Potlucks

[Emower]

Following up on the food at church post. What are some of the worst and best potluck experiences you all have had? If there is one thing I have loved about Mormonism, potlucks might rank pretty high. They are like a Ripleys believe-it-or-not exhibition of food. Some is great, some is awful, and some stuff is downright frightening.

Worst: There was a elderly man that brought some chicken soup stuff that was really good. Chicken was quite tender, and the broth was very well balanced and rich. My dad asked him how he made it. The man told him what ingredients he used and then said that he put the pot on the woodstove and would simmer it for as long as he had a fire going. Then he would leave it on the woodstove until the next night when he would build a fire again. This went on for several days apparently. Dad went and made himself throw up in the bathroom and tried to warn everyone else not to eat it.

Best: The rice krispy treats that people put peanut butter and chocolate in. That stuff is the best.

[alas]

Back in the days when RS was on a weekday morning, we had homemaking work days, where we had a pot luck lunch, so we could stay till older kids got home from school and work on a quilt or other projects. Well, one work meeting, every single woman in the whole ward, except the super busy RSP pregnant with two toddlers who didn't manage to get anything ready to bring because she kept throwing up all morning (yeah, me) but every single one of the 50 women brought red jello. We had every conceivable variation on red jello imaginable, 50 different versions to choose from. Red jello with raspberries, red jello with strawberries, red jello with whipped cream, red jello with carrots.... Funny, but for the next three years, I never saw red jello at another pot luck.

[Give It Time]

Best: The rice krispy treats that people put peanut butter and chocolate in. That stuff is the best.

This is our family cookie.

[MoPag]

Worst: Singles ward Halloween potluck. Something-still don't know what it was-gave me and ALL my roommates food poisoning. Every one of us threw up sometime during the night. Tender mercies---we were all able to stager our sickness so everyone got to a toilet. Could've born my testimony about that...

Best: Also a singles ward potluck, but just RS. It was an heavenly snickers casserole dessert type thing. So amazing!!! Like with Carmel and chocolate and oh it was soooo good. Anyway everyone was asking the girl who brought it for the recipe, and she made this huge deal about how it's a family secret and they never give it out.

[document]

Best: Our ward had a potluck that included a chili cook-off. My then-wife made a really good vegetarian chili, and the ward knew we were vegetarians. They made us actually label the darn chili as vegetarian because they felt that to not label it was "lying". Nobody touched the chili. Then, they had a blind taste test (there were about two dozen there), and she won! The guy who made the announcement was an interesting fellow who was quite rough around the edges and always joked that he was "the dark side of the church". He read the winner to himself and then said, "I'll be damned. Sister [document]!"

Worst: Never had a bad potluck.

Favorite Memory: Growing up we had this child in our ward with some learning disabilities. He was a very simple soul. He was also very fond of food and was a solid, thick child. He was just a big kid, not fat, just solid. Anywho, every ward potluck we would say the opening prayer. When the person praying started saying, "In the name of..." you could start hearing this boy shout "AMEN!" and then loud footsteps as he ran across the gym to be first in line for food. He would then pile up a massive plate and eat himself silly. The first time it happened he was probably 8 (I was 9), and it occurred at every ward potluck until I left home. It only became more humorous over time because he grew to about 6' 4" and was just massively muscular.

Sure enough..."in the name of...." "AMEN!" BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

[moksha]

I regret my ward discontinuing potlucks. Had something to do with too many wards occupying one building. I remember feeling envious of a fellow poster from Oakland who mentioned they had potlucks on a regular monthly basis. Potlucks were a fun and looked forward to event from my perspective.

[Give It Time]

Back in the days when RS was on a weekday morning, we had homemaking work days, where we had a pot luck lunch, so we could stay till older kids got home from school and work on a quilt or other projects. Well, one work meeting, every single woman in the whole ward, except the super busy RSP pregnant with two toddlers who didn't manage to get anything ready to bring because she kept throwing up all morning (yeah, me) but every single one of the 50 women brought red jello. We had every conceivable variation on red jello imaginable, 50 different versions to choose from. Red jello with raspberries, red jello with strawberries, red jello with whipped cream, red jello with carrots.... Funny, but for the next three years, I never saw red jello at another pot luck.

The red Jello one is pretty good. I'm wondering if all the ladies collectively thought theirs would be different because their Jello was red and not green.

This also reminds me of the Friends episode where Rachel makes an English trifle, but the magazine pages are stuck together and she makes half trifle, half shepherd's pie. Red jello, raspberries, ground beef, peas and carrots...

Best. For certain holidays our ward had a potluck breakfast. There was one woman who brought a really impressive dish. It was trays upon trays of eggs benedict. All of them perfect. All of them exactly how they should be. They are made enough in advance to travel to the picnic site and last through the opening prayer, etc. They weren't soggy, they were warm, the sauce didn't buckle. They were a marvel. They defied all the laws of physics, gravity and nature. To this day, I have no idea how she did it.

