The Weekly Pick – Potluck Parties

Potluck has been on my mind lately! Some people love throwing dinner parties and others avoid them completely. Potluck is a great option for the timid party thrower. With a little planning on the hosts part – who will bring what? time? place? A fabulous party can be thrown together without the stress of cooking the perfect meal for everyone.

Make it a farmers market theme (or other theme – Spanish tapas is a favorite of mine, don’t forget the sangria!)… have everyone stop by their market and make something from the goodies they find locally and in season. It’s a good way to remind your friends about sustainable food (if they don’t already shop for local sustainable products). You could even sneakily start a conversation about sustainable food by asking about their shopping adventures, and considering it’s January, their choices might not have been the most abundant.

As the host, pull out all of your favorite plates and bowls to set a wonderful table. Add candles, cloth napkins and keep a place for the compost! At the end of the night, if you can talk everyone into helping with the dishes, it will have been an easy and successful evening for everyone. The more you do this, the more comfortable it becomes for everyone… joining together to share food and conversation is such a special time – we all should do it more often!

Here are some suggestions for potluck food from About.com:

Whether you’re hosting the potluck or are simply invited to attend one, here are suggestions for the kind of dishes that work best.

• All dishes should be prepared in advance.
• Nobody should do more in the kitchen than pop something in the oven for reheating. The dishes should be easy to transport. I don’t recommend a soufflé unless it’s prepared by the host.
• If there are many people attending the party, the serving size of each dish does not need to equal the number of guests. Everybody will take only a small portion of each dish when there are many from which to choose.
• Traditional potluck dishes include casseroles, chili, bar cookies, salads and breads.
• Recipes don’t need to be fancy. Dishes that have been handed down through the generations are often the most popular.