Never Host a Pot Luck Dinner and other Entertaining Nightmares and Rants

[missypie]

Last night we hosted our Sunday School class Christmas party. There were 24 in attendance and by tradition it is a pot luck dinner. Our kitchen is rather small, but I had enough tables and chairs for everyone to sit down throughout the house.

The trouble is what everyone brought. One lady brought fondue...in a huge crock pot (that had to be plugged in, so it couldn't go on any of the tables designated for the appetizers), with a HUGE platter of stuff to dip in, plus a container for toothpicks, plus a container for skewers. Her contribution literally took up 1/3 the counter space I had for food.

Each person that arrived seemed to bring more and more stuff with them...coolers, large boxes. One lady said that her food needed to cook a while longer at 350 (I had my ovens at 150 to keep other stuff warm). Lot of folks didn't bring serving utinsels. The party would have been much less stressful for me if I had prepared all the food, rather than having to deal with everyone else's food.

From now on I will be very space sensitive when bringing food to a pot luck and will not assume that my hostess has unlimited space.

Anybody else have any entertaining rants or tips?

 

[clarabelle]

I too have hosted Pot lucks. Our Sunday School does appetisers and desserts.
I had the same kind of things happen. Needs the oven. Needs an outlet -needs a lot of space etc... sometimes even a serving plate -because they stopped on the way and got something at the store. It does make for a lot of work.
Also coffee preferences -decaf, splenda,nutra sweet -people don't think and ask you for something that can wind up being a bit of an ordeal.


One time I hosted a catered meal for DH's work. All the desserts were pre-plated by the caterer. The guest of honor bought a cheese cake. I did not have plates and a pie server ready and had to hustle around trying to get it.
It was really nice of her to bring something -but -flowers or a bottle of wine would have been a lot simpler!

 

[Chattyaholic]

I hear ya!!

The ONLY big gathering we have in our home each year is the family Christmas and I just HATE it when people bring "extra" stuff. I am a "planner" and I always have everything planned, where to put the food, etc. and it just messes everything up to have people bring stuff they weren't ASKED to bring, especially if their dish needs extra baking time, or to be plugged in.

One year my cousin and his wife brought two pies. I had already PLANNED the dessert, the pies were not needed (sorry if this sounds unappreciative) and only a couple pieces were eaten, so then she decided to leave them with ME but of course she did want her glass pie plates back, but the problem was we only saw them at Christmas (they have since divorced and my cousin now lives in Montana) so I had to keep them for her a full YEAR. She should have just taken them home with her THEN!!!

I've managed to cut down some on the "extras" people feel inclinced to bring, my writing up a menu and ASKING each one to bring a specific item. It works out pretty well that way and most people don't bring "extras" any more.

When WE are the guests for dinner in someone else's home, I ASK what I can bring and I bring what the person WANTS me to bring, nothing more, unless it's a hostess gift for her to use LATER.

 

[Margie J]

When we have these at work, we have a sign-up list in advance. This way we don't end up with 1 main dish and 10 desserts.

For a home hosted pot luck you might have to warn quests in advance about space available. Asking them to bring specific types of food/drink is another good suggestion.

I think it's rude for a guest to ask if they can cook in your house when they arrive. This sort of thing should be arranged in advance.

 

[missypie]

We did have signups, so we had a balanced number of each course, but that doesn't control how much space folks take up, etc.

Have you ever had parties where people brought ICE CREAM???? That has happed to me twice. One time we had some folks over and no one said they were bringing anything. A neighbor arrived with gallons of ice cream and all the makings for banana splits! It was a huge operation and I had very little freezer space. What she bought was so elaborate that I didn't feel like I could serve the cheesecake I had made.

 

[mickeyboat]

Man, please don't ever invite me to one of your pot lucks! Color me harsh, but you really do sound unappreciative. Your guests went out of their way to bring something special - and you complain about the amount of space it takes up or the fact that it needs to be plugged in. Sure it can be a pain in the butt, but that is the nature of a pot luck. Really, if it bothers you that much, next time you should plan and serve the menu yourself.

Denae

 

[stinkerbelle]

Man, please don't ever invite me to one of your pot lucks! Color me harsh, but you really do sound unappreciative. Your guests went out of their way to bring something special - and you complain about the amount of space it takes up or the fact that it needs to be plugged in. Sure it can be a pain in the butt, but that is the nature of a pot luck. Really, if it bothers you that much, next time you should plan and serve the menu yourself.

Denae

Im sorry...but I really have to agree with this post.

Maybe that's why they are called "pot luck" dinners.

 

[robinb]

I think that missypie's point is that you should think before bringing something elaborate to a pot luck or a party and try not to be a space hog.

 

[disneynutt1225]

When we have these at work, we have a sign-up list in advance. This way we don't end up with 1 main dish and 10 desserts.

