Multicultural Potluck- what to bring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have another culture, what are you bringing to the school multicultural potluck? Just a regular side dish? I tried to sign up for chocolate chip cookies and the organizers told me it should be a traditional food from my household.

I'm really trying here, but these events come up multiple times a year and there doesn't seem room for people who don't have other cultures. I mean we're mostly British and German but it's been a couple hundred years and we have no ties to any of that food. I don't even feel like we have regional foods from the US that my family regularly eats (they did not want regional US foods though). I sort of felt like chocolate chip cookies were one of my family's specialties. If we don't have one, should we just pick someone else's culture and make a dish?

Multicultural celebrations are generally intended to celebrate and center non-European cultures.

Are you sure you should be going to this event op?

DP, but I just went to ours and we had Europe, Asia, Africa, Central America, South America.

[Anonymous]

Multicultural celebrations are generally intended to celebrate and center non-European cultures.

Are you sure you should be going to this event op?

If one of my students’ parents said this, I would be so sad. We want all families to feel welcome to come represent whatever culture they identify with and enjoy mingling with other families in the community. Foods I have made: buckeye candies, potatoes for a crowd, a shortbread cookie, and a pasta dish. Many of my students hadn’t had these before. I also brought some artifacts my great grandparents had—their generation focused on total assimilation, so they didn’t share a lot of their culture with their children, but it’s nice to learn about the items and share them.

Also, at least at my schools, participation in bringing food, etc. is not mandatory. You are welcome to come celebrate even if you are too busy to put something together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have another culture, what are you bringing to the school multicultural potluck? Just a regular side dish? I tried to sign up for chocolate chip cookies and the organizers told me it should be a traditional food from my household.

I'm really trying here, but these events come up multiple times a year and there doesn't seem room for people who don't have other cultures. I mean we're mostly British and German but it's been a couple hundred years and we have no ties to any of that food. I don't even feel like we have regional foods from the US that my family regularly eats (they did not want regional US foods though). I sort of felt like chocolate chip cookies were one of my family's specialties. If we don't have one, should we just pick someone else's culture and make a dish?

I'm from Germany. Would you like me to link some fairly easy recipes for you that are authentic and often used?

Not OP, but YES PLEASE.

Not PP, but when someone threw a potluck party like this when I was in law school I brought a Black Forest cake.

NP. My go-to nod to my German heritage is a bienenstich (bee-sting cake). I'll sometimes do it as cupcakes, especially if there are some at the party who need gluten-free.

Almonds, honey, pastry cream, yeasted dough.

https://www.thekitchn.com/bee-sting-cake-recipe-23657388

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m frankly torn as to whether white people ought to attend these gatherings at all.

Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to center actual, multicultural, families and create space for them free of the white gaze?

Not OP, but ours is one of the headliner school-wide events for the year. Our administration encourages everyone to attend. Plus the kids' classes do displays on countries from around the world, so it'd be pretty crappy to suggest that those students' families shouldn't attend because they're white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have another culture, what are you bringing to the school multicultural potluck? Just a regular side dish? I tried to sign up for chocolate chip cookies and the organizers told me it should be a traditional food from my household.

I'm really trying here, but these events come up multiple times a year and there doesn't seem room for people who don't have other cultures. I mean we're mostly British and German but it's been a couple hundred years and we have no ties to any of that food. I don't even feel like we have regional foods from the US that my family regularly eats (they did not want regional US foods though). I sort of felt like chocolate chip cookies were one of my family's specialties. If we don't have one, should we just pick someone else's culture and make a dish?

Multicultural celebrations are generally intended to celebrate and center non-European cultures.

Are you sure you should be going to this event op?

I completely disagree with this. Multicultural celebrations are intended to celebrate, include, and represent members of the hosting community, which is the school.

[Anonymous]

I always brought chocolate chip cookies, since they are one of the few foods actually invented in this country. Screw the organizers, I'm Jewish and don't especially care to share that with them. I hate these stupid multicultural things.

[Anonymous]

I agree OP is most likely a troll. No one is turning down chocolate chip cookies. Other contributions made by people whose families have lived in America for generations were hot dogs, Mac and cheese, … all things the ES kids would devour by the way.

[Anonymous]

DD's had a multicultural night every year, and for the years we participated, there was always a family who took "Murica" and served hot dogs.

[Anonymous]

I brought homemade chex mix b/c that’s a family tradition.

[Anonymous]

Just bring your cookies.

[Anonymous]

At my school people brought things from a particular state too...like Boston Baked Beans, Georgia Peaches, TX BBQ. Just bring the choc chip cookies if you want though. Call them European chocolate cookies - old family recipe or some other ethnic sounding thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Multicultural celebrations are generally intended to celebrate and center non-European cultures.

Are you sure you should be going to this event op?

If one of my students’ parents said this, I would be so sad. We want all families to feel welcome to come represent whatever culture they identify with and enjoy mingling with other families in the community. Foods I have made: buckeye candies, potatoes for a crowd, a shortbread cookie, and a pasta dish. Many of my students hadn’t had these before. I also brought some artifacts my great grandparents had—their generation focused on total assimilation, so they didn’t share a lot of their culture with their children, but it’s nice to learn about the items and share them.

Also, at least at my schools, participation in bringing food, etc. is not mandatory. You are welcome to come celebrate even if you are too busy to put something together.

Oh this reminds me- years ago a parent brought an enormous sushi platter to a middle school class (organized with the teacher) for the very diverse classroom. So many kids had never tried sushi, and would never get it at home or go to a restaurant that served it. It was appropriate to the lesson, allergies were checked, parents were consulted. Some kids wanted nothing to do with it or tried cooked crab and some are probably sushi addicts now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Chocolate chip cookies are a traditional food from my household! I’m white!”

Jello salads are literally the thing I most associate with my grandma (Anglo-American colonist).

The only really yummy one is canned peach halves with ginger ale and peach Jello.

The most common one was strawberry Jello with Dole fruit cocktail.

The two I could never stomach were Lime Jello with cottage cheese and Orange Jello with carrot shreds and walnuts.

Serve on lettuce leaf.

How old are you?

Gen-X. My grandma's family was English but in Maryland in the Quaker colonial days.

Gen-X ate Jello. There was a big Knox Blox craze in the 1970s.

I loved knox blocks.

[Anonymous]

In our family, traditional food definitely would include blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies.

[Anonymous]

Why are democrats so racist?