How to organize a potluck

Cafe Society
1

I don’t actually know how. I’m asking you guys.

I just had lunch. It was a potluck – everyone in our department brought in some “comfort food.” It was also kind of crappy. Most people (including, I hasten to add, me) didn’t sign up ahead of time. Because of rumors that five people were bringing macaroni and cheese, no one brought mac and cheese, so someone went out and bought some from a local grocery store. People complained about there being too much starch (maybe a side effect from the theme “comfort food”).

And, of course, as there is every time I go to a potluck, there was too much food. Or at least, there were lots of leftovers.

So who throws successful potlucks? What are the secrets? How do you get lazy slackers like me to actually sign up ahead of time – or do you worry about it? How do you ensure enough food without ending up with gallons of leftovers? What else makes a good potluck?

2

We had a lot of potlucks at work. After some that turned out like yours, one person was designated to organize it. She (it’s always a “she”) made a list of types of food, circulated it and asked people to sign up for what they wanted to bring.

The list would look something like this:

Chips and dip _____________
Dessert _________________
Salad ___________________
Meat ___________________
Fresh veggies _________________
Bread ____________________
Condiments ______________
Serving stuff (plates, forks, etc.) _________

Depending on how many are going to eat, you’d want to list some of the items more than once.

And you want to make sure the woman who makes Death by Chocolate to get the list first, thereby thwarting the “dessert” bringer who stops at the bakery and buys cookies.

3

To me it’s not potluck if you’re not taking your chances. I don’t like the sign-up-in-advance protocol for potlucks. If you’re planning another kind of communal meal, like spaghetti night, then fine. But with potluck you takes your chances with a good attitude!

I think you’re right about the starchiness/ comfort food theme connection. Catch me on the right day and that would be my idea of heaven, but maybe that didn’t work very well as a potluck theme.

One thing I would recommend is to facilitate people taking home leftovers of stuff other than what they brought. I hate bringing my own stuff home from potluck, but if I could make up a plate with an assortment of leftover good stuff, that would be ideal.

If you really need to make sure the potluck serves as a solid meal for everyone, it works well to get a person or small group to go in on a main entree, maybe a ham, or a deli tray, and have everyone else bring side dishes. That way you make sure there is a well-rounded meal.

4

I do a lot of potlucks. Comes with being a community-minded hippie chick, I guess. I agree that free-for-all leads to disaster (I literally attended a potluck once with 12 spinach dips and no protein course), and sign-up is not always practical or can be too restrictive.

If you’re going to be doing a regular potluck with the same group of people, a good compromise is to assign not dishes, but categories, by name or birthdate or some other random attribute. The next time, switch categories (this, over time, eliminates someone always getting the cheap soda while someone else buys the expensive roasted chickens.) I put in on the invite or sign announcing the potluck.

So it might look something like this:

Last name starting with:
A-G, bring a protein dish (meat or vegetarian is fine)
H-K bring a vegetable dish
L-O bring a starchy side dish
P-S bring a desert
T-V bring beverages
W-Z bring supplies (napkins, plates, plasticware)

Other categories I’ve used, just to be fun is Astrological sign (Water signs bring drinks, Air signs bring desert, Fire signs bring side dishes, Earth signs bring protein), Birthdates, Hair color, First digit of your phone number after your prefix, Live on a Street, Avenue, Blvd. or Place. Be creative!

It’s not always perfect, and some people ignore the request and bring what they want anyway, but I’ve not had a disaster yet with this method.

ALSO: Consider having people write the name of their item and the recipe for it (if homemade) on an index card and leaving it next to the item on the table. This does two things: alerts anyone with food allergies or preferences as to ingredients, and provides the recipe to copy down if someone really likes a dish.

The other thing I do is use red serving utensils for omnivore dishes, white serving utensils for lacto-ovo vegetarian dishes, and green for vegan dishes. I do this because there are a lot of vegetarians and vegans at my potlucks. YMMV.

5

Apparently, we* do.

*“We” being “my team at work”

[QUOTE}What are the secrets?[/QUOTE]

Apparently again, the secret is to con another group into bringing the food.

Story behind that realization is: Our manager supervises two teams at work. Last month was her birthday, and the other team let ours know that they’d reserved one of the conference rooms to have the traditional potluck birthday thing that day, and did we want to participate with them. Turns out the reason was because their potlucks are always crappy, and we “always have such great stuff” at ours.

Ours is done by passing around a sheet with each person’s name on it, and each person writes in what they plan to bring next to their name. You would, of course, still put the sign-up list on the desk of the Death by Chocolate maker first, and don’t let it near the guy who brings Twinkies every time until last (although that won’t make a difference; he’ll still bring the twinkies).

Once everyone starts to know what everyone else’s specialties are, they’ll start putting Post-it notes on the sign-up list that say “Kat, will you please please please make XYZ again?”

It’s simple, everyone is obligated to take home their own leftovers. People are allowed to magnanimously donate their leftovers to the potluck’s Guest of Honor (if applicable) or to anyone who shows undue enthusiasm for the dish during lunch, but only with their approval.

Remind the person who signs up to bring soda that they should bring more than one 2-liter. And not just diet soda either. :smiley:

6

I agree with you. We have them about once a month or so at work. Sometimes we do themes. On St. Patrick’s Day last year, we had “green food” day, that is, bring whatever you want that’s green. One time we had a food that starts with the letter “c”. We’ve also had lots that are just a bring whatever you want. There’s no formal signing up process, however, often people will do a little bit of checking around quietly prior to the day. We’ve never had a problem with, for example, 20 trays of cheese and crackers on “c” food day.

The organization is kept down to a minimum, with the only requirement being to send out a couple of e-mails. Also, with the lack of a sign-up sheet, there are also still some nice surprises at lunch time.

7

We have a group of 5 or 6 couples that all get together once a month for “dinner club”.

We take turns hosting, and the host picks the theme.

If I am hosting, I put out a list of “ideas”, and ask people to respond to me with what they are bringing. After each response I get, I send out an email telling the others who has signed up for what. I always see what everyone else wants to contribute, then make whatever didn’t get chosen to complete the theme.

If I am not the hostess, I ask what is needed and tell the person in charge that I will be willing to swtich to whatever they need if they find they are short something. It’s kinda become my “job” to balance out the menu :wink:

I guess what I’m saying here is that it helps to have a couple of people on board to be flexible and help cover for what you might be short on.