I am a big fan of this epicurious recipe for meatballs. At a recent party I made these and put them in some red sauce for meatball sliders. They were pretty much gone. That being said, its kind of messy and a lot of work to fry them up. Some reviewers suggest baking them but I have not tried it. I have added some ground pork instead of all beef.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... mesan-2235

I have seen two recipes recently for asian meatballs and for buffalo chicken meatballs. Wondering if anyone has tried a recipe like that, if they are good could be a hit. But these traditional ones are really good but not a simple opening of a bag.

One thing that is crock pot friendly is kielbasa (sausage) and sauerkraut. Basically you get a mess of sausage and I cut it up in smaller three inch pieces and saute in a pan. Then I chop a large onion and cook that in a little oil in the pan I cooked the sausage in. Add the sauerkraut, rinsed, and a couple of tablespoons brown sugar and let that cook a bit. You can add caraway seed and a little white wine or beer to the pan if you like but I do not. You could also add apple chunks. Any way you can then turn the whole thing into a crock pot and let it cook a bit to mingle the flavors. Its usually a popular dish at pot lucks. I brought some to a friends on New Years eve and it was well received.

Hi,

This evening at 5 pm, Dad announced he was home for the evening. I was planning to attend a program in Libertyville leaving around 5:45 pm.

At 5:10 pm, Dad announces he was invited to a potluck at 6 pm and interjects, "Should I bring leftovers from lunch?" Lunch was onions and cabbage cooked in butter with egg noodles and slices of Polish sausage folded in. Fresh from the stove is ok, but a quart of leftovers from the fridge was no (with a horrified gasp added).

I did suggest (George's Mom's) Mary Ball Washington's Ginger Bread Cake, though neither of us knew where it might be in the freezer. Dad settled on popcorn piled into a stainless steel bowl. Before he left, I had him put a return address sticker on the bowl's bottom. It was his turn to be surprised, though I explained sometimes people take home other people's dishes.

I have no idea how well the popcorn went over, it would not surprise me if he ate all by himself. He had a story to tell about the stainless steel bowl. Someone had taken the bowl, cleaned it up and stacked it with other similar steel bowls. When he asked about it, he commented there was a self-address label on the bottom. It took no time to find it and I felt vindicated about something Dad thought was over-cautious.

Driving to my meeting, I began to think about emergency last minute contributions to a potluck. We tend to have ingredients and not prepared foods. One thought came to mind: macaroni and cheese.

What do you do on very short notice?

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:What do you do on very short notice?

Great Sea Chicken wings
https://www.greatsearestaurant.com

I like the popcorn idea! I feel like we end up at a lot of potlucks - I usually use them as an opportunity to cook something my household won't eat, but I've definitely experienced the last minute scramble. Obviously what works will depend on what you have in the house at the time. Some things I've done:

If you have access to power at the potluck and a crock pot:
1) Hot dogs and buns - put them hot into the crock pot, bring buns on the side, bonus if you have mustard and ketchup to bring along
2) Prepared Italian beef - bring in a crock pot with buns

Room temperature:
1) Veggie tray: whatever veggies I have in the fridge that I can cut up and dip made out of sour cream and/or mayo with seasonings
2) Deviled Eggs
3) Ham / turkey rolls - lunch ham or turkey cut in strips and rolled around cheese
4) Charcuterie board - literally whatever combo of dried or fresh fruit / nuts / cheese / olives / spreads / vegetables / nice cold cuts / crackers / fancy bread I have on hand cut into small pieces and arranged together on a board or tray of some type. Somehow even if you only have plain jane raisins / peanuts / saltines (even chocolate chips!) etc. if you make them look pretty people eat them
5) Shrimp salad or cooked shrimp thawed from the freezer with cocktail sauce - I don't keep cocktail sauce on hand but I always have ketchup, horseradish and lemons and can make my own
6) Apple sauce or apple slices with sweetened cream cheese or caramel sauce (I don't keep this either, but I usually have the ingredients to make it) - Toss the apples with lemon juice or sprite to keep them from browning
7) A pan of roasted veggies (combo of potatoes / onions / cabbage / carrots / cauliflower etc ) seasoned with chili powder or even just salt and pepper - can be served room temperature
Pesto pasta salad - chunky pasta (bonus if it is tortellini) tossed with pesto, can add cherry tomatoes, pepper strips and / or cooked chicken

Dessert:
1) No bake cookies - the kind with oatmeal and peanut butter (make sure to label because peanut allergies are so common)
2) Rice Krispie treats
3) Puppy Chow (also has peanut butter so needs a label!)
4) May not work based on the particular potluck situation, but people always eat ice cream if it is served
5) If you have a can of pumpkin and time to cook it - crustless pumpkin pie

- zorkmead

So funny - my number 8 followed by a ) turned into the cool emoji


- zorkmead

I'm not creative enough to come up with something quickly with random stuff in my fridge or pantry. I got a platter from Libinais for a potluck that went over great. An assortment of what they call finger food: spinach pie, spinach/feta pie, cheese bourak, etc. Otherwise, I'm off to a bakery for some sweets.