By Carie Moore
As American women, the staple Pinterest Boards we all have would be: Clothes (My Style), House (For the Home), Food (Good things-need to try), and Inspiration/Motivation/Quotes (Love Strong). The parenthesis are my boards. Whether or not these are hopeless dreams and wishes for most of us is another story. My guess is we all tackle the food one from time to time. Or we really want to, but are afraid it will be a total flop, a waste of ingredients and time.
Two weeks ago we had our church potluck for our new pastor’s installment. Let me tell you I hit the Pinterest food jackpot! We all love a good potluck, but I realized that by going to a potluck you can swipe a bunch off your boards! There are at least two green bean casseroles, numerous cheese balls, four kinds of bread/buns, a plethora of cold salads, cookies, bars, pies, cakes similar but all different, that I didn’t have to attempt! How cool is that!?
I have a strategy when it comes to pot luck. You have to be brave though, and not scared of the food line and people’s thoughts. This requires two, maybe three trips. The first trip, you take just a smidge of everything that looks good, basically just a small spoonful. That way if you don’t like it, there isn’t much waste and if you like something, remember it’s a potluck.
The second trip, you know what to blow your meal plan on! You take full portions of everything you know you liked. The third trip, you hit the dessert table.
Now, there have been times when there was something REALLY good, and you know you might not get it again until the next potluck. This is where you get to play the parent card and use it to your benefit. You ask the kids, “Hey is there anything up there you want?” and usually they say yes, so you go up there, grab their items, and a generous helping of your own. Then when you take it back and say, “Oh you didn’t want this! Okay, I will eat it! We can’t be wasteful!” no one is the wiser. Lucky for me, none of my kids have figured this out, and they still let me grab them food.
Potlucks are about more than Pinterest though. They are about community or church members coming together from all different walks of life and pitching in. Once you’re there it’s hard not to help. There are as many people buzzing around the kitchen and food table as there are eating. The man who does most of the auto/tire/tractor repair work in our town was elbows-deep in suds in the kitchen sink doing dishes. We had church board members emptying out garbage cans when full, members setting up tables and chairs, moms helping other moms dish up kids’ plates, and older members talking about recipes they made from prior church people who are no longer with us. They made that special dish to keep the memory alive of that one item always being at the church potluck.
Long live the potluck!