I have never received quite so many irate emails about an Oregonian newspaper article before. It seems a story about neighbors getting together and paying for a private chef to make group dinners has offended many, many people.
The story is also burning up the blogs. Here are a few examples:
Writer Matt Davis says,
Just when I begin to forget why I hate you so damned much, The Oregonian’s food writers run a story so horrible I have only been able to glance at it in mirrors, rather like the Medusa’s head…
The popular Jack Bog blog has also weighed in:
By no stretch of the word
Here’s an interesting way to host a dinner party: Hire a servant to do the work and get your neighbors to pay. But to call that a “potluck”? Only in the O.
I’ll leave it to you, to decide if you want to be offended. I have mixed feelings, with my only real complaint being the use of the word “potluck”
Hunter says
It is pretty damn funny. As a boy raised in Alabama, had we ever invited anyone to a “potluck” and had a private chef serve that type of food, we would have had a very bad evening.
nagrom says
I don’t get it. Is the controversy that they’re calling this dinner thing a potluck when only one person is cooking? Am I missing something or are there more important things in the world than whether or not contributing money instead of food is a real potluck or not. Please tell me there’s some real issue I missed!
Matt Davis says
I was just about to comment…but I’m afraid I’ve been sick again.
Melissa says
Wait, offended? People are offended that a newspaper used sloppy terminology to write a fluff article about a bunch of random people’s dinner plans? Wow folks, get a life.
Kevin says
Had the story been headlined “Well-To-Do Portlanders Enjoy Catered Dinner Party,” I think it would’ve been more accurate than “The NEW Postmodern Potluck.”
The wealthier among us have held catered dinners for centuries, but for a reporter to call it a “potluck” and gush at the novelty and innovation of hiring a personal chef is really navel-gazing stenography and Portland solipsism at its worst.
It read like a courtier writing about her friends, which it was; the photo looked like a real-estate brochure, which it could’ve been; and Leslie Cole’s description of the chef as “an indie Portland fairy godmother” was just vomitous.
Spaceman Spiff says
Why the fuss?
So it’s a piece of fluff written to fill space. Why does that call for such a response?
Move on – let it go.
Spacey
Alan Cordle says
It’s a very expensive “potluck” to boot.
Jeff says
Okay, let me see if I understand this… these people are charging other people to eat at their home, and having a chef cook the food there?
Should Multnomah County Health be inspecting them as a restaurant?
polloelastico says
One of the guys at that post-punk potluck has the same Phillipino-style wedding shirt I do. That is an outrage!
Delena says
Actually, I think this is a really cool idea. It’s small and cozy, homey, and lets people branch out of their normal cuisine choices.
Only in Portland would you find something so grassroots and out-of-the-box, healthy and delicious all at the same time. And it really sounds like fun. Obviously it’s not for everyone, but since when in Portland was -anything- ever considered for “everyone?” If you don’t like it, move on. Personally, I like it.
janine says
I don’t get the fuss. Ok, maybe it’s not really a potluck, and it sounds a little yuppie, but if my friends were doing this I’d probably participate. I’m not clear on whether the outrage is over the event itself, or over the fact that the O wrote about it and called it a potluck.
Either way, I think there are bigger things to be outraged over. The O’s political coverage is mostly horrendous and that does far more potential damage than this. And if the outrage is over the event itself, who cares? Portland is supposed to be all about letting everyone do their own thing without being expected to conform, right? That applies to the rich too, or at least I think it does.
salmonfly65 says
Like many, I don’t get the “fuss” element either. I’ve read the piece a couple of times and the only thing that keeps me shaking my head is that “her secret” is somehow tied to Alabama genetics – what? I understand that genes probably play a role in heart disease, eye color and degenerative disk disease, but I’ve not seen any peer-reviewed articles about it’s role in whether someone knows their way around a kitchen. But then, I’m way behind on my reading.
HansBrinker64 says
How could such an outrage occur on the EAST SIDE! I have to laugh. Portland’s East Side “fauxletariat” strike again! Wait, but its VEGAN so she isn’t really a hired private chef…after dinner let’s open a PBR and admire your Philosophy degree from Reed…
Marshall Manning says
Agreed, if this truly “offends” or “outrages” anyone, they need to take a serious look at their lives and think about finding a real cause, or at least a hobby.
Kevin says
It’s not offensive or outrageous; it’s just everything that Portlanders claim to loathe in Californians, written by a reporter who doesn’t know the difference between a potluck and a privately catered affair. I thought it was hilarious.
DinahDavis says
As Kevin pointed out, it’s definitely not a potluck, it’s a catered affair.
Perhaps the bile directed toward the piece has more to do with feeling unfairly labeled.
In my circle of friends we have actual potlucks, where we do the planning, the shopping, the cooking and the cleanup together, and the idea of a hiring a chef to come and cook for us would induce looks of horror and derision. We simply don’t have that kind of cash, and it would never occur to us to charge friends to entertain them in our home.
