I love potlucks. It’s a chance to get together with friends without breaking the bank, your sanity, and still getting to sample what is usually “the best dish” your friends have to offer. If you’ve only gone to potlucks, and never hosted, here’s the 411 on being the hostess with the mostest:
- Set a theme. This will help to make sure you don’t get hoagie rolls and lunch meat next to a plate of enchiladas. I like to go with ethnic themes: Mexican, Italian, etc. but you could also do BBQ or Soups and Subs, for example.
- Ask your guest to commit to a course. For example: appetizers, sides, entrees, desserts. That way, you will know if you are “dessert” heavy {which is usually the case} and you can ask them to bring something else.
- When you invite guests, make sure to tell them how many people they need to provide for. If you have invited 20 people, let them know that. Also, let them know how many people are bringing the course they committed to, because they don’t necessarily need to make enough for 20, for example, if 3 other people are bringing desserts.
- Ask guests if they will need oven space, a plug-in {for their crock pot}, or fridge/freezer space. That way, you can clear them space BEFORE they arrive. It will limit the chaos.
- Be prepared to provide serving utensils. A lot of times, people bring the dish, but no serving utensils. I like to have plenty of spatulas, large serving spoons, salad tongs, etc. on hand so that I am prepared.
- You are responsible for presentation. Your guests will bring their dish, but you will need to lay out table cloths, napkins, utensils, cups, etc. {unless you assigned those items to a guest}.
- If you’ve ever hosted a potluck, then you know: have back-ups ready. People cancel at the last minute–like, all of the time. Be prepared to whip something up if you get left short–it’s the hazards of being the hostess. You can always cuss under your breath as you prepare it, it will make you feel better, I promise.
Happy hostessing/hosting,
Mavis
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Eric says
As a dad who throws several pot-lucks each year, this is the message I send out to our guests: “I have all the waters, sodas, plates, cutlery, serving utensils and napkins. Your job is to bring enough of something good to share with others”. It frustrates my wife to no end, but it has never failed to spur on us over-achieving wannabee chefs to bust out the dutch ovens, crock pots, baking sheets, etc., and provide some remarkable dishes. Her argument is “what if everyone brought just meat, desserts or beer”? My response is “I would be made king by all the other dads, and carried around on their shoulders”. Seriously, it has always worked to provide a great mix of interesting and sometimes elaborate dishes. Besides, it is called “pot-luck” for a reason.