Pot Luck

Do you go to Potluck parties? I went to one last night and had a fabulous time! Some people hate pot luck's because they don't know who made what and what is in anything they are eating. I love the mystery and excitement of not knowing if I will love or hate what I am about to eat.

Mmmm....that looks good!
We eat food based on sight. If it looks good, we eat it! We also tend to eat food that is familiar. The adventure of eating pot luck is not knowing what is in each dish. I don't eat meat (except for fish), so I am always asking questions about what is in different dishes for the reason of not wanting to end up with a mouthful of pork. The trouble with pot luck is asking what is in dishes without offending people by asking too many questions. And half the time you don't know who brought which dish and you can't even ask what is in it.

One way to prevent confusion is to bring a tent card with the name of the dish and the main ingredients. This will help tremendously for those people with allergies or for the just plain picky eaters.

Variety
One of the problems with parties that many people have is that they overeat. Studies show that the more variety that is offered, the more people will eat. That is one reason why all you can eat buffets are so dangerous. Think about it...if you are at a party and the only dessert is apple pie and you don't love apple pie, you may skip dessert. But if there is apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and carrot cake, you are likely going to eat at least one of the above, if not sample a few of them. And we all know that homemade food tastes the best!

Bring your best
Whenever I am cooking for baking to bring a dish, I try to find either a unique new recipe or I make something that I know is darn good. I want people to tell me how good that salad or banana bread is that I brought and as me for the recipe.

Enjoy your next Potluck and bring your best dish to share with all of your friends.

Photo courtesy of jannamordan