What do people want these days at potluck meals?

Don't know either but the entire set up had a plastic shield face covered that you could not move. You had to reach inside. The long spoons were already in each item. You could not get your face past the plastic shield.
 

Yeah, unfortunately anything hands touch multiple times will be deemed non virus proofed and will disappear I bet...at least until they get a vaccine. Maybe its a "wait it out now" syndrome...to see where the dust settles. Speaking of sneeze shields, my hub would even eat canned beets under a salad bar sneeze shield!
 

It's funny to be at potlucks when everyone's done eating and we're all begging each other to take our leftovers home! Just the look of dismay on our faces at the thought of having to eat all that stuff we made...

I think I'd miss that part if it all got eaten.

Personally, I've stopped making so much. I no longer worry about making enough so that every person gets to sample it. I don't think the problem is the nature of the dish, it's the aggregate volume of slop in the trough.
 
debodun said:
I've brought dishes to pot-lucks and ended up having to bring it all home because it looked like no one took any.
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Happened to me just last Christmas, but it was partly my fault...and it's kind of a funny story.

I decided to take Ziti to a church Christmas pot luck dinner, because no one takes pasta to these things. I found a recipe on line for Ziti made in a Crock Pot, without pre-cooking the pasta...you rinse it and soak it in tomato juice before assembling. I KNEW it didn't sound like a good idea, and I NEVER make a new dish for these events...but this time I did. Stupid stupid stupid.

Not only did it turn out horrible (with barely a bite eaten), but when I showed up, a friend (Steve) had two disposable aluminum roasting pans covered with foil sitting on the table. "Look what I made," Steve proudly said, pulling the foil aside. Ziti. He made Ziti. Damned New Jersey Italian guy made two pans full of Ziti for the same function that I made my Crocka Pota crappa pasta. (His Ziti was excellent.)

I took my 7 quart Crock Pot full of the horrid stuff back home. The recipe called for the ingredients to be layered (sauce/pasta/cheese, etc) as it was supposed to get hot, cook the pasta, and magically combine. It didn't combine, and the pasta turned to mush. I ended up dumping it all out onto cookie sheets and manually assembling it one serving at a time, putting each serving up in a vacuum seal bag and freezing it. It tasted pretty good, but was basically Ziti mush. I ate it, though. Every serving. Took me a while to go through the entire 7 quarts of it.

The only good thing to come of it was I liked the sauce so much it's become the basis for my spaghetti sauce.
 
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I made rice pudding once for the church coffee fellowship. It was pretty runny and I had a whole bowl of it to bring home. At the next Bible study, one woman said something to the effect, "Did you see that awful mess someone made for the last fellowship? I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't bring myself to take any of that slop." I am pretty sure it was my pudding she was ranting about since mine was the only dish it looked like no one took any. I didn't say anything, but was surprised someone would dis like that not knowing if that person was at the study. Now I do a "trial run" with any new recipe I am considering bringing to the fellowship brunch.
 
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debodun said:
I made rice pudding once for the church coffee fellowship. It was pretty runny and I had a whole bowl of it to bring home. At the next Bible study, one woman said something to the effect, "Did you see that awful mess someone made for the last fellowship? I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't bring myself to take any of that slop." I am pretty sure it was my pudding she was ranting about since mine was the only dish it looked like no one took any. I didn't say anything, but was surprised someone would dis like that not knowing if that person was at the study. Now I do a "trail run" with any new recipe I am considering bringing to the fellowship brunch.
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Eek. It hurts to hear the unvarnished truth sometimes. Lesson learned though, right? Don't bring food to share if it doesn't turn out well. People are wary of unfamiliar foods, particularly if they appear unappetizing.

p.s. You could have said, "Oh dear, I hope you're not talking about my rice pudding - it was a little runnier than I'd hoped but still tasted good."
Then she would have learned a lesson, too.
 
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debodun said:
I made rice pudding once for the church coffee fellowship. It was pretty runny and I had a whole bowl of it to bring home. At the next Bible study, one woman said something to the effect, "Did you see that awful mess someone made for the last fellowship? I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't bring myself to take any of that slop." I am pretty sure it was my pudding she was ranting about since mine was the only dish it looked like no one took any. I didn't say anything, but was surprised someone would dis like that not knowing if that person was at the study. Now I do a "trial run" with any new recipe I am considering bringing to the fellowship brunch.
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You know, I never criticize things people make and freely share, nor would I hesitate to eat something that did not turn out perfect. I've rarely had stuff that I could not gag down, and if caught tossing it in the trash, I make some excuse. On the other hand, I know people who criticize everything.

It's not a restaurant. "Presentation" is irrelevant. For goodness sake, people eat the weirdest food combinations you can imagine at these things and loving every bite! Besides, the idea is fellowship, not Michelin ratings.
 
MarciKS said:
At work right now I try to avoid anything I haven't prepared myself because I haven't noticed any handwashing going on in the kitchen. Those sinks hardly get used. ~wrinkles nose~
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You work in a hospital cafeteria and employees don't wash their hands on a regular basis? That's not only disgusting, it's very disturbing.

You should be reporting this - frequently - to someone other than us.
 
I saw a news blurb this morning where it showed a produce clerk re-stocking veggies. He was waering a mask, but it only covered his mouth - his nose was hanging out. Masks are most effective if all respiratory orifices are covered. Makes you think twice about buying lettuce.
 
StarSong said:
You work in a hospital cafeteria and employees don't wash their hands on a regular basis? That's not only disgusting, it's very disturbing.

You should be reporting this - frequently - to someone other than us.
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you think i haven't tried? lol! i'm not trying to sound mean or anything but, most food service bosses don't really give a rats patootie if you follow the rules or not. as long as you show up and do your work. that's all they care about. if they could find a way to make people come in sick they would. a lot of the fast food chains don't give a crap if you have the flu or not. one place i was at made me come in with the flu. i got there and they slid a trash can over to me. told me i had the freedom to go to the bathroom if i had to crap but i could barf in the can all i wanted. they didn't send me home till they determined i couldn't do my work. i had no recourse. i had to have my job. it was either show up or forfeit my job.
 
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