Potluck Question?!
Answers: What should I bring to not look to cheap or that's expensive?
Potlucks can be tricky, especially since you don't know what everyone else is bringing! Here are some tried and true favorites:
1. Cheese Tray: Use a few complementary cheeses such as a Brie, Spanish Manchenga, Cambozola, and an Aged Cheddar. Serve with artisan crackers, such as lavosh, or sesame rice crackers. Garnish with crisp green or red globe grapes and lemon leaves.
2. Cured Meat Tray: Pick a selection of cured meats, such as sopressata, cappicola, fennel salami, prosciutto, and thinly sliced peppered salami and arrange in rosettes. Garnish with lemon leaves and fresh flowers. This is good with your cheese tray or any variation thereof. Serve with thinly sliced baguette and Maille mustard.
3. Spinach Dip in a Sourdough Bread Basket: The best recipe I know is on the back of the Knorr Vegetable Soup mix! I add some horseradish or wasabi powder to give it a kick. Serve with sliced baguette.
4. Hot Artichoke and Crab Dip: 2 cans drained artichoke hearts, chopped; 1 can diced green chili, 1 T lemon juice, 1 T hot pepper sauce; 1 cup crab meat, 1 cup mayonaise; 2 cups shredded parmesan cheese. Mix and bake until golden and bubbling. Serve with blue corn tortilla chips.
5. Red Velvet Cupcakes: Although you can't beat homemade, you can also buy the cake mix. Add chocolate chips and place in silver cupcake holders. When cooled, generously frost with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with green and red parielles.
6. Lil Smokies in Puff Pastry: I like the cheddar ones myself. Take Pillsbury crescent roll dough and cut each triangle into quarters. Roll each quarter around a smokie and bake at 350 degrees until puffed and golden. Serve with your favorite sauce. Note: you can also use ready-made puff pastry instead of the crescent roll dough.
7. Savory meatballs in a Sourdough Bread Bowl: You can purchase ready made meatballs or make your own. Simmer them in your favorite marinara and then spoon into a hollowed out bread bowl. Serve marinara and grated parmesan on the side. Garnish with parsley.
Good luck!
What is the meat that's being served?
I'd say take dessert..
MAKE A DISH THAT SERVES AT LEAST 8 PEOPLE, BAKED SPINACH LASAGNA,ORCHICKEN AND RICE DISH ,NAMASTE
Buy or make tunafish salad, egg salad, chicken salad (canned), ham salad (deli) and make mini sandwich platter. Buy mini rolls at bakery rather than grocery store, much cheaper.
A crowd pleaser for me has always been chicken 'n gravy with a biscuit topping. You just cook the chicken, cut it in bite size pieces. Make some chicken flavored gravy, I like to add onions and celery to mine. You can also add cooked, frozen peas for color. Then I stir it all together in a dutch oven and cover the top with dopped home made biscuits. Then I bake until the biscuits are done. It really isn't that hard and is very hearty. People love it.
Another option is a pasta salad. Your favorite pasta (veggie rotini gives nice color), your favorite fresh veggies (I use cucumber, onion, bell pepper, carrot, tomato, broccoli and black olives) and some Italian dressing. VOILA!
Deviled Eggs are always a hit. I just had a pot luck yesterday at work and they were the 1st to go.
DEVILED EGGS
12 eggs
4 tbsp. Miracle Whip
2 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
paprika
Boil eggs on high simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool in cold water. Slice eggs in half and place boiled yolk into a bowl.
Mash yolks very finely using a fork. Add all ingredients and fill hollow eggs with mixture. Sprinkle with and paprika.
how about a home made salsa?
Meatballs (precooked ones in the mongo bag from Sams Club are really good) heated up in spaghetti sauce and brought in a crockpot to keep them warm are always a good hit.
pot of stewed beets