Redhead and the Kitchen

I *love* office potlucks. I've always worked in fairly large offices/companies, so the potluck is always a big production, with Excel spreadsheets for signup and repeated reminder emails, etc. I love the variety of foods and dishes from different cultures. Even the rather strange stuff I enjoy...to a certain degree. (Marshmallow salad, what's up with that?) In fact, when I left my last employer, everyone threw me a potluck (as opposed to dining out, which is what they usually do) because they knew I loved it so much.

I'm w/you on the tuna=disaster NOT surprise & you can never go wrong w/cupcakes!

I work in an office of 4 people. If we tried to have a potluck, it'd be a disaster. Lol Glad to hear everyone like your cupcakes!

Great post! Hilarious about “sending out my resume.” The word “potluck” always gives me a weird feeling. Maybe I don’t like the implication that “luck” might somehow be involved in the dining experience. Go ahead, eat what’s in this Pot -- and good Luck!

I don't like the office potluck, either. I can be kind of picky with my food (I admit it) and at the office, inevitably someone always brings something that was made with canned chicken. And the smell of canned chicken is enough to make me want to throw myself out the window. (I'm very weird with smells of food). Be careful, though, once you're known as the queen of cupcakes, they'll want them all the time!! :)

Sadly, we call them "grazes" cause we are like cattle apparently.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to other peoples homemade food. I'm up for trying anything, but I grew up with a mother who is an exceptional cook. We have these all the time at my office. My dept is especially bad. I'm one of the top bakers in the office so I usually stick with that, you can't go wrong. I agree canned chicken is really nasty.

Very funny post! Can't say that I understand the office potluck so much since I work in a male dominated industry (scary thought!) BUT I do feel the same dread when it comes to church potlucks! Every important event leads to potluck or "dinner on the grounds" are we really eating food off the ground? LOL What's wrong with a plate and good old fashioned table? Anyway....there's always a tuna surprise and at least two forms of mystery meat that I really can't figure out. I generally eat either 1. nothing or 2. only what I brought which defeats the purpose of a potluck anyway! Thanks for the good laugh, I needed it today! TGIF :o)

I love potlucks! Give us an excuse to be away from our desks for an extra ten minutes or so. I love to bake, so it's always coming up with a new recipe not everyone has had or taking the time to bake the cakes that everyone begs for. YUMMM!! What a quandry!

I love potlucks though I have to admit that they are somewhat intimidating for me. Everyone in my agency has a "specialty" that the rest of us always request for every gathering..and then there's me: trying to figure out how to make something yummy enough to feed 20-30 people without falling into the trap of spending outrageous amounts of money for ingredients I will never use again..making a dish that everyone enjoys except me because I have heartburn from stressing out about it! P.S.: I agree with the tuna surprise.. it's NEVER, ever a pleasant surprise.. it's more like an "assault on your senses" kind of a thing!(same goes for Velveeta cheese if you ask me!)

I enjoy the potluck as I love all the goodies that everyone else brings in. I will stop at a great shop and pick up bagles and a variety of cream cheeses for the early eaters (which inclues everyone). So I get off easy. I also find that with the men they volunteer to bring "chips" or "pop" as they don't cook anything; but there are the men who have their wives fix for the occasion and that is usually good. I have cooked up a few potlucks myself with themes that were big hits; like, all mexican, all italian, or all southern.

I enjoy potlucks; the variety of food, getting to try new recipes without having put out money to see if I like them or not. My work potlucks are good, but the church potlucks are a bit political-we have a group that tries to outdo each other. I don't have time for that and just bring whatever-my most popular dish was a relish tray! Makes it easy but a little expensive (all those cans/jars add up). I love to bake and am always willing to bring a baked dessert to anything, so when the alphabet gives me "desserts" at church I have fun.

Terrific post! I used to love the office potlucks and got to try things I would never fix for just myself. I also received several really good recipes from the more experienced cooks. Then I got older, and some things are just creeping me out. If I KNOW you have a clean kitchen I'll probably try your dish. I refused to eat anything my ex-MIL made as she let her 3 cats sit on her counters while she cooked. And my current MIL - she still wants to shop at the age of 86 but it is a 2 /12 to 3 hour trip. She spends about a half hour in produce, then picks up all her meat - in otherwords her meat sits in the cart for 2 or more hours! I used to think that the school ban on homemade treats was terrible, but after seeing as many kitchens as I have, well, some people just aren't as sanitary as they should be.

Great sense of humour. Loved reading your post. I actually enjoy the potlucks around here. Everyone seems to be a good cook and all the food is delicious. Even the guys 'step up to the plate'!!

Oh my goodness; how funny! I used to work with a whole bunch of guys. I was one of three women with about 25 men. They would throw the best potlucks ever! It was the only time anyone ever asked them to make anything and they got more into it. Keep in mind these are suit-y men with some serious clout in their sphere but you mentioned birthday to them and they were planning who was bringing their famous wings, who was baking their favourite brownies, who was going to start a batch of salad dressing ("because it needed time") and who was going to go make ravioli in the kitchen at Uncle Frankie's restaurant. Of course these are the same men who decided it was a smart idea to stay in our ginormous office building overnight with a snow storm and ended up having a swat team called to our building after going on a polar bear run in the garage. (Darn security cameras!) But they were hell on wheels with a potluck!

As the usual instigator of pot lucks, terrific post. I try not to make bringing something mandatory. Some of the people I have a little joke with. I make them bring ranch dressing and when it doesn't get used they put it in the fridge for the next potluck. My self I enjoy making great potluck dishes. My old standbys are Nachos, Meteorites (super hot meatballs), and I do enjoy making the cocktail weenies on occasion.

I love potluck,as usual try to promote my food ( I am Indonesian ),I always made Sate (BBQ meat in the Skewer,look like kabob ) with the peanut sauce, Lumpia (egg rolls), Krocket (Croquet)stuff mash potatoes, Gado2 ( cooked vegetables salad with peanut sauce),I did not make too spicy, just to have the little kick, these will always got good compliment and everybody start want to have the recipes. I am happy to give them as long as they will be patient to make it..

I like office potlucks. We have some really good cooks here, and those who aren't such good cooks usually buy dessert or beverages. I am somewhat picky when it comes to eating other people's food though. There are a couple of people that I am comfortable eating from, so I just don't eat from their dish.

Hey everyone thanks for all your wonderful posts!I had just as much fun reading your comments as I did writing mine lol :) stay tuned for another post soon!