We do events this way as well (work and friend events, that is). It's so much easier to know what everyone else is bringing - this way there are no duplicates and most of the bases are covered. It also helps us figure out where to put what and what might need to be cooked or warmed up when it arrives. A LOT less stressful this way.

 

[missypie]

Hosting this party will certainly make me be a more thoughtful guest in the future. We have three living areas and two dining areas...so why do people need to plant themselves right in front of the ovens to chat? When I attend parties in the future, I will be so much more mindful of where I am and how much room my stuff is taking up.

 

[declansdad]

Man, please don't ever invite me to one of your pot lucks! Color me harsh, but you really do sound unappreciative. Your guests went out of their way to bring something special - and you complain about the amount of space it takes up or the fact that it needs to be plugged in. Sure it can be a pain in the butt, but that is the nature of a pot luck. Really, if it bothers you that much, next time you should plan and serve the menu yourself.

Denae

Who brings a fondue to a potluck? Seems a little over the top.

I do think that potlucks should have a "sign up" sheet to avoid some of these problems.

 

[DianaPrincessofWales]

Having a party is alot of work and "inconvenient". This thread is interesting because I just threw the same kind of Christmas party Friday night. Be thankful people brought food. Half of the people that came to my party DIDN'T!! They knew it was potluck. Some people didn't say anything and one person said they forgot to stop at the grocery store on the way!! OKAY! I was almost embarrassed for them!! I guess I was brought up to know better-I would NEVER do that!!

 

[minkydog]

This is exactly why our Sunday School class stopped doing the potluck party--too much chaos and not enough appreciation. Now we have one lady who is a bit anal, who loved putting these things together(she's really sweet). She has a great house, but she hates having people mess up her kitchen, so we just give her the money and she puts on a party. She loves it and we love it.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Having a party is alot of work and "inconvenient". This thread is interesting because I just threw the same kind of Christmas party Friday night. Be thankful people brought food. Half of the people that came to my party DIDN'T!! They knew it was potluck. Some people didn't say anything and one person said they forgot to stop at the grocery store on the way!! OKAY! I was almost embarrassed for them!! I guess I was brought up to know better-I would NEVER do that!!

Well, at least you had a lot of free counter space.

 

[missypie]

Who brings a fondue to a potluck? Seems a little over the top.

I do think that potlucks should have a "sign up" sheet to avoid some of these problems.

We had a sign up sheet and I knew she was bringing fondue. In my mind, I pictured a fondue set like we have ..a little pot, maybe 6 inches wide, with a sterno burner underneath, with a bowl of bread to dip in it. I didn't envision a very large crock pot that had to be plugged in, with a platter 2 feet wide, plus two kinds of skewers.

As for keeping food warm and cold...I had most of two shelves emptied in my fridge for the cold food. I had my double ovens set as warming ovens for the hot food....but then someone comes who needs to actually COOK her food (and not in the microwave, either.) I can't imagine a sign up sheet asking whether the guest plans to cook their food at home or on site, or whether the guest's appetizer will take up one square foot or three square feet.

 

[susan1]

hi
being from accross the pond i had never hears of pot luck dinners until last year. my dh was lucky enought to be invited yo join a lawn green bowls club near orlando for the duration of our stay. we were kindly invited to their burns night pot luck dinner as we were stating in an hotel we took party size salad and dips and fruit and dips. the meats casseroles etc were brilliant and it appeared to go to plan. wish we did it over here. sorry yours did not go so well

 

[missypie]

hi
being from accross the pond i had never hears of pot luck dinners until last year. my dh was lucky enought to be invited yo join a lawn green bowls club near orlando for the duration of our stay. we were kindly invited to their burns night pot luck dinner as we were stating in an hotel we took party size salad and dips and fruit and dips. the meats casseroles etc were brilliant and it appeared to go to plan. wish we did it over here. sorry yours did not go so well

It's not that it didn't go well...I'm sure the guests thought it went fine. It was just very stressful for me.

 

[grlpwrd]

Man, please don't ever invite me to one of your pot lucks! Color me harsh, but you really do sound unappreciative. Your guests went out of their way to bring something special - and you complain about the amount of space it takes up or the fact that it needs to be plugged in. Sure it can be a pain in the butt, but that is the nature of a pot luck. Really, if it bothers you that much, next time you should plan and serve the menu yourself.

Denae

Plus, isn't this a church-related potluck? I don't think Jesus would be complaining - I think he'd enjoy the fellowship.

 

[missypie]

Plus, isn't this a church-related potluck? I don't think Jesus would be complaining - I think he'd enjoy the fellowship.

Interesting to remember that Jesus' first public miracle was in a stressful party situation! I sure could have used a miracle last night to give me about 5 more feet of counter space and a third oven! (We did have plenty of wine, however.)

 

[golfgal]

We have a pot luck every month with our card club and people bring all kinds of stuff some big things some small, we all know to have our ovens on if anyone needs to finish cooking something. I guess I don't see what the big deal was at your party. The presentation isn't all that important at pot luck.