On Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:11:48 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
> wrote:

>On Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 2:54:01 PM UTC-4, Jill McQuown wrote:
>> On 3/17/2018 4:16 PM, cshenk wrote:
>> > Nancy Young wrote:
>> >
>> >> On 3/17/2018 9:52 AM, Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> >>> On Sat 17 Mar 2018 05:47:33a, Janet told us...
>> >>
>> >>>> Actually you do.You requoted his original post. He never said it
>> >>>> was a
>> >>>> potluck, and it clearly is not. He said
>> >>>>
>> >>>> " it's a reception that a bunch of people are chipping in items
>> >>>> for
>> >>>> I need to come up with some finger food / appetizer type stuff
>> >>>> they are saying 25 pieces but they also say they aren't being
>> >>>> very
>> >>>> scientific about it desserts are the other option, so the finger
>> >>>> food
>> >>>> should be savory I think .any ideas? I'm at a loss"
>> >>
>> >>> A rose by any other name.
>> >>
>> >> I was wondering what I didn't know about potlucks that this didn't
>> >> qualify as such. Is it because there was a category specified?
>> >>
>> >> nancy
>> >
>> > Naw, most I have been at have a sort of rough signup list (but you can
>> > bring anything). It's mostly to help make sure they have a balance.
>> > Military ones even account for the ones in barracks living with no
>> > cooking facilites and add stuff like plastic utensils and so on.
>> >
>> "make sure they have a balance" is the key phrase there! That's the
>> reason for signup sheets.
>>
>> Military pot lucks aren't the only ones that add plastic utentils, etc.
>> to potluck signup sheets. The civilian corporate world does it, too.
>> Reason being, no one should have to bring their own eating utensils from
>> their home/barracks (don't tell me no one has a field mess kit) to the
>> "work" pot luck.
>>
>> Jill
>
>Our company always has boxes of plastic flatware in the break room.
>
>One bachelor who worked for the company for 50 years always brought
>pickles to the potlucks.
>
>Cindy Hamilton

My wife attends two pot lucks every week, one with her group of six
knitters who meet at the library for two hours on Friday afternoons,
and one with the 8-9 at her weekly
water color painting class, it's some 30 miles so day of week changes
with the weather. She doesn't cook, not a lick,
and being smart they don't want her to cook so her permanent
assignment is to bring a box of Dunkin Donuts, a big jug of DD coffee,
and a quart of milk. All the rest are big time cooks and bakers so
they bring whatever but usually something to go with the present
holiday theme... at Christmas time and a couple other times durng the
year I bake a few dozen assorted danish for her to bring, sometimes
breads/cakes, otherwise I don't get involved... I'm invited to attend
but I don't, however I've occasionally met them when they visit here,
all very nice ladies.. Some are into cats so they visit, some are
into gardening so they visit, one is a bee keeper and supplies us with
very nice honey. One raises chickens for eggs and is always offering
but a dozen eggs every two weeks is more than enough... when I buy
eggs I'm instructed to save her the cartons.

I don't think "Pot Luck" has any specific meaning whatsoever, it's
whatever a guest chooses to contribute. to the festivities... could be
paper plates, plastic eating/drinking items, and/or whatever foods
they care to contribute... on Easter I wouldn't care if it's a basket
of jelly beans and marshmallow peeps. In fact I don't appreciate food
from inept cooks and their slovenly kitchens.