We had a pot luck Tuesday at work. I brought in some chicken chili, the only thing I ever take to any event involving prepared food. Why? Because I have a crock pot and the recipe involves 5 or 6 cans or jars of various things, some shredded cheese which I hand-shredded, and a teaspoon of something called "cumin". I looked up "cumin" on the internet and it is defined as "something you put in chicken chili". The hardest thing about this creation was remembering to dump it all together in time for it to crockulate overnight, which I did (remembered) at 11:30 the night prior, approximately 14 seconds before I nodded off to sleep. There's nothing quite like being comfortably settled into bed, finally getting warm, fading gently into blackness, then realizing you have to get up and go downstairs and crank open 3 cans of great northern beans. And it's a good thing there's nothing quite like that, because that thing would suck.
Our pot luck at work was so successful we put all the leftovers in the break room fridge, and reheated them today for another one! Which made me wonder... Why do people prepare so much food for pot lucks? If 20 people are slotted to bring something - and everyone who attends has to bring something - and if all 20 people make/buy enough food for like 5-10 people, then you have either a) food for 100-200 people; or b) 5-10 servings of food for 20 people. No wonder we did it all over again.
My favorite memories of pot lucks come from church when I was young. Several times a year a pot luck would be announced to celebrate some event or another; a church milestone, a sending-off of a missionary or pastor, maybe a softball league championship? The thing is, I can't really remember why most were held, I just remember the thrill of walking into the multi-purpose room, greeted by the sights and smells of so many various pots of meats and potatoes and gravies and indecipherable casseroles.
A good pot luck always had these items (from these people):
- 2 pepperoni pizzas from local chain (forgot about pot luck until en route to church)
- Bucket of KFC (didn't necessarily forget, but a dad was in charge)
- Green bean casserole with soggy fried onions on top (mother who thinks having greens is important)
- Someone's homemade fried chicken which lasted way longer than the KFC bucket (thinks they're a good cook and resents fast-food addicts)
- Cocktail wieners! (single mom who loves America)
- 2-pound bucket of store bought potato salad (didn't necessarily forget, but definitely can't cook)
- Au gratin potatoes which are so hot they burn your tongue and then you can't even taste the KFC (my mom)
And I haven't even gotten to the dessert table!
Pot lucks at church had several other attractions to me, like danger and sports. The multi-purpose room was carpeted but had basketball hoops (a rug burn lover's paradise), and there was always a group of us trying to get some shots in before the tables were all set. One of the more assertive mothers would always insist we "put those away before they knock something over", but we'd push it until something was knocked over, or until the larger, even more assertive father would just go ahead and grab the basketballs and say "Come on you guys!" in that midwesterny way.
Look, nothing says community like a dozen crock pots and a bowl of punch, so let's beat this topic up a bit! What else is a favorite or must-have item at a pot luck? Comment below or at Facebook.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
12/29/2009
11/23/2009
What's This?
This thing just looks foreign to me. The whole interface of it all. The title - what the heck is a Stizl? Stupid name regardless of what it izl.
In a hotel in Chicago. Stuffed from a nice Italian dinner at Piccolo Sogno, thanks to our agency friend. A little bored, but happy with the day's progress (took beautiful photographs of giant cookies - really). Wasn't bored over the weekend. Flew out here late Friday night and had some fun with bro-and-sis-in-laws. Drank a few too many beers, ate a ton of food in restaurants (which continues), and probably gained a pound or twelve.
This hotel has a fitness center, but I don't feel motivated to use it. I'm ready to get tomorrow done, hit a little Miracle Mile shopping for my wife, and go home Wednesday to see the family and get ready for some Thanksgiving fun. Only the best of holidays would roll an invitation to overeat and watch tons of football all into one.
I learned something Friday night. People still don't understand the letter/number system for Southwest Airlines' boarding process. I'm amazed at the impatience and inability of people to do these two simple things: LISTEN and LOOK. That's all it takes. (The above is maybe the most creatively written blog post, by me on this blog, and it was nearly 2 years ago after waking up in the middle of the night with this revelation that we use letter/number combos ALL THE TIME with no trouble, yet getting on a plane with it is nearly impossible. It still makes me laugh.)
I take too many things for granted in life, but not this: my ability to listen and absorb knowledge, information, and even the random bit of useless trivia now and again.