The event described in the Oregonian article is certainly is NOT “The new Portland Potluck.” If a lot of well-paid, lazy yuppies want to hire a vegan chef to feed them, that’s their business. Calling it the “New Portland Potluck” is offensive only in that it would seem to indicate that this is how most Portlanders live. No. This is NOT how most Portlanders live. We do our own cooking, our own housework, and when we invite friends into our homes, we do not charge admission.
Loved the “after dinner let’s open a PBR and admire your Philosophy degree from Reed” comment HansBrinker64!
Hunter says
I love Portland. People seem to be offended that people are offended.
Melissa says
That comment made my day! Best summary of Portland I’ve heard in a long time.
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
The tone, the unintentionally ridiculous passages, the oooh-edgy tooting the horn of it’s vegan! It really does read like something out of this satire website. To quote the Oregonian article,
“It’s crazy and it’s fun!”…”The kids run around and we get to sit and talk about our lives and share things.”
Wow, what a new crazy fun concept! People pay $15-$25 to have someone cook and serve health food for them at someone else’s house and the Oregonian waxes poetic all over it and calls it a post-modern potluck. Did Michael Hebb come up with this marketing concept?
Not offensive, not outrageous. The article is just utterly obnoxious and clueless – pretty much the O at its worst. But hilarious, I’ll certainly give it that.
jj says
I’m so glad you put that link. I was thinking about it the whole time I read the article. Glad we are on the same page!
Mary Sue says
My first reaction, in my snarky sarcastic bitchy way was, “Awww, they think they’re people.”
I’m tempted to throw a Portland Foodblogger Potluck now. Y’all come on over to my house. Bring nibbles. And your own plates. Also? Beer.
If you want to give me $25, I won’t say no, but you’re buying the groceries your own selves.
Dave J. says
So. The. F. What.
It’s a dinner in which a family hired a chef to cook for them and their friends. They aren’t potluck-blogging about the thing–the reporter decided to call it a potluck, which to me is the wrong word. But SO WHAT.
It’s far more authentically Portland that everyone is flipping their wigs over this story than the items contained in the story itself.
lilhuna says
cute idea. poorly written article. next!
Dee Dee Gustibus says
I’m not sure what the fuss is about, other than the misuse and abuse of the poor beleaguered word “potluck.” Hate Michael Hebb all you want, but his and Naomi’s supper parties were a hell of a lot of fun. Various supper party sorts of things happen all over this town and many others. Worthy of a huge Oregonian article? Perhaps not. Asking your friends to chip in on a regular meal, though, seems reasonable to me. I love hosting people, and I am not wealthy. Lots of folks rave about my casual meals and tea parties and salons; I’d put them on way more often if the other participants could hand over $20 at the door to defray my considerable expenses.
I’ve thought about doing that. Does that make me a bad person? Would it make me a bad person if I brought in a chef? Or if someone wrote about me doing all this?
Kevin says
Martha Holmberg, FOODday editor, weighs in:
http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2008/08/the_new_portland_potluck.html
It’s not that interesting, but this did catch my eye:
“I do want to clarify a couple of issues about the story: First, no one is running a restaurant in their home. The hosts do not charge and keep the money for the meals — the chef is paid for the time she spends cooking, in addition to the groceries she bought.”
Ben T says
I’ll admit it. I am a little offended by the Oregonian piece — more amused than offended, true, but still a twinge offended. Generally, I’m offended when things that “regular people” do are co-opted and redefined by “privileged people.” People certainly have different ideas of what the words regular and privileged mean when associated with people, but I hazard to say we all think in these terms at times.
I’m not upset specifically at the family, this chef (I have been a private chef myself, before — and for privileged people, too!) or the numbskulled Oregonian writer. It’s a package deal. Yes, there are more important things to work out in life, but it isn’t so outlandish to be turned off by a societal quirk such as this smarmy, Portland Monthly-esque article slithering its way into “the paper of record.”
lorrie says
i like the idea. the woman likes to cook, she likes to hang out with people at her home and meet some new ones too. shes not snobby or clueless about children or the limits parents have in eating out with their little ones. so what if its not Technically a potluck. its definitely not a catered private event. i cook for friends all the time and sometimes we go in on the meal together, i dont call myself a caterer or dinner a “private event” because we didnt put out a flyer and invite the jealous. i also dont see the point in being offended by “privileged” people. this blows my mind. if i could hang out at a house with friendly people and get home-cooked food for my whole family for 25$ id be SOO on that. what do you know about how they make their money? what do you know about how they spend it? nothing. if your truly upset that people do this at all, i would suggest you try to get out more often, and maybe to a wider/more diverse social environment.
Shannon says
“its definitely not a catered private event.”
