Perfect Potluck Plan
Source of Recipe
Grandpoohbah
There's no better way to celebrate Independence Day than under the July sun with a
table full of friends and family and plenty of food to share. Gather in the back yards,
streets, parks, beaches, boats and campgrounds of our nation and enjoy a dazzling
Fourth of July party full of your favorite summer foods, drinks and activities. Chances
are, your Fourth of July celebration is going to involve a potluck meal in one form or
another, so pick and choose from our hints for making everything on the table festive,
tasty and safe.
Make it Festive
An Independence Day party is all about the red, white and blue, so incorporate these
colors everywhere you can. Serve blue corn chips with brilliant red salsa. Use red
potatoes (and blue ones too, if you can find them) for the potato salad. Garnish and
decorate every dish on the buffet table with the celebratory colors of red bell
peppers, radishes, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, watermelon,
blueberries and blackberries. Wait until dusk to serve dessert -- when you're ready,
stick a few sparklers in the cake or pie or pan of brownies and light them just before
you bring it out to the table.
Make it Complete
If you're bringing a dish to a potluck, be a responsible guest and bring your own
serving dishes, utensils and garnishes; your hosts likely don't own enough platters and
tongs to accommodate every guest. If you're the host, try to have some extra platters
and serving bowls at the ready for the guests who bring food but no serving gear.
You can pick up festive, inexpensive plastic trays and bowls at a party store. Make
sure everything is easy for people to serve to themselves with one hand, as they're
going to be carrying a plate in the other hand -- cut everything that needs cutting, like
bread, meat, watermelon and desserts.
Make it Safe
Never set up the buffet table in the sun. Put it on a covered porch or under a shady
tree, or put some sort of canopy over the table. Encourage everyone to bring foods
that can safely be served at room temperature, like salads, vegetable or fruit platters,
salsas, breads, cookies and brownies. If your dish has to travel a long way and it
needs to stay cool, pack it into an airtight container or plastic bag that will fit inside a
cooler, and bring your serving dish and garnishes separately, to be arranged once
you arrive. If you're grilling, serve everyone directly from grill to plate rather than
letting meat sit at unsafe temperatures on the buffet table.
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