By the way, I highly recommend the book A Painted House by John Grisham. Hadn't read his work before, and this must be a great departure from his courtroom/lawyer dramas as it's written from the perspective of a 7-year-old boy in the cotton fields. It's about family, sacrifice, life lessons, and hope for something better. I also finished 'Tis by Frank McCourt and Born Standing Up by Steve Martin and am halfway through Slam by Nick Hornby, just on my flight out here. (Slam, not the others. That would be some type of record).
That's all I feel like writing about for now. Glad to have typed a few strokes again.
In a hotel in Chicago. Stuffed from a nice Italian dinner at Piccolo Sogno, thanks to our agency friend. A little bored, but happy with the day's progress (took beautiful photographs of giant cookies - really). Wasn't bored over the weekend. Flew out here late Friday night and had some fun with bro-and-sis-in-laws. Drank a few too many beers, ate a ton of food in restaurants (which continues), and probably gained a pound or twelve.
This hotel has a fitness center, but I don't feel motivated to use it. I'm ready to get tomorrow done, hit a little Miracle Mile shopping for my wife, and go home Wednesday to see the family and get ready for some Thanksgiving fun. Only the best of holidays would roll an invitation to overeat and watch tons of football all into one.
I learned something Friday night. People still don't understand the letter/number system for Southwest Airlines' boarding process. I'm amazed at the impatience and inability of people to do these two simple things: LISTEN and LOOK. That's all it takes. (The above is maybe the most creatively written blog post, by me on this blog, and it was nearly 2 years ago after waking up in the middle of the night with this revelation that we use letter/number combos ALL THE TIME with no trouble, yet getting on a plane with it is nearly impossible. It still makes me laugh.)
I take too many things for granted in life, but not this: my ability to listen and absorb knowledge, information, and even the random bit of useless trivia now and again.
By the way, I highly recommend the book A Painted House by John Grisham. Hadn't read his work before, and this must be a great departure from his courtroom/lawyer dramas as it's written from the perspective of a 7-year-old boy in the cotton fields. It's about family, sacrifice, life lessons, and hope for something better. I also finished 'Tis by Frank McCourt and Born Standing Up by Steve Martin and am halfway through Slam by Nick Hornby, just on my flight out here. (Slam, not the others. That would be some type of record).
That's all I feel like writing about for now. Glad to have typed a few strokes again.
1/20/2009
More Sea Kittens!
I received some great suggestions for sea kitten menu items & marketing campaigns in that post's comments, plus a play on Arby's "I'm thinkin'..." campaign from Madeline, whom I don't know but is participating in my blog which is great!
So let's continue the fun. "Toonces & Chips" from HPL is my favorite so far, but bring some more suggestions - get creative! I just thought of this one off the top of my head: "Kitty Sticks". See? It's not that hard. And remember, sea kittens = fish, so we're not actually eating kittens (in this country). Comment away!
So let's continue the fun. "Toonces & Chips" from HPL is my favorite so far, but bring some more suggestions - get creative! I just thought of this one off the top of my head: "Kitty Sticks". See? It's not that hard. And remember, sea kittens = fish, so we're not actually eating kittens (in this country). Comment away!
1/16/2009
I'll take the Sea Kitten combo
This past Saturday, I was out and about having a "big day" - you know, Home Depot, drop off the recycling, take old clothes and shoes to DI (Deseret Industries... it's the Goodwill of Utah). It was around 1pm and I hadn't eaten yet, but I needed some fuel for my big kitchen counter tile repair grouting project. I realized I was near an Arby's, and the thought of a chicken fingers meal entered my brain...and stayed there. I could smell it, taste it, feel the crispy batter on my tongue.
Back in high school, I played a little sport called "basketball". High school basketball meant plenty of road trips in a van, which meant lots of fast food. One year, on an early season trip to Petoskey (seriously), I remember setting a new precedent for the team by ordering the chicken fingers meal - with Arby's sauce and BBQ for dipping. They all thought I was crazy! Who gets chicken fingers when you can have a Roast Beef, or better yet, Beef 'n Cheddar? But I was so over the roast beef craze. You wanna talk roast beef? You best recognize one of my childhood favorites - Rax. Anyhoo, a few trips later and guess what was all the rage in the b-ball van? Chicken fingers meal, baby.
