Hosting a Potluck Party

Potlucks are a great way to have a party that allows people to come together for lots of food, without a ton of work on the part of the hostess, but it does still take some planning so that you end up with enough of all the right types of food for a good party.

With a potluck each guest is asked to bring a dish or other food item to share with everyone else. If you are sending out invitations ask each guest to bring a certain type of dish such as a salad, dessert, drink and so on. If you are calling and inviting people, write out a list ahead of time of all your guests and divide the dishes evenly. If someone is not able to come you can then do some changing around and still make sure that you have a good variety of food at the potluck.

The host usually needs to have extra serving dishes and utensils on hand because some guests may not bring food ready to serve. Usually the host provides the location, plates and utensils, especially if there are a lot of people coming to the potluck because the guests will bring enough food. Many times the host will also provide the main course such as items for grilling, but if you have a large number of guests coming you may be able to have them help out by bringing a certain amount of meat or other items for the main course. If this is the case it may be a good idea to get these items before the party so that you have time to prepare the main course before guests come.

When hosting a potluck guests will often ask you for suggestions. Here are a few things to keep in mind when suggesting dishes for a potluck:

• Dishes should be easy to transport and need no more preparation at the party than perhaps reheating.

• Guests do not need to be too concerned about the size of their dish because at potlucks people take small portions of items. You also don't need to inform everyone about how many will be there for this reason, simply tell them to make a batch of cookies or one dish of their item and it should be enough.

• If you have guests that are traveling longer distances you may want to have them bring items that are easier to transport and manage such as bread, cookies or condiments such as pickles and ketchup.

• Since potlucks usually include a large amount of people, not everyone will have a place to sit at a table. If this is the case with your potluck, make sure that you suggest that guests bring foods that do not have to be cut with a knife or that are easy to eat with one hand.

• Remind guests to bring their dish in a disposable container. If this is not possible ask them to mark the dish somehow so that you can get it back to them.

• Suggest that guests bring copies of recipes for the dish they brought, often people want to recreate dishes they enjoy.

• Be mindful of guests who may have allergies. Be sure to ask about food allergies and ask guests to put a list of ingredients on dishes.