Whatever the holiday, it is a great excuse to throw a party. A potluck party is a lively way to celebrate because everyone contributes to the festivities. For your next holiday party, throw a potluck party. You supply the place, the dishware, the decorations and the music. Everyone else brings the food. Serve it all up buffet style and your party will be the hit of the season. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Choose a theme for the party. Though the holiday provides a theme, go a step further. If you are throwing a Christmas party, make the theme Christmas Around the World. For a Fourth of July party, consider "Olde Thyme" as a theme.
2. Research your theme. For example, for your Olde Thyme party, find out how people celebrated the holiday during the Victorian era. What did they eat? What games did they play? How did they decorate for the holiday?
3. Make a list of the different kinds of dishes you want others to bring that coincide with your theme. For example, you know Aunt Betty is a great baker. Your theme is Thanksgiving in the Future. Next to dessert, write Aunt Betty's name.
4. Continuing with the Thanksgiving in the Future example, once you have made your list, start calling people. Ask Aunt Betty to bring a dessert she believes will be served at Thanksgiving dinners in the twenty-second century. Will it be low-fat? Will it be extravagant? Will it be the same? Let your contributors come up with their own interpretations.
5. Entice your contributors to be creative with a contest for the most inventive dish. If your theme is Christmas Around the World, whomever comes up with the most exotic dish, for example, wins a prize. Choose a prize that reflects the theme. Choose a judge that isn't a food contributor, or have everyone vote and whoever gets the most votes wins.
6. Create place cards for each contributor. These will be placed in front of the dish they brought. For example, in front of Aunt Betty's dessert will be a place card that says, "Brought to you by Aunt Betty." This tells everyone who contributed which dish, making voting for the contest easier.
7. Decorate your home and buffet tables according to the theme of the party. Keep your buffet tables simple so the food is the star. At the end of the party, give each contributor a small thank you gift.
Tags: Aunt Betty, Around World, buffet tables, Christmas Around, Christmas Around World