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One of the most popular pot luck dishes are packaged deli dips or premade salads, at least at the pot lucks I've been doing to. The items almost always come in a plastic tub with a lid. (Although with the growing anti-plastic movement, they might soon come in waxed cardboard tubs instead, but I digress.) There's always a label on the lid, with the store name, product name, and price.
This is where the title question comes in: Should you remove or cover up the price? I usually don't do it, especially if it's a casual pot luck with friends who know where I shop. But for a more classy occasion or with new people, is it better to peel off the label or black out the price with a sharpie? Advertising how much you spent strikes me as a bit tacky, although not severely enough to be a social blunder.
What do other people on here think?
Well, your potlucks are vastly different from potlucks I have gone to throughout my life. But If I were bringing a premade salad (horrors!), I’d delid the container, and place the lid beneath the container, rather like a coaster.
One of the most popular pot luck dishes are packaged deli dips or premade salads, at least at the pot lucks I've been doing to. The items almost always come in a plastic tub with a lid. (Although with the growing anti-plastic movement, they might soon come in waxed cardboard tubs instead, but I digress.) There's always a label on the lid, with the store name, product name, and price.
This is where the title question comes in: Should you remove or cover up the price? I usually don't do it, especially if it's a casual pot luck with friends who know where I shop. But for a more classy occasion or with new people, is it better to peel off the label or black out the price with a sharpie? Advertising how much you spent strikes me as a bit tacky, although not severely enough to be a social blunder.
Some labels aren't easy to take off, making it look worse! I say leave it and don't worry about what people think about how much (or little) you spent.
For a casual pot luck with people who aren't close friends or family, I doubt that "loving" is a high priority. Not to mention, in such social circles, people may be more comfortable with something store-bought than homemade, since they don't know each other well. In fact, some pot lucks, particularly at work, don't allow homemade food for safety/hygiene reasons. In which case, a store-packaged deli item is a perfectly good option. The remaining question is what to do about the price label; hence, this thread.
Yes, it used to be that people looked down a bit at store-bought but now people are more suspicious of home-made - the times we live in!
I have never gotten sick from any potlucks I have eaten at and always try to compliment everyone who brought something. I have had a co-worker bring wings from "Wing Stop" and you don't have to see the receipt to know they blew $25-$40.
I don't think it's tacky. They brought something. That's what counts.
Yes, it used to be that people looked down a bit at store-bought but now people are more suspicious of home-made - the times we live in!
Bingo.
My mother used to belong to a church that had potlucks after services. It always seemed to me that people were competing for who could bring the cheapest thing. Many dishes looked like leftovers. Never knew how long things had been sitting out.
I much prefer a potluck where people bring items that don't look like a hospital visit waiting to happen, even if they are store bought.
I don't think anyone else will care what you paid at the deli so long as it isn't a "manager's special" markdown. And then it isn't about the price but about the expiration date. But a blacked out price with a sharpie or the remnants of a peeled off sticker will certainly bring attention to the fact that YOU cared about the price. This is a potluck not a gift exchange.
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I attend a lot of pot lucks.
The stuff that comes straight from the deli or grocery store bakery doesn't get eaten because it's not as good as the home made stuff, BUT, there is the advantage of having an ingredient list right there on the package so people who have food sensitivities can be accommodated without having to seek out the person who brought the item and ask what's in it.
But yeah. No one I know wants what's in that clamshell package of bakery cookies, or an open bag of chips, or a cheese and cracker and ham cubes holiday platter when there's homemade stuff on the buffet.
With the one exception of ChickFilA fried chicken tenders. No matter how large a plastic party platter of those you bring, every single tender and every drop of dipping sauce will be gone.
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