (May 11, 2020)

I've brought dishes to pot-lucks and ended up having to bring it all home because it looked like no one took any.


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## In The Sticks (May 11, 2020)

debodun said:


> I've brought dishes to pot-lucks and ended up having to bring it all home because it looked like no one took any.


Happened to me just last Christmas, but it was partly my fault...and it's kind of a funny story.

I decided to take Ziti to a church Christmas pot luck dinner, because _no one_ takes pasta to these things. I found a recipe on line for Ziti made in a Crock Pot, without pre-cooking the pasta...you rinse it and soak it in tomato juice before assembling. I KNEW it didn't sound like a good idea, and I NEVER make a new dish for these events...but this time I did. Stupid stupid stupid.

Not only did it turn out horrible (with barely a bite eaten), but when I showed up, a friend (Steve) had two disposable aluminum roasting pans covered with foil sitting on the table.  "Look what _I_ made," Steve proudly said, pulling the foil aside.  Ziti.  He made Ziti.  Damned New Jersey Italian guy made two pans full of Ziti for the same function that I made my Crocka Pota crappa pasta.  (His Ziti _was_ excellent.)

I took my 7 quart Crock Pot _full_ of the horrid stuff back home.  The recipe called for the ingredients to be layered (sauce/pasta/cheese, etc) as it was supposed to get hot, cook the pasta, and magically combine.  It didn't combine, and the pasta turned to mush.  I ended up dumping it all out onto cookie sheets and manually assembling it one serving at a time, putting each serving up in a vacuum seal bag and freezing it.   It tasted pretty good, but was basically Ziti mush.   I ate it, though.  Every serving.  Took me a while to go through the entire 7 quarts of it.

The only good thing to come of it was I liked the sauce so much it's become the basis for my spaghetti sauce.


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## debodun (May 11, 2020)

I made rice pudding once for the church coffee fellowship. It was pretty runny and I had a whole bowl of it to bring home. At the next Bible study, one woman said something to the effect, "Did you see that awful mess someone made for the last fellowship? I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't bring myself to take any of that slop." I am pretty sure it was my pudding she was ranting about since mine was the only dish it looked like no one took any. I didn't say anything, but was surprised someone would dis like that not knowing if that person was at the study. Now I do a "trial run" with any new recipe I am considering bringing to the fellowship brunch.


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## StarSong (May 11, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> At work right now I try to avoid anything I haven't prepared myself because I haven't noticed any handwashing going on in the kitchen. Those sinks hardly get used. ~wrinkles nose~


Wait - don't you work in a hospital cafeteria?


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## StarSong (May 11, 2020)

debodun said:


> I made rice pudding once for the church coffee fellowship. It was pretty runny and I had a whole bowl of it to bring home. At the next Bible study, one woman said something to the effect, "Did you see that awful mess someone made for the last fellowship? I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't bring myself to take any of that slop." I am pretty sure it was my pudding she was ranting about since mine was the only dish it looked like no one took any. I didn't say anything, but was surprised someone would dis like that not knowing if that person was at the study. Now I do a "trail run" with any new recipe I am considering bringing to the fellowship brunch.


Eek.  It hurts to hear the unvarnished truth sometimes.  Lesson learned though, right?  Don't bring food to share if it doesn't turn out well.  People are wary of unfamiliar foods, particularly if they appear unappetizing. 

p.s.  You could have said, "Oh dear, I hope you're not talking about my rice pudding - it was a little runnier than I'd hoped but still tasted good." 
Then she would have learned a lesson, too.


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## MarciKS (May 11, 2020)

StarSong said:


> Wait - don't you work in a hospital cafeteria?



Exactly.


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## In The Sticks (May 11, 2020)

debodun said:


> I made rice pudding once for the church coffee fellowship. It was pretty runny and I had a whole bowl of it to bring home. At the next Bible study, one woman said something to the effect, "Did you see that awful mess someone made for the last fellowship? I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't bring myself to take any of that slop." I am pretty sure it was my pudding she was ranting about since mine was the only dish it looked like no one took any. I didn't say anything, but was surprised someone would dis like that not knowing if that person was at the study. Now I do a "trial run" with any new recipe I am considering bringing to the fellowship brunch.


You know, I never criticize things people make and freely share, nor would I hesitate to eat something that did not turn out perfect.  I've rarely had stuff that I could not gag down, and if caught tossing it in the trash, I make some excuse.  On the other hand, I know people who criticize _everything_.

It's not a restaurant.  "Presentation" is irrelevant.  For goodness sake, people eat the weirdest food combinations you can imagine at these things and loving every bite!  Besides, the idea is fellowship, not Michelin ratings.


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## StarSong (May 12, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> At work right now I try to avoid anything I haven't prepared myself because I haven't noticed any handwashing going on in the kitchen. Those sinks hardly get used. ~wrinkles nose~


You work in a hospital cafeteria and employees don't wash their hands on a regular basis?  That's not only disgusting, it's very disturbing.  

You should be reporting this - frequently - to someone other than us.


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## Aunt Bea (May 12, 2020)

StarSong said:


> You work in a hospital cafeteria and employees don't wash their hands on a regular basis?  That's not only disgusting, it's very disturbing.
> 
> You should be reporting this - frequently - to someone other than us.


If someone does get sick there's always a doctor handy!


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## debodun (May 12, 2020)

I saw a news blurb this morning where it showed a produce clerk re-stocking veggies. He was waering a mask, but it only covered his mouth - his nose was hanging out. Masks are most effective if all respiratory orifices are covered. Makes you think twice about buying lettuce.


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## MarciKS (May 12, 2020)

StarSong said:


> You work in a hospital cafeteria and employees don't wash their hands on a regular basis?  That's not only disgusting, it's very disturbing.
> 
> You should be reporting this - frequently - to someone other than us.



you think i haven't tried? lol! i'm not trying to sound mean or anything but, most food service bosses don't really give a rats patootie if you follow the rules or not. as long as you show up and do your work. that's all they care about. if they could find a way to make people come in sick they would. a lot of the fast food chains don't give a crap if you have the flu or not. one place i was at made me come in with the flu. i got there and they slid a trash can over to me. told me i had the freedom to go to the bathroom if i had to crap but i could barf in the can all i wanted. they didn't send me home till they determined i couldn't do my work. i had no recourse. i had to have my job. it was either show up or forfeit my job.


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## MarciKS (May 12, 2020)

Aunt Bea said:


> If someone does get sick there's always a doctor handy!



that's the beauty of working in healthcare...save yourself the ambulance trip lol!


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