So I rolls into the Arby's drive thru, tummy rumblin'. I notice the menu board is a bit patchy - a couple of the screens are empty, looks like maybe they're changing over promotions. Who knows. I didn't see the chicken fingers offerings, but this is friggin' Arby's so I says to the box, "I just want the chicken fingers meal, please." The headset-wearer says, "Sorry sir, we don't have chicken fingers" - no explanation, no "we ran out" - just, "we don't have them". This must be a mistake! Defeated, I order a Bacon Beef 'n Cheddar - NO FRIES OR SODA to spite them - and head home with my consolation sandwich. Either that location is going out of business, or there is a serious chicken shortage somewhere. Why is it that on the rare occasions your brain gets fixated on something, you inevitably cannot satisfy that fixation?
On a related note, PETA is campaigning to rename fish "sea kittens". This is not a satire article, they really do. I sort of hope this catches on, just so fast food and restaurant menus can get a little more creative than "fish-wich". I'm thinking "Boots-of-the-Sea Burger", or maybe "The General Bonkers Special".
Back in high school, I played a little sport called "basketball". High school basketball meant plenty of road trips in a van, which meant lots of fast food. One year, on an early season trip to Petoskey (seriously), I remember setting a new precedent for the team by ordering the chicken fingers meal - with Arby's sauce and BBQ for dipping. They all thought I was crazy! Who gets chicken fingers when you can have a Roast Beef, or better yet, Beef 'n Cheddar? But I was so over the roast beef craze. You wanna talk roast beef? You best recognize one of my childhood favorites - Rax. Anyhoo, a few trips later and guess what was all the rage in the b-ball van? Chicken fingers meal, baby.
So I rolls into the Arby's drive thru, tummy rumblin'. I notice the menu board is a bit patchy - a couple of the screens are empty, looks like maybe they're changing over promotions. Who knows. I didn't see the chicken fingers offerings, but this is friggin' Arby's so I says to the box, "I just want the chicken fingers meal, please." The headset-wearer says, "Sorry sir, we don't have chicken fingers" - no explanation, no "we ran out" - just, "we don't have them". This must be a mistake! Defeated, I order a Bacon Beef 'n Cheddar - NO FRIES OR SODA to spite them - and head home with my consolation sandwich. Either that location is going out of business, or there is a serious chicken shortage somewhere. Why is it that on the rare occasions your brain gets fixated on something, you inevitably cannot satisfy that fixation?
On a related note, PETA is campaigning to rename fish "sea kittens". This is not a satire article, they really do. I sort of hope this catches on, just so fast food and restaurant menus can get a little more creative than "fish-wich". I'm thinking "Boots-of-the-Sea Burger", or maybe "The General Bonkers Special".
10/14/2008
Where's Stizl?
Well, I'm in Orlando now, and leave for Baltimore tomorrow. But first a little rewind. As predicted, last week ended much better than it began. Chicago proved a fantastic host in many ways, and ORD couldn't even dampen the trip. We had a large group from corporate for the Chicago meeting on Thursday, so Wednesday was Big Dinner time. Went to Gibson's, near ORD. AWESOME steak. Plus, one of our field personnel swore up and down that Martin Scorsese was in the restaurant. It was totally not him, but it was funny watching her talk herself into it. Something about that Wednesday dinner and socializing led us into a great meeting on Thursday. Chicago's franchisees can be a tough crowd for our company, but we handled them well. I really hit my stride as a presenter/facilitator during my hour of the meeting, even dropping a personal anecdote about my wedding (awwww). Seriously though, just chatting about anything other than the content of the meeting helps me relax, and then I cover the content better, too.
[aside]
I haven't watched much of the MLB playoffs, but with only a few highlights last night and currently glancing at the 1st inning of the ALCS, I have seen nothing but Tampa Bay Rays' batters smashing huge home runs over the Green Monster. What happened to home field advantage, Chowds?
[end]
Thursday night provided a new Chicago experience of EPIC proportions. Dave & Heidi (my bro- and sis-in-law) -- well, mostly Dave -- decided it was time to welcome me to the world of Gene & Jude's, a strangely famous hot dog stand. Yes, hot dog stand. I can't consider it a restaurant, even though it had 4 walls and a ceiling. This place was a tin can with a neon sign, a potato cutter, and a line of 8 fryers. It is nothing but those skinny Vienna hot dogs & fries (well, tamales too, but I wasn't in the mood). And NO ketchup. For each ketchup you ask for, they kill you.
On Dave's advice, I went with 2 double dogs with everything and a Coke. This is the great part: the dogs come piled with the fries on top. So you order 2 dogs, and you also get 2 orders of fries! This should be standard in any restaurant! And you must eat them all together, the fries essentially a condiment for the hot dogs, smashed into the bun. I started picking fries off the top of the first one, and Dave almost backhanded me for insulting the G&J culture. I guess it's like ordering philly cheese steaks in Philly - you gotta know the culture. So I crushed those 2 double dogs, standing at the counter like a champ.
