Margaret Suran > wrote:
> This is nice if you know how many condolence visitors will come and
> you are willing to supply one dish with enough servings for all and
> there are enough others to do the same. Otherwise, it would turn into
> a potluck affair, not something for a post-funeral meal. Also, some

That's exactly what I mean. The funerals that I can remember
were effectively potluck affairs. The synagogue gave us a place
to hold them, and maybe the disposable plates/utensils, but that
was it. Our family couldn't afford a catered afair for hundreds
of people. Nor could anyone in the congregation. But everybody
brought what they could afford -- 99% home cooked. I ate
potato kugle everyday for a week after one of my grandpas died.
There was always more than enough food, although not necessarily
the largest variety. My mom's funeral beans are famous (homemade
baked beans that everybody loves).

Maybe potluck funerals are a symptom of my family's, eh,
working-class background. Or maybe it is a midwest thing.
We do love our hotdishes.

> Jewish people observe kosher laws and some dishes might not be
> acceptable. For the Shivah, the period of mourning when more visitors
> call and bring gifts of food, someone actually brought a shrimp dish.

LOL. Some jewish people observe kosher laws. My grandpa was a sailor,
and ate tons of shellfish in his days. But I get your point.
(well, maybe in your mind jews who aren't kosher aren't jews. call
us what you want. infidels? I prefer the term heathen, myself ;-)

> After my husband's funeral, about fifty friends and relatives came
> back to my apartment, with at least as many more trickling in later
> on. I do not think that anybody could expect others to foot such a
> bill, hundreds of dollars, nor think that in the time between the

Right, so everybody brings what they can. Nobody foots the bill.

> drove there and picked up everything. She forgot the bagels, all
> twelve dozens of them and had to go back for them.

Forgot the bagels!!!!

J