Today's Author: Lindsey
Imagine if you will, inviting a group of people over
to your house. You plan the menu, go shopping, and spend a better part of your
day stressing out and cooking. In the end, I personally find myself exhausted
and having spent way more money than I should have.
The flip side of one person cooking the whole meal
is doing the ‘pot-luck’ thing. I am sure we all have attended a pot-luck at one
time in our lives. Be it for a church function, community event or school picnic.
There are always at least two or three of the same dishes that make their
appearance - those strange pasta creations, six different crockpots of pulled
pork or chips and dip. Let’s be honest, there are only so many ways you can
make a pasta salad!
What is a balance to these two extremes? I like to
call them ‘group dinners’. The basic idea of it is this: instead of one person
cooking or everyone ‘bringing a dish’, all people involved bring a specific
needed item for the meal. A great example is this past Wednesday, the 4th
of July. My husband and I got together with our usual group of friends for some
dinner and firework watching. We all had assignments. One person brought
hotdogs, another brought hamburgers. One person brought buns and condiments. My
husband and I brought drinks; someone was in charge of desert and so on and so
forth. In the end, we all only spend a small amount of money, only had to worry
about getting one or two things and have a fantastic meal. No repeat mystery
dish or one person spending their money and time – we all shared and had a
great time!
This does not just work for holidays! My husband and
I have these ‘group dinners’ with our close friends almost once a week. It is a
wonderful way to visit with others and share a meal, without an expensive
restaurant bill or one person taking the weight of it all!
Give it a try! Next time you plan out an event, send
out an email with all the different items that are needed to make it tasty and
have people volunteer for them. Here’s to less stress, saved money and
delicious food with friends!
Bon Appétit!
No comments:
Post a Comment