The Potluck Dilemna

Why is it that I can cook a meal for another family practically any day of the week with no stress or sweat. . . I just double up the recipe of whatever I'm making for us and - voila - instant meal to share (well, maybe not INSTANT)!

. . . but, trying to think through what to take to a Potluck completely paralyzes me. Meals for other families are easy. Like I said, I send over whatever we're eating. But POTLUCKS! You have to consider looks. It needs to look appetizing and attractive. You need to consider how difficult it is to serve. You need to consider how many people will be fed. You want to make sure that it's a one-dish meal if meat isn't being served separately or, if meat IS, then what vegetable isn't too overdone at these things and still has wide appeal. When I take someone a meal, I can do rice or pasta with something to go over it. But you can't do that at a Potluck. The pasta or rice always gets separated on the table from the topping and people can never figure out what to do with it if they can even figure out what it is.

Sometimes, we'll go to a Potluck where they designate "finger foods only" because they don't intend to have plasticware! Oh, my gosh! Fingerfoods? That limits me even further.

In any case, guess what's on the schedule for this weekend? Not one, but two, potlucks. I'm going to be a basket case by Monday. Anybody out there want to trade a homecooked meal for your family for potluck foods?