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We have a lakefront cabin and have weekly potluck "cook-outs" all summer, ranging from 8 to 60+ people. Everybody brings a salad or other dish to share, plus their own protein for grilling.
There are three changes that I've seen over many years. First is the variety of salads...there used to be only potato & egg salad and macaroni & tuna salad, but now there are all kinds...different types of slaws, Asian salad, seafood salads, etc. Ditto for types of proteins. We've gone from hamburgers and hotdogs to all kinds of beef cuts, spare ribs, pork tenderloin, Cornish hens, seafoods, etc. And the third, definitely disappointing trend is the tendency to bring store-bought desserts.
Ha, Episcopalians, too--The Third Sacrament is Coffee Hour.
Lol, yep. My husband works for a large Episcopal church. They actually have their own signature blend roasted at a local roastery, and they have a great cafe setup where you can get barista-made lattes and such, gratis, in their community outreach center. They take their "coffee ministry" very seriously!
They're a touch (read: A LOT) fancier than my gritty, inner city Lutheran church, where we mostly just keep the twin Bunn automatic drip carafes full, both for our small clutch of parishioners, and for the assortment of homeless in the neighborhood who often stop by...but they still have so much in common, re: inclusivity, outreach to the community, hospitality, and commitment to caffeinating the masses!
I will say that the church he works for rarely has potlucks, though, by comparison. They are really more the "The event is catered" crowd.
That is funny. It's not Utah or Mormon. It was a ubiquitous staple of the 50s and 60s all over America.
True.
And even up into the 80s, still a staple at church basement gatherings in my little Lutheran church in rural Illinois. Farmer's wives were notoriously thrify, and Jell-O was a really inexpensive dessert. Throw in a can of fruit cocktail, fancy! Plop of Cool Whip on top, fancier, still!
In Vacation Bible School in summer, the church ladies would make big sheet pans of "Jigglers" using cookie cutters for us kids' snack time.
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As for coffee, that may be your personal physical reaction, but you can't paint everybody with your own broad brush, dear. I can have coffee with dinner and it doesn't keep me from sleeping. And as Tabula Rasa says, many of us have coffee regularly after church, which in times other than summer is around 11:30 a.m. Not too late. People get cranky if there's no post-church coffee.
Yep. My husband will only do decaf after about 3 p.m., because he's sensitive. I, by contrast, can sip from a mug, set it on my bedside table, then close my book, turn out the light, roll over, and sleep like a baby.
I belonged to a couple of clubs that potlucked every monthly meeting. They both featured about half homemade and half store bought food. While the home cooked food was popular, stone bought fried chicken was always the first item to disappear.
When I was a kid, there were always a lot of jello "salads" at church potlucks--jello with fruit or vegetables inside of it. I liked it then. I went vegetarian a couple of years ago, so I no longer eat jello, but I remember how much I loved them.
Now NOBODY makes jello anymore. More people do bring store-brought, and there are more vegetarian choices and other things for people who restrict their diets; for example, our Treasurer's family does not eat mammals, so she always brings something made with turkey.
At the Methodist church in Virginia where I grew up and where my parents were regulars, they still do the monthly potluck meals following the 11 a.m service or following funerals, and there often is still a homemade jello salad. But there is ALWAYS an ambrosia salad, sometimes more than one. I'm sure it makes a difference that the majority of this congregation is on the older side, but most of the stuff is homemade. That's how they were raised and they would be embarrassed to show up with something purchased. Lots of casseroles (or hotdishes, as Molly Yeh would say), home-fried chicken, green beans and collard greens from their gardens, homemade potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, chicken and dumplings, spaghetti pie, home-baked pies and cobblers. When I visit it's like going back in time.
Lol, yep. My husband works for a large Episcopal church. They actually have their own signature blend roasted at a local roastery, and they have a great cafe setup where you can get barista-made lattes and such, gratis, in their community outreach center. They take their "coffee ministry" very seriously!
They're a touch (read: A LOT) fancier than my gritty, inner city Lutheran church, where we mostly just keep the twin Bunn automatic drip carafes full, both for our small clutch of parishioners, and for the assortment of homeless in the neighborhood who often stop by...but they still have so much in common, re: inclusivity, outreach to the community, hospitality, and commitment to caffeinating the masses!
I will say that the church he works for rarely has potlucks, though, by comparison. They are really more the "The event is catered" crowd.
We're a small parish with a tiny, old stone church. Most Sundays someone volunteers to get the dozen-bagels-for-$5.00 special on the way in. We only did a catered thing at a veteran's hall for our 150-year anniversary celebration a couple of years ago.
I'd like your gritty, inner-city church, I bet. Yes, the Lutherans and Episcopalians think the same way re inclusivity. Even though we're in a coastal NJ suburb, we have a transient motel down the street where social services often puts people in a holding pattern while waiting for permanent housing, and they often wander in and get to go back to the motel with a care package. One lady hit us up on a potluck Sunday and someone drove her home with enough leftovers for everybody at the motel, I think!
Pot lucks make me nervous with the thought of people who don't wash before handling food, and don't wash the meat, veggies or fruits.
If I attend a pot luck, I'll eat the foods of people I "know" are clean or have been well cooked. I have other friends the same. Yes, I guess I'm slightly germ-aphobic. I just don't relish the thought of someone scratching themselves "down below" and then chopping raw fruit or vegetables for a salad, etc. Ick factor!
Too many times I've been in public washrooms, hear someone come out of the stall and walk out the door. That just grosses me out. Even in my own house I've heard the toilet flush and the door opens immediately so I know my company didn't wash their hands. Blech! It's usually men BTW
We were given a batch of cookies for Christmas one year, baked by a woman I didn't know (hubby did). My husband bit into one and pulled out a lovely long brown hair. Glad I didn't eat any and the rest went into the garbage lol.
I tend to take store-bought food but put it in my own serving dish.
Episcopal churches usually had wine with their pot lucks as I remember. My present UU church also has wine at their dinners but there's also a vegetarian table.
I'm very careful with food preparation and have seen enough of how some other people do things that I do hesitate to eat food that others have prepared.
I don't mean to criticize but why does everyone refer to meats as "proteins" these days? Does this come from some cooking show? Being vegetarian, I don't talk about "proteins" and don't worry about where I get "my protein". Again, not being critical, just curious as I hear this term constantly these days.
I tend to take store-bought food but put it in my own serving dish.
Episcopal churches usually had wine with their pot lucks as I remember. My present UU church also has wine at their dinners but there's also a vegetarian table.
I'm very careful with food preparation and have seen enough of how some other people do things that I do hesitate to eat food that others have prepared.
I don't mean to criticize but why does everyone refer to meats as "proteins" these days? Does this come from some cooking show? Being vegetarian, I don't talk about "proteins" and don't worry about where I get "my protein". Again, not being critical, just curious as I hear this term constantly these days.
I agree complete completely!
I've noticed that hummas is at many pot lucks, as are other middle eastern and Mediterranean foods such as tabouli salad, Greek salad, stuffed grape leaves, baba gannoush (egg plant dip) and fruit salads.
Lighter fare, in general.
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I'm sure it makes a difference that the majority of this congregation is on the older side, but most of the stuff is homemade. That's how they were raised and they would be embarrassed to show up with something purchased. Lots of casseroles (or hotdishes, as Molly Yeh would say), home-fried chicken, green beans and collard greens from their gardens, homemade potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, chicken and dumplings, spaghetti pie, home-baked pies and cobblers. When I visit it's like going back in time.
