Providing for others while they provide for you
'Tis the season...for potlucks! I am attending three potlucks in three days this week, which makes me very happy. Things I like about potlucks:
- Everyone brings some type of food, and thus everyone contributes to the meal (usually about equally). I very much like the idea of a meal experience emerging from the work, traditions, and creativity of individual people. And the nerdy side of me likes drawing symbolic parallels between that and other areas of life, such as marriage and the Church community.
- Potlucks often give me good recipe ideas. Sometimes I ask people for their recipe, or sometimes I just come away thinking of good food combinations that I might want to try in the future (raspberries and pineapple together, for example).
- Potlucks provide a great excuse to try a new recipe for an appetizer or dessert.
- I almost inevitably go searching for interesting recipe ideas before I decide on what to make. This means that I get to search for recipes online or go sorting through the earmarked pages of my absolute favorite magazine, Cooking Light. Yes, I find this to be a fun process. :)
- Potlucks usually have lots and lots of food. I like lots and lots of food. Therefore, I like potlucks.
- Potlucks are fairly economical. You might spend as much as $5-10 on a dish to pass, but you have flexibility on the amount you spend (usually, you choose the recipe to make anyway), and in return you get a multiple-course, all-you-can-eat meal, and a fun time with friends. It's way better than going to a restaurant, and cheaper overall too. And I've never come away from a potluck hungry. :)
- Potlucks usually involve some other good group activities, like good conversations, outdoor fun and sports, or the celebration of an event. Two of my friends had a potluck reception at their wedding, and it was an absolutely fantastic experience. All of the guests loved contributing to the special day, and it made for a very personalized reception.
- A good potluck is not an exclusive event; since the food merely grows with each additional attendee, there's often a "the more the merrier" attitude. As a result, potlucks are a great opportunity to meet new people -- especially friends of friends or the family of friends.
posted by Katie @ 11:45 PM
4 Comments:
But potlucks are only succesful if every one (or every family) brings a decent-sized, decently-subtanstive dish.
Which requires cooking abilities.
Which can't be found in the grad student group we hang out with in sufficient quantity. You could probably pull it off if everyone who comes to our events and knows how to cook brings one casserole equivalent (something of about that level of filling and quantity).
But that leaves the rest of us poor slobs who can't cook doing nothing, which is not exactly ideal. :)
Still, the ideas are nice, although I will give you that you're being way too nerdy trying to draw analogies :D
Meijer and most other grocery stores sell casserole sorts of dishes, usually in the deli section. Or you can buy a "casserole in a box" thing - they do exist, all you have to do is follow the 3 lines of instructions and have some sort of container or borrow from someone. Or you can buy a bag of chips or a veggie tray or M&Ms... There are options, even for those who can't follow a recipe.
A veggie/fruit platter hardly requires cooking abilities. And speaking for myself, I'm just as happy with deli meat and bags of chips as I am with casserole dishes in every direction.
-NC
My parents always wanted me to get married on a Sunday so we could have a church potluck after the fact...
And actually, having gone to two graduation ceremonies today, I think I preferred the food at the party where they did it themselves than at the party where they catered it. Professionally-made food is, of course, generally delicious, but you'll get a lot more creativity with home-cookers.
--Lisa
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