Everyone has participated in, or at least heard of, that cherished college tradition, the keg party. For those of you who don't know, most college parties are instigated by promises of, "I'll get the keg!" And much fun is shared by all who attend. Recently, however, my roommates and I have started a new tradition, and that is the potluck dinner. This tradition usually begins with, "I'll bring the veggie tray!" and ends with, "OK, who wants to do the dishes," which is much better than ending with, "Who wants to scrub the vomit off the wall?" (Disclaimer: That has never happened to me, just a hypothetical).
Potluck dinners are especially helpful for bonding with others. It's also 100 times less stressful to host a potluck than an actual dinner party, because you hardly have to do any cooking, and usually the leftovers remain at the host's residence, leaving you with myriad (free!) options for lunch and dinner for a few days. You can even choose themes for your potlucks, such as barbecue or Mexican cuisine. Make sure to delegate wisely, as everyone likes to feel involved but may not be as confident in the kitchen as they would like. Instruct those such people to bring appetizers, which can be easily purchased and then plated nicely and passed off as one's own creation. Full disclosure: I have done this.
So go ahead: have a potluck, invite all your friends and make sure someone supplies the alcohol (if everyone is 21, of course...). Who knows, maybe they'll bring a veggie tray AND a keg!
Have you ever had a potluck dinner? Was it a success or a disaster? What are some easy dishes for the occasion?
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Comments (7)
My friends and I (about 10 of us total sharing different apartments) have a dinner party every week. The house its hosted at switched every week but the hosts picks the theme and cooks the entree stuff... everyone's house else brings a dessert or wine or appetizer etc. This week its at our place at we choose Mediterranean food :D
Everyone should do these more often! It brings in a much wider variety of food than when you cook alone & is sooo funn ! Plus, did you dinner parties since the 1970's have gone down significantly in occurrence... as have picnics, organizational membership (PTA, Elks club, etc.), community meetings.... there is significantly less SOCIAL CAPITAL now more than ever since the great depression times (which is obvious why the lack of social connection & trust)... people trust less now and it's likely a result of the less connects between us... we are more isolated than before... my professor, Robert Putnam has a whole book about it and the statistics: Bowling Alone.
Anyway, point of the rant... everyone should have dinner parties... it's good for your health, community, and trust :D
@msnatalie27@xanga - SO awesome. I miss dinner parties :( Haven't had one in a while.
Some friends and I used to do this. We had a couple dinner parties, and one breakfast themed one! we'd make sure we knew what each other was bringing so we didn't have repeats or anything. It was a lot of fun, because we also cooked it there. Dishes were a joined effort, and others got to see how you prepared your meal!
gosh, i haven't been to a potluck in a while. the last time i went to a potluck was around christmas time, maybe a week or two before that. i made the main dish, which was a turkey and everyone brought something small to share. i usually like bringing the main dish because i like my cooking better than others.
I involuntarily drool when I hear the word "potluck".
when i was in grad school, many of the classes would wrap up the semester with a potluck at class (they were all night classes we it would be our dinner)
instead of organizing types of dishes or signing up, we all just brought what we wanted to, and one time we ended up with 5 different types of brownies, some appetizers, and no real main dish, lol. that was a good night
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