Spinoff: To eat or not to eat... (Food gifts, pot lucks)?

[Ephany]

Depends on who makes it. I live in a small town and if I know someone's kitchen skeeves me out, I'll generally pass on their item at a potluck or if they bring in an item to share. I've worked in restaurants and I know they're at least inspected occasionally; my neighbor's kitchen countertops? Not so much.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

No problem - because I have personal knowledge of what goes on in the kitchens of restaurants; what kind of contamination is allowed before it's "over the limit"; etc.. If I can eat in restaurants, I can't imagine conditions being any worse in something "homemade"..

I agree, if I were paranoid about homemade stuff, I wouldn't be able to eat out at all either.

 

[Green Tea]

When I take something to a dinner or bake something for a school or charity event, I always make a nice card with the ingredients in the dish. I have a strange food allergy and I can't eat if I don't ask the person if the ingredient is in it.

I got a nice note from a teacher last year thanking me for the ingredient card. He has a peanut allergy and generally can't eat treats sent. He thought it was a nice idea.

 

[daisyduck123]

So I was just wondering, do many of you have hangups about eating food items from people you don't really know or people you do know

No no no to the baked goods.

Any food that students bring me goes straight to the Teacher's Lounge or Copy Room.

 

[BelleWDW]

Depends on the food and who made it.

Basic brownies, cakes ok
But anything that needed refrigeration-or has mayo, sour cream etc-forget it.



And anything one particular SIL makes-NEVAH!!!
I once went to get a large deep roaster in her cabinet to put some Bar-B-Q in (at her house) -she told me not to use it, because she used it to hold the suds she mopped the floor with earlier that week!!!!!

 

[tar heel]

So you folks don't eat in restaurants, right? I don't think you can really eat factory-made stuff either given the things that can (and do) happen there.

My parents are like some of you. My dad's own aunt sent something over to them a couple weeks ago and my mother threw it away b/c she has a dog in the house.

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

Depends on the food and who made it.

Basic brownies, cakes ok
But anything that needed refrigeration-or has mayo, sour cream etc-forget it.



And anything one particular SIL makes-NEVAH!!!
I once went to get a large deep roaster in her cabinet to put some Bar-B-Q in (at her house) -she told me not to use it, because she used it to hold the suds she mopped the floor with earlier that week!!!!!

Sounds familiar....I have a SIL that licks her fingers the entire time she prepares and/or serves food. It is very gross.

I almost never eat potluck or baked goods from others. Very rarely.

 

[KirstenB]

So you folks don't eat in restaurants, right? I don't think you can really eat factory-made stuff either given the things that can (and do) happen there.

My parents are like some of you. My dad's own aunt sent something over to them a couple weeks ago and my mother threw it away b/c she has a dog in the house.

This is how I feel too. I'll eat potluck/baked goods, but rarely eat fast food. It gives me the creeps.

 

[aprilgail2]

My parents are like some of you. My dad's own aunt sent something over to them a couple weeks ago and my mother threw it away b/c she has a dog in the house.

LOL--- I can deal with people that have dogs since they normally are not walking on counters after covering up their poop like cats do---but if there is a cat in the house I can't eat things from that house- blech!

 

[Stacerita]

When at a pot luck I'll always ask, "oh, who made this?" If I like the answer, I'll take some... if I don't, I'll say "looks yummy (stomach curdles), I'll have to try that on my next round" and keep walking.

I do the exact same thing.

MTE
"Vicki, can I help you with that Koolaid, please?"

At a previous hospital that I worked at we had a potluck that was for my birthday. One of the ladies made me a special cake. I was pretty happy about it. Till I saw her cutting it in the other room. With every slice, she would run her finger down the side of the knife to get all the frosting, then she licked her finger and ran it down the other side. If that wasn't bad enough, she also tried to pick up the crumbs that fell back on teh cake dish and eat them. She leaned over the cake, turned her head sideways a bit, and sprinkled the crumbs into her mouth. Some made it, some didn't, and some fell out of her mouth back onto the cake. I couldn't eat anything she every brought again.

 

[jenrose66]

It depends on the person. There are some people I work with or are related too and I wouldn't touch their food with a 10 foot pole. Other people I have no problem eating their food.

Funny thing is, if you won't eat potluck food but you will eat fast food that's probably a contradiction...becaue you have no idea the kind of people preparing your food in the back...so it's kind of like, well how far do you take it?

 

[NMAmy]

I love potlucks--in fact, we have one at work today! I'm guessing the majority of my coworkers feel the same way I do because we have very few leftovers.

I also love homemade food gifts.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

I will eat at potlucks here at work. BUT I have not always been that way. I remember way back in like 3rd grade and kids would bring in treats for their birthday. Depending on who it was I wouldn't even it eat it back then. I am sot of picky on what I eat but I do give it a try. I make stufrf all the time to bring in for people. My feelings would be really hurt if someone who I took the time to make something for would leave it for others to eat.

 

[englishteacha]

I eat what coworkers bring in on our rare staff breakfasts (usually muffins, breads, etc.). I might taste something a child brings in, but often, I won't eat much of it. I know my students and I know their personal sanitation! I haven't ever thought much of a pot luck. I've always eaten at them. Some of my family members have a very unclean kitchen and I try not to eat things they make.

 

[MIGrandma]

As I get older, I think more about things like that and would really prefer not to eat something that someone I don't know has made.

I used to go to a big bazaar every year, and would buy a few dozen decorated Christmas cookies, and some rock candy. But no more. I'd rather do without those things, than think about someone making them and they didn't wash their hands or they don't have a very clean kitchen, etc.

I know it's "all in my head" and I shouldn't worry about it, because I have no qualms about eating in a restaurant and the cook might not have washed his hands after he used the bathroom either...

 

[The Mystery Machine]

At a previous hospital that I worked at we had a potluck that was for my birthday. One of the ladies made me a special cake. I was pretty happy about it. Till I saw her cutting it in the other room. With every slice, she would run her finger down the side of the knife to get all the frosting, then she licked her finger and ran it down the other side. If that wasn't bad enough, she also tried to pick up the crumbs that fell back on teh cake dish and eat them. She leaned over the cake, turned her head sideways a bit, and sprinkled the crumbs into her mouth. Some made it, some didn't, and some fell out of her mouth back onto the cake. I couldn't eat anything she every brought again.

OMG that is nasty.

I generally will eat bake sales/potlucks however I do not embrace them.

 

[kacaju]

but if there is a cat in the house I can't eat things from that house- blech!

I have two cats and they are NEVER, EVER on my counters.

 

[sunlver]

This is a good question. For me, I go by looks I do not eat a lot of things at potluck made with mayo..mostly because the full fat mayo gives me terrible heartburn...so I dont even bother asking I just skip over those things. If somethings just look "gross" to me.. I just skip over it. I normally never turn down the sweets though