Worst. This can hardly be called worst. There was a funeral where the deceased wished to forego the usual ham and funeral potatoes in favor of his favorite cuisine, Mexican. He was quite an afficianado of the cuisine and preferred it autentico. However, he spent his final years in the land of every possible concoction of red jello. He knew the meal would be provided by the ward sistren and accepted the fact that, rather than authentic chili sauce seared tortillas, he'd get the more casserole-y creamy goodness of canned cream of chicken soup spiked with canned jalapenos. It's all about the love. Anyway, they made the enchiladas with flour tortillas and many people do. I prefer my enchiladas made with corn and save the flour tortillas for burritos. Well, with the made in advance factor and baked in the oven and being held until after the interment, the tortillas turned slimy. Still edible, but not the greatest texture. Now, that is my worst experience with potluck and if that's my worst, I'd say we do potluck pretty well.

[GoodBoy]

Pot lucks are awesome. We used to have one once a month growing up. A pot luck followed by some talent show, or play or something on the stage at the church. That was fun to be a part of. Now stages are just used as an extra classroom for those who complain the least about where they meet.

[Can of Worms]

I was involved in planning a pot luck that went terribly wrong and resulted in numerous people being hospitalized and an ensuing investigation by the local health department.

For some inexplicable reason, the University Ward (for singles only) was assigned to a stake that had its stake centre about 30 minutes from campus even though there were two stake centres closer. As a result, General Conference was a logistical exercise - car pools were arranged and a pot luck was scheduled for the two hours between sessions on Sunday.

The University Ward budgeted 60 cents per person to provide the main dish and everyone was asked to bring salads, deserts, etc. With that tiny budget, there were limited options so it was decided that chilli was the best option - it could be made in a big batch and would stretch for the 100 or so people expected. The group in charge of the meal went to the stake centre and made the chili on Saturday and then heated it up on Sunday.

I'm fortunate and had a roommate with a mother who was an amazing cook and would invite us to there home for dinner so I was not at the stake centre for the second session of conference. However, I heard the report from the bishop and many others afterwards. Apparently early in the second session people started jumping up and sprinting to the washroom. At first it was only a few individuals but as the session progressed it became clear there was a problem. They organized people to drive those who had taken ill to a nearby hospital. The hospital was alarmed at the sheer number of people arriving and when they realized there was a common source they called in public health inspectors to investigate. Most people recovered in a few hours with IV fluids. A couple of guys - who had had thirds or fourths of the chili - had to stay over night.

The health inspectors determined that the chili had been cooked in large batches and hadn't cooled appropriately before being reheated the next day which created the perfect environment for food poisoning. As a result, new rules were announced for food handling in the church province-wide. Over 25 years later food still cannot be cooked in the church kitchens - it can only be reheated.

Ironically, no one who made the chili got sick. None of them liked chili so they went to KFC for lunch!

Moral of this very long story - I never eat hot dishes at potlucks! And it was years before I would eat chili that I didn't make myself.

[Give It Time]

I was involved in planning a pot luck that went terribly wrong and resulted in numerous people being hospitalized and an ensuing investigation by the local health department.

For some inexplicable reason, the University Ward (for singles only) was assigned to a stake that had its stake centre about 30 minutes from campus even though there were two stake centres closer. As a result, General Conference was a logistical exercise - car pools were arranged and a pot luck was scheduled for the two hours between sessions on Sunday.

The University Ward budgeted 60 cents per person to provide the main dish and everyone was asked to bring salads, deserts, etc. With that tiny budget, there were limited options so it was decided that chilli was the best option - it could be made in a big batch and would stretch for the 100 or so people expected. The group in charge of the meal went to the stake centre and made the chili on Saturday and then heated it up on Sunday.

I'm fortunate and had a roommate with a mother who was an amazing cook and would invite us to there home for dinner so I was not at the stake centre for the second session of conference. However, I heard the report from the bishop and many others afterwards. Apparently early in the second session people started jumping up and sprinting to the washroom. At first it was only a few individuals but as the session progressed it became clear there was a problem. They organized people to drive those who had taken ill to a nearby hospital. The hospital was alarmed at the sheer number of people arriving and when they realized there was a common source they called in public health inspectors to investigate. Most people recovered in a few hours with IV fluids. A couple of guys - who had had thirds or fourths of the chili - had to stay over night.

The health inspectors determined that the chili had been cooked in large batches and hadn't cooled appropriately before being reheated the next day which created the perfect environment for food poisoning. As a result, new rules were announced for food handling in the church province-wide. Over 25 years later food still cannot be cooked in the church kitchens - it can only be reheated.

