How to plan a pot-luck or progressive dinner

Need to arrange a gathering for your club, local community or family? Organising a pot-luck or progressive dinner might be the solution to your problems. By reducing your financial costs and time spent in the kitchen cooking, you'll be able to enjoy this social gathering while sharing recipes and food with your friends, loved ones and like-minded people.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Time
• Enthusiasm
• Organisation skills

1. Before you start determining your menu, decide on your list of guests. This is crucial in deciding where your even will be held, what will be served and when it will be held.

2. When should it be held? Try to avoid Friday or Saturday evenings as many people have prior commitments. Why not a Sunday night so your guests have a whole weekend to prepare their dishes? If families with children will be attending, take into account bedtimes and try to organise an earlier supper.

3. Where should it be held? Traditionally held in church halls and community centers, smaller events can be held at home. Do you need to book a hall? Find a location convenient for the majority of your guests with ample seating.

4. Many successful dinners have a theme. Sometimes it reflects the season, such as Easter, summer or Halloween. Others choose a particular type of cooking such as vegetarian or Italian. Find a variety of recipes relating to your theme that you can include with guests' invitations for inspiration.

5. Create your invitations clearly stating location and time.
   
   Indicate whether you'd like your guest to bring a salad, main course, dessert or side dish. For every 8 guests, one should bring a starter, one bread or rolls, one a salad, two should bring side dishes, one should bring a main course, one should bring dessert and one should bring refreshments.
   
   State how many attendees are expected to attend so your guest can cook an appropriate amount. Each guest should prepare enough food so that nearly all guests can have a taste.

6. Some hosts prefer to prepare the main courses themselves, however this is up to you and your time allowances. It may be difficult for guests to transport hot dishes and heating up casseroles and mains may cut into your chance to enjoy this social event.

7. At least a week before the event, it's helpful to ring round to confirm your numbers and selection of dishes. This way you can alter guest numbers if necessary so that you don't end up with people cooking for 50 guests when only 30 are expected.

8. Ask attendees to bring along a copies of their recipe as I am sure there will be other guests asking for it. This is a really nice touch as exchanging recipes is quite a nice way to get to know one another. If they have a special story behind their recipe, for example if it was their great-great-grandmothers, it's always nice to include that for an extra touch.

9. Before the event, collect any tubs or food containers that you come across as these will be helpful for your attendees to take food home with.

10. On the day prior to the event, ensure you have all necessary tableware including: cups, utensils, tablecloths, napkins and serving spoons. If you have guests which aren't able to cook for whatever reason, you could always ask them to bring these items in place of food.

Tips & Warnings

• For larger numbers, it can help your guests if they prepare meals from a set menu and cook only the amount for their table. This is particularly useful with gatherings with more than 50 in attendance.
• Organisation is key as it helps both you and your guests enjoy the event. Try your best to be aware of guest numbers and keep your attendees aware of any changes to numbers. It will mean that there's just enough food to go around, rather than a glut!

[kims3003]

on 8/14/2009 great info