On Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:04:29 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Kajikit > wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:47:06 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>
>> >The potluck was fun. I need to get the recipe for the corn relish salad
>> >that someone brought. We also had a tossed salad, veggie/dip plate,
>> >calico beans, a thick wild rice soup, and a raw apple cake with a nice
>> >caramel sauce to top it.
>>
>> Your potlucks are a higher grade than ours! I'm thinking of trying to
>> get our minister to let me organise them better because the last
>> potluck featured rice, macaroni cheese, three different baked zitis
>> and my roasted root vegetables.
>
>This is a small group, Karen. Only 8 of us, so I think it's maybe
>easier and more economical to make something a little 'nicer' (I use the
>term loosely) for a group that size than to think your dish has to feed
>maybe 12 people.
>
>AFA organizing the troops, my old church used to do something like this:
>last names beginning A-H bring salad, L-R being main dish, and S-Z
>bring dessert. Then rotate the assignments. And sometimes we were
>asked to bring our own dishes and flatware, too. And personally, I'd
>rather bring my own than eat off a disposable foam or paper plate. A
>quirk.
>
>If you're going to try to assign, be prepared to be flexible. Some
>people don't much like to be told what to bring to a potluck which, by
>its very nature, is a pretty loosey-goosey meal; some feel duty-bound or
>prideful about bringing the same thing all the time. Tread lightly
>because the usual point of such meals is to encourage and foster
>fellowship -- the foodstuffs are really secondary. And if you **** off
>someone so that they stay home instead of participating, well, that's
>not much for encouraging fellowship. :-)

I was thinking of doing something very simple - just make up a little
wall chart with each month and VERY loose categories - 'pasta' 'rice'
'vegetables' 'chicken' 'dessert 1' etc. There are roughly 20 families
in the church but not everyone comes all the time so a dozen spots
should do it. Leave half a dozen blank spaces at the bottom for people
who want to do something else... and hopefully end up with a SLIGHTLY
balanced meal. I'd never try to tell people what they should bring -
it's like herding cats! lol The biggest problem with our potlucks is
that there is always too much pasta and not enough vegetables. And
unless they specifically say 'bring dessert' then there isn't any.
Last month they said to bring a dessert as well as your main dish so
we had ten different desserts to share among 40 people and that was
ridiculous overkill! lol It would work much better if two people
brought pasta and three people brought dessert etc.