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When I worked in schools, we often had potlucks, as well. Usually right before holiday breaks.
They're common in workplaces where you don't get to leave over lunch, in my experience.
Yes, I worked for the government too, and if we wanted some type of event, it was often a potluck. For those who did not want to cook, they were requested to bring in plates, napkins, plastic utensils, etc. Somehow we were able to put together a delicious lunch. Sometimes the supervisors/management were asked to spring for a more expensive item, like a meat.
If we wanted coffee, there was always a coffee club, and you had to pay for the coffee. Even the coffee pots had to be purchased by the staff.
Sometimes there would be a going-away or retirement dinner after hours at a restaurant; we would chip in to pay for the honoree's meal.
Can you elaborate on that a bit, please? Sounds GOOD.
Absolutely! It is sort of a cross between deviled eggs, and macaroni salad. I thought it turned out delicious, although with all the other macaroni and pasta salads available, I made way too much. Here's the recipe:
DEVILED EGG PASTA SALAD
INGREDIENTS
16 oz salad macaroni or Ditalini pasta
1½ cups Mayonnaise (I like Best Foods)
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
6 hard boiled eggs sliced
2-3 ribs celery finely chopped
½ cup black olives sliced
4 oz jar pimientos drained
3 tablespoons fresh dill chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with green onions
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare pasta according to the directions, drain and let cool completely.
Prepare hard boiled eggs, let cool and slice
In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients except eggs and mix with pasta until blended. Gently fold in eggs. Garnish with green onions
Chill until ready to serve
Yes, I worked for the government too, and if we wanted some type of event, it was often a potluck. For those who did not want to cook, they were requested to bring in plates, napkins, plastic utensils, etc. Somehow we were able to put together a delicious lunch. Sometimes the supervisors/management were asked to spring for a more expensive item, like a meat.
If we wanted coffee, there was always a coffee club, and you had to pay for the coffee. Even the coffee pots had to be purchased by the staff.
Sometimes there would be a going-away or retirement dinner after hours at a restaurant; we would chip in to pay for the honoree's meal.
Yep, I worked for a time at a DoD-run school on a military installation, and a. we didn't get enough time to leave for lunches, and b. even if we did, options were quite limited. So we always grabbed reasons to have a potluck.
It's been awhile since I went to a potluck. The last one was a car club and the cooks were all competing for "best cook", so it was wonderful, with a barbecue grill going and someone brought a huge slow smoked trip tip roast. There was baked salmon and fabulous desserts.
Other than that, at different potlucks, some good cooking, a lot of Costco food ( artichoke dip, frozen cream puffs), but the biggest previously unheard of thing was the number of people showing up with a bag of potato chips. I've actually been to two potlucks where there wasn't enough food for everyone, one can only assume because of the mooches
Yeah, a bag of chips, or sometimes nothing at all. Really no excuse for that.
Here in the south, we still expect pretty much the more calorie-laden comfort food at pot-lucks. Most of us figure we can eat healthy at other times, at our pot lucks, we don't want to see veggies and tofu, we want fried chicken, heavily cheese laden Ritz cracker topped mac and cheese and gooey casseroles, deviled eggs, green beans cooked in bacon fat, and desserts piles high on the dessert table! To go with that, gallons of home-made sweet tea, and iced down cans of Sundrop and Cheerwine.
I have learned about "mooches" though. I volunteered to organize our Christmas Party at the large department store where I worked two years in a row. The company stopped paying for catering it and we had to have our own pot-luck.
After the second year, I let someone else take it over because I found it very frustrating that so many people would say they were going to bring something and then would walk in empty handed. You know, that bewildered look "Oh, was that thing today? Oops, I forgot". This was even after I had personally walked around and reminded everyone THE DAY BEFORE. Often, those very same empty-handed ones were the first ones in line at the pot-luck table to load up their plates. I find that selfish and immature.
I got a little sneaky the second time though. I hid some of the better offerings away in the break room refrigerator, and only divvied them out to those who had contributed as they came through the line!
Look, we are ALL short of time and money these days, but if someone is going to partake in a pot-luck, they can contribute fairly like everyone else. Otherwise, they should just opt out of it in my opinion.
I've dialed back the food cost, prep, and cooking time recently. My two go-to items are grilled boneless chicken thighs in Korean BBQ sauce; and chicken satay. With the chicken thighs, you just dump them in a bowl with Asian grocery store Korean BBQ sauce for an hour. Grill. Slice and serve with toothpicks. I have a Pyrex dish with a cover, insulated bag, gell pack you nuke to keep it warm. The chicken satay is boneless chicken breast sliced into lengths, package A curry marinade from the Lobo satay kit, a bit of water, stir, refrigerate for a couple hours. Grill. The peanut sauce is a can of coconut milk, a splash of vegetable oil, and the Lobo package B. Bring to a boil wisking frequently. I chop up the grilled chicken into small pieces and dump the peanut sauce on top. Same pyrex dish and tooth picks. At $2.00/pound, I'm not spending big money. It's trivial prep. I always have Korean BBQ sauce and the Lobo satay mix in the house and usually have either boneless chicken breast or thighs in the freezer.
LOL. All they seem to eat here is fried chicken and mac n cheese.
What? No collards, mirlitons, grits or okra?
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. This was even after I had personally walked around and reminded everyone THE DAY BEFORE. Often, those very same empty-handed ones were the first ones in line at the pot-luck table to load up their plates. I find that selfish and immature.
No collards, mirlitons, grits or okra?
