Potluck themes?

Question

We are having a Lenten Series at our church, and afterwards having potluck. We would like to come up with different "themes" for them, so they aren't all the same. I am having a hard time with them, the only one I can think of is "around the world" and that seems to be used a lot. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I love the Oscar Night theme. I would also do a "Ball Park" theme with baseball coming up...you could do Brats, Corny Dogs or have a few bring their favorite hotdog casserole recipes! Serve the kind of food you get at the ball park. Or how about a "Spring Break" theme, where your main dishes could be salads...you could do fresh fruits, light deserts like lemon cake. Another option might be a vegetarian night, celebrating the 'food of the earth'....no meat involved. You could do veggie casserole, veggie lasagna, eggplant parmeson, etc. Or try a 'Desert Night' and prepare cuisine you think might have been around in Jesus' time...look up middle eastern foods. Have everyone bring something different. At least it will get people to try something new. Have a "Heavenly Meal'...where people can bring what they want, but they need to re-name the food they bring to sound like something heavenly...like chicken wings could be 'angel wings', etc. If you live in a German Community...like I do...you could have a German Night with German foods, etc. There's a lot you can do. But remember...it's not how creative your meals are. It's the fellowship it sparks. That is truly the theme behind it all.

Answer 2

You could try picking a region, continent, or country. For example, you could do Latin America or Asia.

Or what about childhood favorites? People could put different spins on their favorite foods as a kid.

Or you could do a color theme. For example, every food someone brings in has to have or be the color red.

Or maybe you could pick foods that are reminsicent of a certain time period. For example, if you picked the colonial times, you may have people bringing in dishes like pot pie or cherry pie.

Or you could pick a time of the year. If you're having the potluck during the winter, make it a summertime theme. People could bring in BBQ, hot dogs, watermelon and other summer foods.

Have fun!

Answer 3

The Oscar's are coming up soon and you might want to think of an "Oscar Inspiring Event" as a potluck theme. Everyone brings their signature dish. Have categories so that everyone can vote. No one should be left out of winning something.

Answer 4

If you don't want to risk the chance that all of your guests will bring only desserts, begin by assigning your guests a specific course to bring along. Next, ask each guest to commit to a general category of food even if they're not prepared to tell you the exact recipe. Don't forget that someone needs to be responsible for beverages. I find if someone doesn't like to cook or is really busy, ask them to bring condiments, paper products, etc

For themes you can do All regional ltalian, Mexican, Asian etc. Or even by city for ex. Philadelphia: Pretzels, cheesesteaks, etc.
Another idea is to one ingredient, and each person has to incorporate that into their dish. Spinach or a type of cheese would be easy.
A theme on an era like the 50's where everyone brings an old fashioned dish like meatloaf, jello molds
Or it could be based on a color, a holiday, a movie.....

Answer 5

That's a cute idea, as long as the dads aren't doing the cooking:) .... How about a baseball theme? We're right in the middle of baseball season... You could get some pennants in the various MLB teams, or even whatever minor league is near you .... You can buy packages of red & white striped peanuts (like the ballfield peanuts); do hot dogs & sausages; nachos; frozen lemonade (Kroger has them in the ice cream section) ...... TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Answer 6

I hosted a potluck where everyone brought their favorite "comfort food"- surprisingly we did not end up with all chocolate desserts! It was actually really interesting to see the assortment of what people love.

Answer 7

Do by country or like mexican, chinese, soul food, appetizers,