digsandthat.com

DigsMagazine.com be the perfect host/ess .

 

 

a home + living guide for the post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation

11.02.2006

home
editor's note 
_____________

DEPARTMENTS
 
o lounge 
o nourish 
 
o host
o
laze
_____________

o BOARDS
o SHOP
o send an ECARD
_____________

about
contact
submit your ideas
search

 
SiGN UP! join the DigsNews mailing list + we'll keep you posted about updates and other DIGS-related news .
Name:
Email:
Subscribe 
Unsubscribe 
..
need party help? Jump to the boards and talk about entertaining, cooking, etiquette and more.

copyright ©1999-2006
DigsMagazine.com.

thanks for sharing
organizing a Thanksgiving potluck

by Yee-Fan Sun
|
 1 2 3

I'm my mother’s daughter -- which means my natural inclination, given an opportunity to host a big group of friends or relatives, is to spend the entire week in advance running around all over town in search of the perfect ingredients and laboring away in the kitchen. Working completely from scratch and all by your lonesome, it takes a lot of advance work to ensure you don’t go completely nuts come party day. Most of the time, I only barely succeed on that last front; by now, my poor boy knows it’s best to stay out of my way when I’m in the last throes of party food prep, just in case some last-minute mini-disaster unleashes my inner hysteric.

I love feeding folks; I get the warm fuzzies envisioning my favorite people all gathered around my dinner table. But when I really think about it, it’s the second that’s most important at any gathering. Which is why I’m slowly coming around to the joys of potluck.

At big holidays like Thanksgiving especially, potlucks are often the most sensible choice. Meals like these are chock full of expectations; there’s a lot of pressure to recreate everyone’s favorite food memories of holiday spreads past. Even for those of us who love to cook, there’s no question that busy lives sometimes make procuring a full-course, picture-perfect Thanksgiving meal for 12 more stressful than fun. For those still new to the wide world of possibilities in the realm of oven and stove, it’s enough to put you off hosting turkey day altogether.

So thank goodness that there’s another way. If you’re not going home to the annual family gathering this Thanksgiving and you’re trying to figure out some way to celebrate the big day on your own with friends, save yourself a whole lot of headache: organize a potluck. Check out these tips for host and guest alike, for a sumptuous spread that’s sure to be a success…

for the host
Potlucks are among the easier dinner parties to plan, but still: a little advance work on your part will go a long way towards making sure the gathering’s fun for you and guests alike.

First things first: start spreading the word about your potluck as soon as the idea pops into your head. Get a feel for how many folks are planning to stick around town, and who might be up for a shared feast. The beginning of November is when most people start firming up their holiday plans, so if you haven’t already started bandying the idea around, do it now. No need to worry too much about the size of your guest list either: with potlucks, more is generally fabulous, as you’ll get a bigger variety of dishes without much extra work for you, the busy host/ess. On the other hand, if you do find you’ve waited too long and a lot of your pals already have turkey day plans, no worries: even if it’s just a handful of you, small can be cozy and just as much fun.

Once you start getting an idea of what kind of crowd you’re talking about, it’s time to take inventory of your cooking, serving and eating supplies. Roasting pan and rack? Baster? Ice chest for chilling drinks? Serving platters? Dishes and cutlery? Make a list, and if there’s anything you need but don’t already have, ask around to see if one of your guests might be able to loan theirs for the big day.

gobble gobble... follow along this way

---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home .