Make this year’s holiday party a potluck
Home KitchenEvery year I look forward to my Christmas lunch. Planning it took weeks and I didn’t care. As usual, lunch would be at my house. This year, however, with a diagnosis of high blood pressure, planning seemed more difficult. I mentioned this to a friend.
“Make it a potluck,” he suggests.
“It’s a great idea!” I exclaimed, and started working on it immediately.
Vanessa Graves offers tips for hosting a potluck in her All Recipes website article, “Party Planning 1o1.” Whether the group is large or small, Grave says the planning steps are the same. Seeing the big picture is the first step. “A big party takes on a life of its own,” she notes.
According to Graves, invitations need to be sent out a week in advance. But my friends are so busy that I contacted them a month in advance. I emailed 13 people, saying lunch would be a potluck and suggesting a date. “The menu is simple,” I wrote. “Appetizers, soup, bread, salad and dessert.” Each guest was assigned a category.
Guests were asked to RSVP and two were unable to attend. In their responses, most of my friends told me what they were planning to do. His email responses morphed into a full menu:
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Minnesota Wild Rice Soup
homemade bread
Bibb Lettuce Salad with Pear Slices, Walnuts and Blue Cheese
swedish cream with raspberries
irish oat cake
Chocolate brownies
Wine, Coffee and Tea
I would provide punch, salad, Swedish cream, dessert plates, napkins, decorations, and favors. Years ago, I wrote an invitation for an all-purpose luncheon, so it was easy for me to change lunch to a potluck, insert the date, and confirm which dish each friend would bring.
Donna Pilato explains how to plan a potluck in her article, “Hot Potlucks: It May Seem Old Fashioned, but It Fits Our Modern Lifestyle.” To avoid duplicating dishes, she tells the host or hostess to plan the menu. Food doesn’t need to be fancy, Pilate adds, but it does need to be prepared ahead of time. “No one should do more in the kitchen than put something in the oven to reheat it.”
Modern potlucks often have a theme or focus, such as a book, knitting, or board business. Entertainment can also be provided. But my friends and I know each other well and we entertain each other. Over the years, we have cried together, laughed together, and supported each other through the crisis.
Although potlucks sound “ify”, they are organized and vibrant gatherings. Sara Elliott, in her article, “How to Host a Holiday Potluck,” believes that this form of entertainment can showcase culinary prowess and hospitality. Make sure you have enough chairs and silverware, he advises, and check for any last-minute details. Potlucks “give us an opportunity to share the time and bounty of good food with friends and family in a way that doesn’t overburden one person or family,” Elliott notes.
The potluck is on Thursday and we are going to have a wonderful time full of laughter.
Copyright 2009 by Harriet Hodgson