Ironically, no one who made the chili got sick. None of them liked chili so they went to KFC for lunch!

Moral of this very long story - I never eat hot dishes at potlucks! And it was years before I would eat chili that I didn't make myself.

Last time I got my food handler's permit, I learned bean dishes, with their starchiness and their moist warmth are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I read your story and the minute I saw it was chili, I knew there'd be trouble. Too funny. I'm glad everything...um...came out alright.

[Emower]

Pot lucks are awesome. We used to have one once a month growing up. A pot luck followed by some talent show, or play or something on the stage at the church. That was fun to be a part of. Now stages are just used as an extra classroom for those who complain the least about where they meet.

The stage represents a move away from fun uniqueness to droll banality as far as the church goes. We don't do anything fun any more because it is no longer correlated.

[Emower]

I was involved in planning a pot luck that went terribly wrong and resulted in numerous people being hospitalized and an ensuing investigation by the local health department.

For some inexplicable reason, the University Ward (for singles only) was assigned to a stake that had its stake centre about 30 minutes from campus even though there were two stake centres closer. As a result, General Conference was a logistical exercise - car pools were arranged and a pot luck was scheduled for the two hours between sessions on Sunday.

The University Ward budgeted 60 cents per person to provide the main dish and everyone was asked to bring salads, deserts, etc. With that tiny budget, there were limited options so it was decided that chilli was the best option - it could be made in a big batch and would stretch for the 100 or so people expected. The group in charge of the meal went to the stake centre and made the chili on Saturday and then heated it up on Sunday.

I'm fortunate and had a roommate with a mother who was an amazing cook and would invite us to there home for dinner so I was not at the stake centre for the second session of conference. However, I heard the report from the bishop and many others afterwards. Apparently early in the second session people started jumping up and sprinting to the washroom. At first it was only a few individuals but as the session progressed it became clear there was a problem. They organized people to drive those who had taken ill to a nearby hospital. The hospital was alarmed at the sheer number of people arriving and when they realized there was a common source they called in public health inspectors to investigate. Most people recovered in a few hours with IV fluids. A couple of guys - who had had thirds or fourths of the chili - had to stay over night.

The health inspectors determined that the chili had been cooked in large batches and hadn't cooled appropriately before being reheated the next day which created the perfect environment for food poisoning. As a result, new rules were announced for food handling in the church province-wide. Over 25 years later food still cannot be cooked in the church kitchens - it can only be reheated.

Ironically, no one who made the chili got sick. None of them liked chili so they went to KFC for lunch!

Moral of this very long story - I never eat hot dishes at potlucks! And it was years before I would eat chili that I didn't make myself.

Last time I got my food handler's permit, I learned bean dishes, with their starchiness and their moist warmth are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I read your story and the minute I saw it was chili, I knew there'd be trouble. Too funny. I'm glad everything...um...came out alright.

Wow. I was in charge of zone conference on my mission and decided to make chili for everyone because it was cheap and I made a bunch. I made it in huge batches and probably didn't cool it right either. I don't think anyone got sick though, but I did the exact same thing.

[Korihor]

The health inspectors determined that the chili had been cooked in large batches and hadn't cooled appropriately before being reheated the next day which created the perfect environment for food poisoning. As a result, new rules were announced for food handling in the church province-wide. Over 25 years later food still cannot be cooked in the church kitchens - it can only be reheated.

Ironically, no one who made the chili got sick. None of them liked chili so they went to KFC for lunch!

Moral of this very long story - I never eat hot dishes at potlucks! And it was years before I would eat chili that I didn't make myself.

I learned something today.

[Give It Time]

I was involved in planning a pot luck that went terribly wrong and resulted in numerous people being hospitalized and an ensuing investigation by the local health department.

For some inexplicable reason, the University Ward (for singles only) was assigned to a stake that had its stake centre about 30 minutes from campus even though there were two stake centres closer. As a result, General Conference was a logistical exercise - car pools were arranged and a pot luck was scheduled for the two hours between sessions on Sunday.

The University Ward budgeted 60 cents per person to provide the main dish and everyone was asked to bring salads, deserts, etc. With that tiny budget, there were limited options so it was decided that chilli was the best option - it could be made in a big batch and would stretch for the 100 or so people expected. The group in charge of the meal went to the stake centre and made the chili on Saturday and then heated it up on Sunday.

I'm fortunate and had a roommate with a mother who was an amazing cook and would invite us to there home for dinner so I was not at the stake centre for the second session of conference. However, I heard the report from the bishop and many others afterwards. Apparently early in the second session people started jumping up and sprinting to the washroom. At first it was only a few individuals but as the session progressed it became clear there was a problem. They organized people to drive those who had taken ill to a nearby hospital. The hospital was alarmed at the sheer number of people arriving and when they realized there was a common source they called in public health inspectors to investigate. Most people recovered in a few hours with IV fluids. A couple of guys - who had had thirds or fourths of the chili - had to stay over night.