I just realized that I had 2 distinct dinners in Chicago, and I spent 200 more words on the hot dog stand than on the critically adored steakhouse. Such is life.
Orlando hasn't been that interesting - hot & muggy & rainy. So-so meeting, sort of dull. But the biggest thing is it's only Tuesday, and it feels like I've been gone a week again already. The weekend was nice (time with the wife, beers with the boys, didn't watch Michigan lose to the Toledo Rocket-football team), but it flew by, and heading to the airport again early Monday was miserable. I just want this week to be done, so I can go home for the weekend...again...and leave on Monday again...
[aside]
I haven't watched much of the MLB playoffs, but with only a few highlights last night and currently glancing at the 1st inning of the ALCS, I have seen nothing but Tampa Bay Rays' batters smashing huge home runs over the Green Monster. What happened to home field advantage, Chowds?
[end]
Thursday night provided a new Chicago experience of EPIC proportions. Dave & Heidi (my bro- and sis-in-law) -- well, mostly Dave -- decided it was time to welcome me to the world of Gene & Jude's, a strangely famous hot dog stand. Yes, hot dog stand. I can't consider it a restaurant, even though it had 4 walls and a ceiling. This place was a tin can with a neon sign, a potato cutter, and a line of 8 fryers. It is nothing but those skinny Vienna hot dogs & fries (well, tamales too, but I wasn't in the mood). And NO ketchup. For each ketchup you ask for, they kill you.
On Dave's advice, I went with 2 double dogs with everything and a Coke. This is the great part: the dogs come piled with the fries on top. So you order 2 dogs, and you also get 2 orders of fries! This should be standard in any restaurant! And you must eat them all together, the fries essentially a condiment for the hot dogs, smashed into the bun. I started picking fries off the top of the first one, and Dave almost backhanded me for insulting the G&J culture. I guess it's like ordering philly cheese steaks in Philly - you gotta know the culture. So I crushed those 2 double dogs, standing at the counter like a champ.
I just realized that I had 2 distinct dinners in Chicago, and I spent 200 more words on the hot dog stand than on the critically adored steakhouse. Such is life.
Orlando hasn't been that interesting - hot & muggy & rainy. So-so meeting, sort of dull. But the biggest thing is it's only Tuesday, and it feels like I've been gone a week again already. The weekend was nice (time with the wife, beers with the boys, didn't watch Michigan lose to the Toledo Rocket-football team), but it flew by, and heading to the airport again early Monday was miserable. I just want this week to be done, so I can go home for the weekend...again...and leave on Monday again...
9/12/2008
Look who's 30, too
Yep, that's right. My 30th birthday is here, and I've begun my 4th decade on earth. Upon waking up this morning, I immediately suffered vision deterioration, "the arthritis" in my hands, and left a pile of hairs on my pillow - hooray aging! To celebrate, I changed some things on my blog. Added a few 'gadgets' along the right side (including Follower - if you're hip to the feature, please show me some love). I also added a Dictionary.com gadget to the bottom (in case you have trouble with any of my big words - ha ha). But seriously, I love Dictionary.com.
Annie is taking me to Spencer's tonight, a fabulous steakhouse in town. I'll be wearing some new big boy clothes she bought me at a mall-based clothing store featuring pictures of men wearing jeans cut for teenage girls. But she didn't buy me those jeans, just some super-sweet pants (PANTS!) and a shirt & tie or two. Tomorrow, I celebrate a little more (I hope) with a Michigan beatdown of Notre Dame followed by a little Utah family party.
Annie is taking me to Spencer's tonight, a fabulous steakhouse in town. I'll be wearing some new big boy clothes she bought me at a mall-based clothing store featuring pictures of men wearing jeans cut for teenage girls. But she didn't buy me those jeans, just some super-sweet pants (PANTS!) and a shirt & tie or two. Tomorrow, I celebrate a little more (I hope) with a Michigan beatdown of Notre Dame followed by a little Utah family party.
Today, my work friends got me a card and some delicious cake, and I got myself a plastic fork, and then I ate the cake (NOM-NOM).
Other good news: My Dad is in fine form after some old-guy surgery, and our family is grateful for all the kind words, prayers, and support. And Happy Birthday to my Mom on Sunday!
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