Holiday Potluck Lunch At Work

[Gastro888]

Try bringing a crock pot of a thick delicious soup like potato etc.  Soup is always a hit at those things.

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Oooh, potato soup. Carbs, carbs, carbs. Yah, baby!

[Rachel Perlow]

I think Heinz is ashamed of their Chili Sauce. I can't find anything about it on their site except for a few recipes that call for it.

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I wrote to Heinz' Customer Service, here's their response:

Thank you for visiting our web site and giving us the opportunity to respond.

Heinz Chili Sauce was first introduced in 1946.

It is used as a flavoring condiment, and goes great with anything from burgers to fries.  Heinz Chili Sauce can be used just like Heinz Ketchup or Heinz 57 Sauce to add a little extra flavoring to your favorite meals.

There is a common misconception that chili sauce is hot . . . it is NOT.  It is a little richer, a little tangier, and a little spicier than ketchup . . . and it has a chunky texture.

The ingredients in Heinz Chili Sauce are:        Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste, Water), Distilled White Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Corn Syrup, Dehydrated Onions, Spice, Garlic Powder, and Natural Flavorings (herbs & spices).

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to call us at:  800-255-5750.

Thanks again for contacting us.  We appreciate your interest.

Heinz Consumer Resource Center

Heinzconsumeraffairs@us.hjheinz.com

[suzilightning]

well, this year's contribution to john's office party on thursday will be the sweet and sour meatballs. john was just going to give them the 10.00 but then changed his mind and asked me to do these so he is sure of being able to have something to eat.

[Randi]

This Friday is our holiday pot luck (we have one every Friday in December - each wing of the building hosts a Friday.)

I am making Chocolate Ganache Sandwiches! Sounds really easy and I think they will be delish!

[percyn]

...

Oh yes, I love my company, oh yes, yes I do!)

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Gastro, most places I have worked don't have a full kitchen in the break rooms (they have a cafeteria, but we are not allowed to cook in there).

People usually chip in for deli platters, vegetable platters, snacks, etc. A few adventurous souls bring crock-pots of chili, meatballs, sausage, etc. The hot stuff is usually a hit and it goes quick. Some bring homemade desserts too.

Recently we had some gourmet sandwiches. One was a mini filet sandwich topped with grilled onions and what tasted to me like Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill BBQ sauce (you can substitute this with mayo ).

I am thinking about either making some gumbo and warming it up in a crock-pot or making some mini kebabs (out of meatballs). Unfortunately, I have a presentation to our CIO and executive mgt team right before, so I am not sure if it is a good idea to try to pull this all off at once.

Cheers

Percy

Edited to say:

Hey...here's a suggestion - Deviled Eggs. Familiar to non-foodies, easy to make and perhaps most important for you...uses your jar of mayo as well. And if you have been really good this Christmas, Santa (or little miss foodie in this case) will even throw in an easy to follow recipe for perfect boiled eggs. For dessert, I recommend the job section of the classifieds...from the sounds of it, that will probably be the most appreciated item there

Edited December 14, 2004 by percyn (log)

[NewYorkTexan]

What I made this year were miniature Alsace onion tarts. These are easy to make, travel well and and are served at room temperature. I brought them to a party in Dallas and the only hard part was not eating them on the drive up.

Lutece Onion Tarts

Instead of a full size tart, I use the minuture phyllo cups you can buy in almost any supermarket to create a perfect size cocktail snack. Top each one with a small piece of crisp bacon and they look good as well. It took me a total of 30 minutes to make 45 of them.

[Gastro888]

Yeah...I understand most offices don't have a full kitchen and their cafeteria won't let you use their equipment. So why are we having a potluck?...lord.

Those chocolate ganache sandwiches look fab! Yum!!! Nothing like chocolate ganache to warm the heart. Funny that deviled eggs are mentioned - someone signed up to bring them in.

OK here's what I've gotten thus far as potential potluck dishes:

Onion tarts

Sweet and spicy hot dogs

Artichoke dip

percyn, you're too much! =)

[joey madison]

Working for a non-profit, there isn't much in the company coffers for catered staff meals, so we do potlucks quite frequently.