The health inspectors determined that the chili had been cooked in large batches and hadn't cooled appropriately before being reheated the next day which created the perfect environment for food poisoning. As a result, new rules were announced for food handling in the church province-wide. Over 25 years later food still cannot be cooked in the church kitchens - it can only be reheated.

Ironically, no one who made the chili got sick. None of them liked chili so they went to KFC for lunch!

Moral of this very long story - I never eat hot dishes at potlucks! And it was years before I would eat chili that I didn't make myself.

Last time I got my food handler's permit, I learned bean dishes, with their starchiness and their moist warmth are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I read your story and the minute I saw it was chili, I knew there'd be trouble. Too funny. I'm glad everything...um...came out alright.

Wow. I was in charge of zone conference on my mission and decided to make chili for everyone because it was cheap and I made a bunch. I made it in huge batches and probably didn't cool it right either. I don't think anyone got sick though, but I did the exact same thing.

Actually, the church has taken some good steps, but if they really wanted to prevent, they'd stick a crowbar in their wallet and cough up the budget for something more than beans.

[Can of Worms]

I was involved in planning a pot luck that went terribly wrong and resulted in numerous people being hospitalized and an ensuing investigation by the local health department.

For some inexplicable reason, the University Ward (for singles only) was assigned to a stake that had its stake centre about 30 minutes from campus even though there were two stake centres closer. As a result, General Conference was a logistical exercise - car pools were arranged and a pot luck was scheduled for the two hours between sessions on Sunday.

The University Ward budgeted 60 cents per person to provide the main dish and everyone was asked to bring salads, deserts, etc. With that tiny budget, there were limited options so it was decided that chilli was the best option - it could be made in a big batch and would stretch for the 100 or so people expected. The group in charge of the meal went to the stake centre and made the chili on Saturday and then heated it up on Sunday.

I'm fortunate and had a roommate with a mother who was an amazing cook and would invite us to there home for dinner so I was not at the stake centre for the second session of conference. However, I heard the report from the bishop and many others afterwards. Apparently early in the second session people started jumping up and sprinting to the washroom. At first it was only a few individuals but as the session progressed it became clear there was a problem. They organized people to drive those who had taken ill to a nearby hospital. The hospital was alarmed at the sheer number of people arriving and when they realized there was a common source they called in public health inspectors to investigate. Most people recovered in a few hours with IV fluids. A couple of guys - who had had thirds or fourths of the chili - had to stay over night.

The health inspectors determined that the chili had been cooked in large batches and hadn't cooled appropriately before being reheated the next day which created the perfect environment for food poisoning. As a result, new rules were announced for food handling in the church province-wide. Over 25 years later food still cannot be cooked in the church kitchens - it can only be reheated.

Ironically, no one who made the chili got sick. None of them liked chili so they went to KFC for lunch!

Moral of this very long story - I never eat hot dishes at potlucks! And it was years before I would eat chili that I didn't make myself.

Last time I got my food handler's permit, I learned bean dishes, with their starchiness and their moist warmth are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I read your story and the minute I saw it was chili, I knew there'd be trouble. Too funny. I'm glad everything...um...came out alright.

Wow. I was in charge of zone conference on my mission and decided to make chili for everyone because it was cheap and I made a bunch. I made it in huge batches and probably didn't cool it right either. I don't think anyone got sick though, but I did the exact same thing.

We always joked that whomever said the blessing on the food must not have done a good job - guess missionaries are better at praying or were more deserving of blessings!

[nibbler]

The worst: When the leaders try to be charitable and let the kids line up to get food first.

What happens: kids pile their plates with food, take two bites, and toss the rest in the garbage. Meanwhile the food is gone by the time the people in the back of the line get a stab at it.

If you are a leader: I know your intentions are good but don't do this. It is stupid.

Or if you do it, don't let the kids serve themselves. It is stupid.

[Mad Jax]

Worst: There was a elderly man that brought some chicken soup stuff that was really good. Chicken was quite tender, and the broth was very well balanced and rich. My dad asked him how he made it. The man told him what ingredients he used and then said that he put the pot on the woodstove and would simmer it for as long as he had a fire going. Then he would leave it on the woodstove until the next night when he would build a fire again. This went on for several days apparently. Dad went and made himself throw up in the bathroom and tried to warn everyone else not to eat it.

As long as it stayed hot the entire process it should have been fine.

[slk]

I guarantee you, knowing my parents that many of their ward members ate deer or elk burger and didn't even know it. No need to buy beef if you have venison in the freezer. No one will know the difference (yeah...right)