Don't like potlucks?

[Oaktree]

I prefer potluck to any other meal. Everyone brings their best, although everyone doesn't have the same taste buds. I love taking a taste of every dish.

We generally do potluck for Thanksgiving at my sister's. She does the turkey and everyone else brings a side dish. Co-ordination is the key...one year everyone brought coleslaw...

 

[Torvy]

My potluck specialty is Marionberry pie. I believe berry pie should taste like berries. Sweetening is 1/2 c. sugar mixed thoroughly with 1/2 c. corn starch for thickening. Mixed with the berries and the juice of a lemon to bring out the tartness of the berries. It's always a hit. If there are more than 6-8 people, I will take two pies.

In D.C., that is a pie with crack in it.

The cracked-out life of Marion Barry, the original Rob Ford

Sometime in the 1980s, Marion Barry, the married mayor of Washington, DC, and a man who enjoyed a party, found himself alone with a woman at a friend’s house after a long, celebratory night. At the…

nypost.com

 

[oosik]

No - I like potlucks. However - I worked for the Health Dept for many years. Potlucks were always a good source of local foodborn illness. Poor preparation or lack of adequate refrigeration OR both.

 

[Doofy]

No - I like potlucks. However - I worked for the Health Dept for many years. Potlucks were always a good source of local foodborn illness. Poor preparation or lack of adequate refrigeration OR both.

oosik,
Sadly, you are correct. Nothing is the same as in our past. Even Bake Sales are becoming taboo because of health issues. Darn, we just polished off the last of two 40 oz jars of Jif Peanut Butter only to wake up to the massive salmonella recall on them. Our food supply is not safe.

I wonder if our food allergies and all these nasty bugs that make us sick are because our immune systems are toast. We played outside and even ate dirt as kids and I don't ever remember getting sick from something I've eaten.

 

[oosik]

One memory that will last forever. Regional meeting of all Environmental Health folks. At one of the finest restaurants in Anchorage. Appetizers were seafood. Twenty six of the seventy three attendees came down with food poisoning. I really got my pistachios roasted for that goof up. And two of my best inspectors had just checked the facility the week prior.

One of the most difficult things to check on any food prep facility - technique.

 

[Deere Dude]

After watching people lick the knife or fingers then go and dish out other servings without cleaning, I go to very very few big pot luck Igatherings. Nothing is foolproof but I get sqeamish about that.

Went to a big camper pot luck and dug into a bean salad of some sort and was very moldy inside. People must have made it before they left home and it sat for a week.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When I worked for the Health Department, I was appointed Administrative Law Judge in a restaurant license revocation case. I heard opening arguments, and the Department's case.

The owner, an elderly lady, took the witness stand and was telling her sad story, how she had worked so hard to clean up the old building, and spent a lot of money to rid it of rodents and other vermin; and as she wiped away a tear, one the biggest cockroaches I ever saw, scampered out of the neck of her dress, down her leg, and across the floor. I think everyone in the room saw it. I immediately ordered a 15 minute recess.

After the recess, the owner and the Department reached some sort of agreement and I closed the hearing.

 

[Oaktree]

Sadly, you are correct. Nothing is the same as in our past. Even Bake Sales are becoming taboo because of health issues. Darn, we just polished off the last of two 40 oz jars of Jif Peanut Butter only to wake up to the massive salmonella recall on them. Our food supply is not safe.

I wonder if our food allergies and all these nasty bugs that make us sick are because our immune systems are toast. We played outside and even ate dirt as kids and I don't ever remember getting sick from something I've eaten.

Is food is any less safe today than it's been in the past or if with today's 24-7 news cycle we just hear about it more. Well, that and our litigation-obsessed society where it's cheaper to recall an item that's even suspected of contamination than to risk a lawsuit, even though most of that product is just fine.

I've also wondered about the increase in food allergies/sensitivites...how much of it's real and how much is blown out of proportion. While I'm sure there were kids who were allergic to peanuts (for example) when I was growing up, but you didn't see the paranoia you do today, almost like it's cool to have some sort of food sensitivity.
Eggs have never agreed with me...OK, I don't eat them, but don't feel I should prevent others from doing so in my presence.

 

[nbking]

My mother in law makes a delicious German potato salad, uses bacon and the bacon drippings. My Mom's potato salad also is good too. She marinates the cooked potatoes overnight in Italian dressing. Have the recipes to both, but I tell ya, it doesn't taste the same.

 

[Jstpssng]

With my mother’s recipe you can actually taste the potatoes. My grandmother came from Germany when she was 14, as far as I know it’s the same recipe she always used.
Eggs don’t belong in potato salad...