It bugs me when people bring lame things to a potluck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate potlucks.

Me too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll often pick up a premade veggie tray for these things and they are usually a hit with the crowd. Is that a lame thing to bring? If so, oh well...

The veggie trays are normally the only thing I'll eat at potluck dinners... I try to eat healthy and wouldn't touch half the casserole dishes people bring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no such thing as a nice potluck. Maybe they people bringing lame things are protesting the potluck "party".

Bingo. When we host. We host. When our friends host. They host. We take turns and the food, drinks, atmosphere is always great.

Exactly! I don't ask people to bring anything when hosting.

[Anonymous]

I hate potlucks. I don't like to be judged by what I bring or don't bring. Sometimes we go easy and bring a bag of fresh croissants or even easier and bring hummus and pita chips. Sometimes we make a big effort and prepare a special dish. My biggest pet peeve is that there is usually so much food that what we bring doesn't get eaten, even when we make something from scratch. Just can't win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it incredibly annoying when people bring lame things to a potluck--a bag of potato chips, a box of cheap cookies, a bag of mini carrots, etc. If you're invited to a nice potluck, bring something substantial--and put a little time and effort into it! If you don't like to cook, that's okay--there are plenty of things you could bring that don't involve cooking (nice salad, veggie tray, etc.) And if you don't even want to do that then just go to Whole Foods or somewhere nice and pick up a few large side dishes.

I'm always the person who takes the time to cook something homemade for a potluck or brings a main course, and then is always disappointed when the rest of the food sucks. What is wrong with people? Aren't they embarrased to bring such a paltry contribution to the potluck? Does this bother you too?

There is no such thing as a nice potluck. If you are too cheap to feed your guests, do not complain about what they bring.

[Anonymous]

I like potlucks, but what I don't like is being assigned a category or specific item of food to bring/prepare. If you want for me to bring something, and want it to be good, let me decide what it should be. I'll happily make a great dessert selected to work well for the particular event, time and location; but if you tell me to bring a kugel, you're getting either store-bought or a random internet recipe dish that may or may not be decent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it incredibly annoying when people bring lame things to a potluck--a bag of potato chips, a box of cheap cookies, a bag of mini carrots, etc. If you're invited to a nice potluck, bring something substantial--and put a little time and effort into it! If you don't like to cook, that's okay--there are plenty of things you could bring that don't involve cooking (nice salad, veggie tray, etc.) And if you don't even want to do that then just go to Whole Foods or somewhere nice and pick up a few large side dishes.

I'm always the person who takes the time to cook something homemade for a potluck or brings a main course, and then is always disappointed when the rest of the food sucks. What is wrong with people? Aren't they embarrased to bring such a paltry contribution to the potluck? Does this bother you too?

That's an oxymorong right there, OP. Potlucks are low rent, no way around it.

[Anonymous]

I really don't get the people who just stick the food out in the bakery box, the chip bag, whatever. Even if you buy something from the store, you ought to make an attempt to make it look nice. Presentation helps make food look appetizing. What, you don't have a bowl in your house that you could put the chips in? What's wrong with you people?

[Anonymous]

For potlucks I always get that big shrimp tray from Costco with the dipping sauce. I hate potlucks too.

[Anonymous]

Not big on potlucks, honestly, OP; if I have time to cook something nice/elaborate, I'm not usually going to take it to a dinner party I don't care that much about. I usually ask the host if its okay if I bring a couple of bottles of wine. Which I guess is better than potato chips?

[Anonymous]

This thread is more than two years old

[Anonymous]

We are a group of neighbors and friends who have regular potlucks. We bypassed all the drama by having certain rules in place. a) The hostess decides the menu and people pick what they want to bring. b) Everyone brings one dish that fills a standardized disposable aluminium foil chafing dish and c) All left overs is equally distributed.

[Anonymous]

^good simple rules.

Still, with today's various finicky diet habits, it's a wonder that potlucks are still alive.

No wonder bananas are a big hit with some kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have hosted and been to many potlucks. Overtime I have gained some experience and this is what my group of friends do -

1) A potluck is not an obligation. One should not feel the need to attend if you do not want to contribute. There is a slightly different etiquette to a potluck then when you are being invited for a meal to someone's house.

2) Sometimes it is easier to do a potluck in the neighborhood, where everyone contributes towards pizza and drinks, especially when you have a situation that people are unable to contribute equally (lack of time, skill, money, energy). Same for school celebration. Instead of getting spotty contributions of food and paper products, a contribution of a few dollars makes it easier and equitable for everyone.

4) When hosting a potluck, it is better if the hostess can cover the items of a basic meal. This means that the party can commence even if someone is a no-show or a poor contributor.

5) A hostess can have a theme or a menu and give people the choice to pick a dish from that. However, it is very rude if you give contributors choices where the work involved is labor intensive or the ingredients are expensive. So divvy up the work and cost appropriately. For example - if one person has to make salmon dip for 30 people and another has to bring a bottle of cola - it is going to create resentment.

6) In some potluck situations where it is more of a community celebration - I usually give disposable aluminium chafing dish pans to people to fill and bring to the party. That ensures that I get the quantity I need as well as minimizes the hassle of returning the dishes back. I am also then able to put the dish directly to warm on the chafing dishes. Another thing we do is that we divvy up all left overs equally after a party.

I know this post is more than 2 years old but I still ccan' get over how much it sounds like it was written by an over-the-top secondary character on a sitcom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a group of neighbors and friends who have regular potlucks. We bypassed all the drama by having certain rules in place. a) The hostess decides the menu and people pick what they want to bring. b) Everyone brings one dish that fills a standardized disposable aluminium foil chafing dish and c) All left overs is equally distributed.

^ I'm guessing you already posted in this thread back in 2014, as this is just a condensed version of the post quoted in the 11:11 post from this morning , only with an aadded pictoral representation of the "standardized disposable aluminum foil chafing dish" everyone is apparently required to bring to your neighborhood potlucks.