So You Got Invited to a Potluck...
Siobhan Adcock
Winter is here: Bring on the cozy-casual potluck parties! There’s a lot to love about the relaxed, friendly, all-together-now atmosphere of a great potluck, but whether you’re hosting or attending, you’ll want to take an etiquette tip or two from experienced potluckers: There is definitely a potluck way, and…that other way.
The biggest potluck faux pas (or faux pots?), listed in order from we’ll-overlook-it-just-this-once to put-away-your-casserole-dish-forever:
Potluck Don’t #1: Don’t bring something to a potluck that will require a ton of kitchen prep time and equipment once you arrive, unless you’ve already cleared it with the host. “I was trying to finish making dinner once when all of a sudden a guest was in the kitchen making elaborate cocktails that no one even drank (probably because she was also really late and everyone was already drinking wine and ready to eat dinner),” one potluck host who shall remain anonymous shared.
Potluck Don’t #2: Potluck hosts who ask guests to bring a dish, PLUS two bottles of wine. Potlucks are laid-back, but that’s no excuse to be a stingy or lazy host.
SEE MORE: Our Favorite Casserole Recipes
Potluck Don’t #3: We get it, you’re busy, and yes, everybody likes Planter’s nut mix, but don’t become known as that person who always brings obviously not-homemade stuff to potlucks.
Potluck Don’t #4: If the host asks you to make a specific dish, especially if it’s a specialty of yours, don’t go rogue on a carefully-planned party menu. But if you really want to make something else, do let the host know your plans.
Potluck Don’t #5: If it should happen that you and another potlucker bring the same dish, in the name of sweet fried onions don’t wage a war of subterfuge against your rival. “I once took my famous hot artichoke dip to a potluck, and another person had made the same dip,” an anonymous potlucker told us. “Both were set out and her husband was loving mine (I’d spiced it up with dill and lemon juice). When he went to help his wife with drinks, she absolutely must have told him to stop eating mineand told the rest of her family, toobecause after that he didn’t go near mine and neither did their kids!”
Potluck Don’t #6: Being grabby about leftovers. ”I’ve had people take back the wine they brought!” laughs one former host. Come on, people. That’s not cool.
Potluck Don’t #7: Don’t be the guest who doesn’t offer to help wash up.
Potluck Don’t #8: The host that does not return dishes and vessels to the guests who brought them is forevermore accursed.
SEE MORE: 5 Rules For Healthy Comfort Food
Potluck Don’t #9: Don’t offer to host a potluck and then get greedy. “I went to a potluck where the host removed all the fried chicken drumsticks to save for himself,” shared one aghast guest.
Potluck Don’t #10: Likewise, the host who holds back an entire dish for his or her own use is violating the biggest potluck don’t of all. “I went to a potluck where the host saved my dish—just never put it out at all—to have for lunch throughout the week,” a potlucker told me, displaying more composure than would seem possible at this flagrant sin against potluck-kind. “This person actually called me the following weekend to thank me for her lunch!”
What potluck deadly sins have you witnessed?
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