Had you visited a colonial home 225 years ago without giving your host or hostess prior notice so they could prepare a proper meal, you would have eaten whatever was in the oven pot, taken a chance, taken pot luck.
Webster’s Dictionary defines “potluck” as
“the regular meal available to a guest for whom no special preparations have been made.”
Today people enjoy spur-of-the-moment potlucks as family members, friends, or neighbors join together, each providing a part of the meal. Or the potluck might be more organized such as a family reunion, an office or church potluck, a holiday picnic, or an annual summer party. Each guest brings a dish to share with the other guests. Everyone gets to sample a variety of tasty dishes, and no one gets stuck doing all the work.
Potluck Tips
The ideal potluck menu includes dishes that complement each other in flavor and texture; foods that travel well; and recipes that can be made in advance and require little, if any, last-minute preparation.
- ~Ask guests to bring specific dishes that will be needed to round out the menu. This eliminates the guesswork for them, too.
- ~Some guests are always asked to bring a particular dish or recipe for which they are well known. My sister, a fantastic cook and mother of 8 children, makes the best cinamon rolls you’ve ever tasted. Her made-from-scratch recipe makes several dozen rolls so every guest gets to taste her delicious contribution.
- ~Ask noncooks to bring beverages, chips, rolls, plates, utensils and napkins, or decorations.
- ~Use a sign-up sheet when possible.
- ~Ask guests to let you know ahead of time if they’ll need refrigerator, oven, or stovetop space and make sure they bring serving utensils for their dishes to avoid last-minute scrambling.
- ~For large gatherings, suggest guests write their names on their pans and utensils to ensure they’ll get them back. Or use disposable containers.
Safety Reminders
- ~If you’re a guest and have been asked to bring a dish, be sure to select one that will travel easily and not spoil.
- ~If you are traveling more than a few minutes from home, opt for foods that are least likely to spoil, such as breads, hard cheeses, cheese spreads, marinated salads, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
- ~Remember to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Pack all chilled foods in a cooler.
Potluck Food Ideas
Raw Vegetables with Dips – Baby carrots or carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccolli florets, cauliflower florets, red, yellow, and green bell pepper strips, mushrooms
Main Dishes – Fried chicken, rotisserie chicken, baked ham, sliced cold cuts (ham, turkey, roast beef, salame), selection of cheese slices (American, cheddar, Monterrey Jack, pepper jack)
Salads – Pasta, broccoli, potato, coleslaw, mixed vegetable, layered vegetable, taco salad
Fresh Fruit Salad made with melon balls, strawberries, pineapple, grapes
Side Dishes – Corn on the cob, baked beans, garlic bread, rolls, olives, pickles
Melons – Cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew cut into small slices or wedges for easy eating
Desserts - Pie, cake, cookies
Beverages – Water, lemonade, iced tea, wine, sodas
Here are some of our favorite potluck recipes. Please add your own recipes in the comments section.
Broccoli Craisin Salad
6 cups broccoli florets
1 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1 cup sunflower seeds
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups ranch salad dressing
Mix broccoli and craisins. Add salad dressing and mix. Refrigerate if not eating immediately. Just before serving add sunflower seeds and mix. Top with bacon pieces. Serves 8 to 10.
Broccoli-Cauliflower Chicken Salad
4 cups each broccoli and cauliflower florets
2 red or yellow bell peppers, cut into strips (about 2 cups)
3 cups chopped cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups regular or light ranch reduced fat dressing
2 cups Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese crumbles or cubed cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
Combine vegetables and chicken in a large bowl. Add dressing; toss to coat. Add cheese and bacon; mix lightly. Cover.
Refrigerate several hours or until chilled. Serves 10 to 12.
Berry Patch Pie
Pastry for 2 crust 9-inch pie
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons, butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar and cornstarch. Add blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries; gently toss until berries are coated.
Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Stir berry mixture, and transfer to the crust lined pie plate. Sprinkle berry mixture with lemon juice and dot with pieces of butter. Top with second crust, and seal and crimp the edge.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 40 to 50 minutes or until the top is golden. Cool on a wire rack.
My mom always mixed the berries with the sugar cornstarch mixture, added a tiny bit of water and cooked the berries in a saucepan for about five minutes, bringing them to a boil, before pouring into pie crust.
Variation
You can use frozen mixed berries in this recipe. Allow berries to thaw before mixing with sugar and baking.
Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Home Business owner. She enjoys cooking and baking with Watkins extracts, spices, herbs, and sauces for healthy meals. Eleisia publishes a Watkins Newsletter, Around the Kitchen Table, that brings you recipes, cooking and health tips, and contests for free Watkins products.
Read the current issue at http://www.everydaynecessities.com/june15-07newsletter.htm
Visit her at http://www.everydaynecessities.com and
http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney
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