Potluck Survey

[bethlakshmi]

I don't even want to speak about my incredible stupidity last night. I ran down my car battery ... again. Uncountable thank yous go to learnedax for coming out at 9:00 at night, and to new_man for staying with me and calling learnedax in the first place.

On a lighter note... the informal Christmas party is coming at my office. We (giant WASP male dominated corporate America poster children that we are) celebrate Christmas in every imaginable way, so far invites are out for:
- Company Adult Holiday Party - fancy shmantzy hotel, tickets for $30. Sold out. I'm not going, didn't get shit together, too overbooked.
- Company Children's Holidy Party - spiffy gifts, real live Santa, fun & games. I don't have children. It's a good party, though, maybe I should just go kidnap a child. ;P
- Building 8 party - potluck, I don't work in this building, but my management (the previously unmentioned Boss E) does, so we get invited as the country cousins
- Building 3 party - Chinese catering + Yankee swap (don't ask me what Chinese food has to do with Christmas, I don't know)
- Our lab ghetto party - going out to a nice buffet and Yankee swap

They are, in their way, all cliques. I will be limiting my holiday cheer (to maximize holiday productivity) to the Building 8 potluck and the lab ghetto party. Those are the cliques I'm friends with.

But... that means, the thing your average geek chick dreds... the potluck.

I'm too late to glom onto the obligatory non-cook cold cut platter. And paper products and soda are already provided by the company (damn them). So... I'm making/buying SOMETHING. Last year my hard boiled eggs in tremendously bad for you Indian cream sauce did *OK*, and I don't covet having the Best Potluck Item Ever. I'm open to suggestions... but I want something that is not likely to be repeated by other people. My first thoughts:

- repeat Indian eggs & cream sauce (it sure it tasty) - this time, ponder a starchy thing to go with (bagels, toast, etc.)
- some other savory Indian dish, preferably veggie oriented
- baked tomatoes? do they reheat well?
- an interesting salad of some sort, something lettuce free

Anyone? Thoughts? other ideas? It must be:
- not an all-day cooking extravaganza
- not too exotic on ingredients
- not so typical (no chocolate chip cookies, no rice krispy treats, no meatballs in sauce)
- not phenomenally expensive (no caviar, sushi, or godiva chocolates)
- something I can scale to 20 servings - we'll have about 60-100 people

I have a crock pot. Fear me.

Comments

[anne-lj.livejournal.com]

You can also do baked apples in a crock pot. They need about three hours on low. Prep at home, plug in crock pot when you get to work and they're ready in time for lunch. If you want to be really really fancy, bring a half gallon of vanilla ice cream and a scoop to go with. Or squirt whipped cream from a can. :-)

[pamelina.livejournal.com]

Also, you should not use plasic wrap in the microwave. The high heat leaches nasty chemicals from the plastic into the food. Any glass or ceramic dish or plate covered by another of the same works beautifully and removes the need for plastic, anyway.

[mylisant.livejournal.com]

I've had good luck with deviled eggs. Lots of variations out there for creativity's sake and I've never been to a party that had too many.

[tpau]

chinese food and christmas: movies and chinese food is what jews do on christmas, since nothign else is open :)

[siderea]

Yeah, I was about to say. Nice of them to outreach to Jews like that. :)

[tpau]

heh. oh this reminds me, i finished V, and need to return it to you at some point...

I am the font of recipes

[madrun.livejournal.com]

If you want to bring Indian there are several brands of ready-made Indian food, you just zip open the pouches and dump it into a bowl and bring naan. Done. That's the least-work option.

Salads-with-no-lettuce-
sliced mozzarella, ripe tomatoes, leaf basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
chopped tomato, red onion, cucumber, mint, feta cheese, olive oil
cucumber, chayote squash, papaya, mango, cooked shrimp, black beans, vinaigrette
whole green & black olives, cucumber, feta cheese, tomatoes, shredded parma ham, a little celery with leaves, fennel bulb, vinaigrette

Hope that helps.

[lady-cassia.livejournal.com]

Ask _clarice_ for her hot spinach and artichoke dip.

Chocolate fondue: Melt 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, heat 1 c heavy cream to just boiling. Stir cream into chocolate, and keep stirring until mixture becomes smooth. Add a splash of brandy or other alcohol if desired. Store in fridge. Serve warm with sliced fruit, bites of cake, ladyfingers, shortbread cookies, pretzels, marshmallows, etc. (A fondue pot is not necessary - a ceramic bowl that holds heat well, with a microwave available to reheat if necessary, works fine.)

[wren13.livejournal.com]

And I have a wonderful swedish meatball recipe for the crockpot that is too easy - but you've ruled out meatballs in sauce. I vote for the tomato salad mentioned above - one showed up at our latest reunion and was amazingly yummy.
I also have the way too easy cheesecake recipe, if you want it. 30 minutes of prep, 30 minutes cooking, 1 hour cooling in the oven while you do other things, chill.

[tinocherubini.livejournal.com]

There's always the old standby: Hummus and pita. Give me that and I don't need anything else :)

I'll echo that

[beard5.livejournal.com]

My favorite potluck thingie. Stop by the deli, get one of the platters that they use (my local store charges fifty cents for them) a bag of white pita, and a bag of whole wheat pita, 2 or 3 types of hummous (some plastic utensils) a tub of tabhouli, and a tub of pitted olives, tear the pita into bite sized chunks, and voila! I've never had any to take home. The most common comment is something like "I never think to buy this for myself, thank you." "I love hummous!" etc.

[nerd-chik.livejournal.com]

my new favorite is fig jam with brie and Carr's water crackers. I'd buy 2-3 smaller "budget" brie or camenbert, arrange on tray with ambrosia - tah-dah!

let us know how it works out.