Monday, October 6, 2008

First Monthly Potluck Dinner...huge success!

What a great night it was. Being surrounded by a large group of your friends, sharing food, wine, conversation and lots of fun. The children swam or played most of the night so it was really just us adults all gathered around a large table "breaking bread"!

We decided to give this a try. We have a huge circle of friends and feel very fortunate for this but it has seemed that in the last year or so that we are all losing touch with each other. None of us really wanted to invest all of the money, time and energy into a huge party that was sponsored by just one of us so this was a natural progression for us. We started the planning of this a month and a bit out but there was really nothing to it short of finding out who was available and what they would bring. All I had to do as hostess was have a couple of bottles of wine on hand, buy the paper products and clear a space for the food! It was so cool to be surrounded by all of these people for such a fun night...thanks to all of you for coming!!!

For this month's Potluck I choose and Italian theme for the ease of it.

The food was great we supplied the lasagna (recipe later this week!) and everyone else brought the rest.

We had a great Caesar Salad (no pictures)

Antipasti platter (yumm...no pictures)

Cannellini Bean salad with Tuna (this was delicious and will make it this week):


Bruschetta (gotta have bread)

Gazpacho (incredible!)

Ice Cream Dessert (where to start??? This was amazing! I am working on getting the recipe as they had a triathlon this weekend and were out of town!)

Smucker's Uncrustables. A necessity at any party where you have more than 2 children...This is the one thing they are guaranteed to eat. They are against everything I believe in food wise but are a great treat!!!

I think I have some takers for hosting this event next month. It really was so easy. Clean up was a breeze as everyone brought there own stuff and took it home. Please consider trying this if you have a group of friends that are as busy as we all are!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

11 comments:

Núria said...

Wow Judy... it sounds like a perfect dinner :D, such good company, drinks and food... I couldn't ask for more!

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Peter M said...

I can see the mammoth lasagna now...held together well and yes..recipe please!

Patsyk said...

That is the best way to ensure a fantastic party! We do potluck almost every time we entertain, takes the pressure off the host (and the expense!), and everyone can showcase something they enjoy making. The food is always fantastic!

Looks like you had a great combination of foods, and everyone must have gone home happy and with full tummies!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Sounds like so much fun and if you have even only a group of 12 friends you would be hosting once a year:D...although parties are a lot of fun:D

Thistlemoon said...

This is so awesome! I am so glad that you did this and that it was a success! :) That lasagna looks great, as does the cannelini bean salad! Can't wait to hear about the ice cream...

Heather said...

Pot lucks are so much fun! Italian themed sounds great!

Aggie said...

What a fun idea Judy! We might have to give this a try soon!

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Hi Nuria-It was a perfect dinner and a great night!

Hey Peter-It was huge but nice and firm!

Hi PatsyK-People loved bring the food and showing it off!

Hey Val-That is the great part about this is everyone will get a chance and it won't happen all that often. I can see the holiday time being a little hairy but...

Hey Jenn-If it weren't for you I would have never tried this! The ice cream...to die for!

Hey Ben-That was fat lasagna!

Hey Heather-They are fun and the Italian theme was nice and easy. The next one is funky fusion...help!

Hey Aggie-You need to try this. I never thought I would but it was so fun!

Melissa said...

After my recent luck with Cannellini beans, I am drooling over that salad. That's a lunch for me next week for sure.

Brittany said...

Tuna n' beans look amazing. I think I could prolly figure it out, but you wouldn't be posting that recipe anytime soon would ya?