What is your favorite potluck dish?

We have block parties every once in a while where we will bring a dish. And whenever we get together with a group of our friends, everyone will chip in with a dish, wine, or dessert so that one family isn't stuck with trying to pull everything together.

Ooooh, I also sometimes make up a peach trifle. I layer cinnamon pound cake drizzled with a little bourbon or amaretto with sliced peaches and vanilla pudding. Repeat layers till dish is 3/4 full and then top with Cool Whip and sliced almonds. Yum!

Ooooh, I also sometimes make up a peach trifle. I layer cinnamon pound cake drizzled with a little bourbon or amaretto with sliced peaches and vanilla pudding. Repeat layers till dish is 3/4 full and then top with Cool Whip and sliced almonds. Yum!

I cannot tell you how good that sounds .... (insert drooling emoticon here).

Do you make the cinnamon pound cake, or buy it??

[houseelf]

Julie, Julie, Julie...

You have been missing out. There is nothing better than noshing on everyone's special dish! Maybe you need to bring the "midwest" to New York and start a new trend.

Kelly

Ooooh, I also sometimes make up a peach trifle. I layer cinnamon pound cake drizzled with a little bourbon or amaretto with sliced peaches and vanilla pudding. Repeat layers till dish is 3/4 full and then top with Cool Whip and sliced almonds. Yum!

I cannot tell you how good that sounds .... (insert drooling emoticon here).

Do you make the cinnamon pound cake, or buy it??

I'm lazy so I just use the pound cake that they sell in the bakery section at the grocery store. And if I'm really lazy I use canned peaches instead of fresh ones and instant pudding instead of stir & cook. With those little shortcuts, this dessert takes no time to make!

[Auspicious]

Hee! I did go to them as a kid (so I'm familiar with the thing where you whisper to the person next to you, "Psst, did you bring this one? What do you think is in there?" "I think those might be raisins.") but since no one had mentioned their dish being Jell-O based or bringing it in their favorite avocado green/harvest gold tupperware, I'm just trying to picture what the modern incarnation of these events would be like.

[SueC]

And there is nothing more mortifying than bringing the one dish that nobody even touches. My mom used to always bring cheese grits (our family likes them but apparently they aren't a universal favorite) and whomever at my dad's work that normally organized the potlucks actually had the gall to ask her not to bring them anymore.

Hee! I did go to them as a kid (so I'm familiar with the thing where you whisper to the person next to you, "Psst, did you bring this one? What do you think is in there?" "I think those might be raisins.") but since no one had mentioned their dish being Jell-O based or bringing it in their favorite avocado green/harvest gold tupperware, I'm just trying to picture what the modern incarnation of these events would be like.

Ha! A Mormon friend of mine once told me that Utah has the highest rate of consumption of Jell-O in the country, particularly green Jell-O. She attributed it to all of the potluck / church related things, and said EVERY old lady had their own special recipe involving Jell-O.

[Rapunzel]

Yeah, I've heard the horror stories of Utah Mormon potlucks (I have visited Utah exactly once in my life). Everything is in Jell-o apparently and someone always makes something called "Funeral Potatoes" (not sure what that is exactly).

Anyway, it's definitely a Utah cultural thing because LDS in Texas tend to stick to bbq, pasta, and TONS of dessert for our potlucks. Here (in Boston) the LDS all bring Puerto Rican or Haitian food to our potlucks (since most of the members here fall into one of those two immigrant groups).

Jennifer

[Auspicious]

She attributed it to all of the potluck / church related things, and said EVERY old lady had their own special recipe involving Jell-O.

!!! My grandma served us green jell-o with coleslaw in it once when we kids were visiting her! When I got home I complained to my mom and her explanation was that sometimes when people get older they get really bored with all the regular foods, because they've eaten them so many times, so they try to invent new ones. I don't think I've seen the coleslaw thing before or since.

[Auspicious]

P.S. On re-reading, I think that story makes my grandma sound crazy, but in her defense let me say that she wasn't at all. . . Well, just about a couple of things.

This is so interesting!

I also don't get invited to the "buy my stuff" parties or the potlucks. Except for the annual block party. I guess it's not something people do a whole lot around here. It's amazing what can be done with Jello.

Maybe I need to organize a potluck!