And I think I'm in the minority, because many folks on our staff spend a good deal of time thinking about and cooking food. Of course, there's always some sad-soul that brings in a dish of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup green bean casserole... but I've been pleasently impressed by most of our potlucks.

I like to stick with one-pot dishes that are just slightly out-of-the-ordinary for people that aren't foodies. Things like jambalaya, risotto with roasted chicken, gratin dishes, and even plain-old homemade mac & cheese have been my past offerings.

But with 50+ staff at our parties, there inevitably are plenty of good eats... including some more than edible spicy/ethnic/vegetarian/whatever dishes.

[Okbrewer]

LOL!! Just finished with our office Holiday pot luck! First off, we had a lot of food! With only a few exceptions, most offerings were store bought! Pies and cheesecakes from Sam's, dinner rolls from Albertson's, and veggie trays from Homeland. Even our manager and assistant, who both make big bucks, and who were supposed to be bringing a turkey and fixin's, brought a large box (50 pieces?) of fried chicken! And plopped the box on the nicely decorated serving table, price tag and all! There were some who spent some time in the home kitchen. Home made chicken and dumplings and a red velvet cake were good. The ubiquitous cool whip fruit salad with marshmellows made it's annual appearance, as well as the popular green bean casserole with canned fried onions. A healthy portion of fresh black eyed peas with ham was made by a co-worker who has a sizable garden. The person responsible for bringing drinks brought 3 liter bottles of soft drinks, but no cups to pour into! And what did I take, you ask!?

Well, because of all the interest here, (and because I was too busy last night to make much more!) I decided to go with the smoked weenies! I found a store with a shelf-full of the Chili sauce, and blended that not with grape jelly or black currant jelly, but with my home made jalapeno jelly! Sauted some onions first, then added the jelly and chili sauce, simmered a bit and then added the li'l weenies! Served up a crock pot full of the things and there are none that remain! Even got several compliments on them! LOL! Just goes to show ya...

Anyway, too much food, and store bought or not it was all pretty good.

[Ondine]

Hey there all.

Am about to leave for my own work potluck-cu-barbequeue in about 30 minutes. I work in pathology and one of our department Pathologists has kindly invited us all to hold it at his place, and will also be providing basic meats (steak, chops, sausages) as well as beer, wine and sodas. This is awfully sweet of him. We all like him a lot.

The rest of the staff are bringing other things - the boys are bringing seafood and poultry, the girls are bringing desserts and salads.

I've made a really huge caprese salad to bring, with EVOO, sea salt, organic tomatoes (about 6 lb!) and some really fresh mozzarella and basil.

I don't know how well it'll be received as this crowd thinks you can buy good blue cheese at the local supermarket. But tomato salad should be simple enough to be okay.

It's getting stinky hot here in Australia as summer sets in with a vengeance. It'll be over 34C today (I think that's over 90F? I could be wrong - help me out here?) so it's a good thing that said pathologist lives right on the beach in a slightly moneyed area.

I'll let you all know how it went, like Okbrewer did. SOrry, Okbrewer, for just jumping in here to semi-hijack your thread like this. I just didn't want to start a new, too-similar thread.

[Gastro888]

Well, the office potluck has come and gone and what did I make? I know you're probably all dying to know, so here we go:

NOT.A.DAMN.THING! =)

What happened you ask? Well, I had good (?) intentions of making some sort of artichoke dip when a last minute party and invitation to hang out at a friend's house came up the night before the party. Totally forgot about the potluck. Ended up purchasing ready-made store bought dip and chips.

Ehhh...goes to show you my true feelings about work. *grin*

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I will tell y'all more details later as right now I'm under the weather.

[Bernaise]

chips and dips.

chips and dips.

well.

do make a note to yourself in your palm pilot/daytimer etc.

"next potluck rolls and pop"

you!

[suzilightning]

john tells me the sweet and sour meatballs went quite quickly. someone else brought meatballs in tomato sauce and were left with most of them when the party cleared out.

we had a local restaurant cater it - ziti, chicken francaise, an italian meat platter,eggplant rolitini, stuffed mushrooms, bread. had some of the ziti and chicken for lunch today(didn't make it for the party). it was ok but i miss the days when we would meet up at someone's house and all bring appetizers or desserts and have a graze.