Really? Well, cater means to provide a supply of food and catering means to supply what is required or desired (doesn’t necessarily mean food could also be about needs or desires) and caterer means to provide food and service. I think she is a caterer by definition. I would also bet the door isn’t open to walk in and eat, so it’s private. It’s schedule weekly, so that’s an event, hence it’s a catered private event.
Your friends aren’t paying you, just sharing food costs, which isn’t the same as this situation as they are clients not her friends.
I agree with you that it is a good idea. I would love to look forward to that once a week with my friends or neighbors. The article could have been better, but it’s their money, let them spend it as they like.
Ben T says
I don’t mean to offend anyone, Lorrie. I’m not saying people shouldn’t hire a chef and have a weekly dinner party. It has more to do with the article and how it’s presented.
I also want to make the point that people tend to have different definitions for what they call privileged. I would have used the word elite, but I didn’t want to ascribe that to the family mentioned in the article.
If the “you” in your comment is me, just know that I’m not upset about them eating good food, pitching in on it (it should be mentioned that she is a chef hired for the event, and not “cooking for friends”) and not inviting poor me. And don’t worry, I “get out” often enough and with a very diverse demographic. But thanks for your concern. (And please forgive one line of sarcasm. It’s not an attack.)
KidP says
“Wow, I am glad I am not so bourgeois as to attend a catered vegan potluck,” he said as he typed in his comments to a food lovers’ web site on his laptop, drinking a $25 wine from Provence, in his 3-bedroom house, with a full belly.
Food Dude says
Ew. $25.00? Who would drink such a cheap bottle of wine?!
polloelastico says
I think much chagrin is being spent over the fact that the “potluck” misnomer has been invoked and, more importantly, that these people are vegans, which tends to carry with it a fair amount of sociological baggage.
If the chef in question did nothing more than show up at these peoples houses and individually hand-feed these people slice after wafer thin slice of Salumi sopressata while pouring craft beer down their throats until they were sated with provision and fine conversation that ranged from Keynesian economics to intelligent urban planning to The Silver Jews latest album everyone would agree that it was indeed “post-modern”.
pdx_yogi says
Hmmm….coming from a lineage of urban planners, having tickets to the SJ’s show at the Wonder Ballroom 9/30, drinking my craft beer as I type on my laptop, I could take these comments personally…
I too have a problem with calling such gatherings “potlucks”. And I’m a vegan most of the time. So for me that’s not the issue.
And to those who say we should have more important things to get our panties in a wad over:
Just because murders are occurring, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also go after those committing theft.
Good Food For Me says
This should have been called ” Yuppies Will Try Vegan if Someone Else Cooks – They’ll Even Pay!”
reflexblue says
Thank you, best comment on this thread yet
Food Dude says
Now this is a potluck: http://blogofneworleans.com/blog/2008/08/21/lard-will-keep-us-together/ Perhaps we should all pitch in together and send the writer to New Orleans.
choux says
I skimmed it and rolled my eyes at the “fairy godmother” bit and the pat-her-on-the-back vegan praise. Is it cooler because it is vegan? I agree that potluck isn’t the appropriate word and one would think a writer has more phrases at hand.
Aside from those gripes that didn’t really ruin my day or anything, I thought it sounded like fun. I like to entertain and I have young kids. The kids can limit the entertaining. Why not have everyone chip in to encourage dining together? How different is that than going in on pizza together or sharing take-out?
A few years ago the O ran an article on soup co-ops. That one might have gone over a little better.
Gypsy says
I can see finding irony in the designation “potluck” but beyond that, there’s nothing to justify
a stroy so horrible I have only been able to glance at it in mirrors, rather like the Medusa’s head…
I don’t think I’d give that kind of a party, unless it was a cooking demo combined with catering, but to scream at the *story* of the party as if it were part of a horror film festival seems to say more about the screamer than about the writer of the story.
I’m not going to hire the chef, since I’m neither vegan nor affluent, but I am going to give some of her recipes a try.
Ben T says
It’s called hyperbole.
Jack Adams says
I think the writer had a deadline, met some gal at a “purse party” in the Pearl and wrote about her “vegan potluck” chit chat. Once again, the milquetoast writing award to the Boregonian.
Jack Adams says
…and anyone who really has an interest in Food, the Culinary Arts, Restaurants, etc. never looks at The Oregonian as a resource for any of these things!!!
Food Dude says
Actually, and this is going to shock people, I have to defend a little part of the Oregonian here, specifically MIX Magazine. As of the most recent issue, it is not only pretty to look at, but is also interesting. Kudos to Martha Holmberg.
polloelastico says
I concur. MIX is extremely well-designed and a good read.
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
I love Mix magazine.
Joanna says
The most disturbing part of this story has been shockingly overlooked, which is the fact that a staff writer from The Oregonian seems not to know basic human anatomy. Specifically: “Entrekin, a blonde from Alabama with her favorite vegetables tattooed on her forearms, shops and cooks.”
The vegetable tattoos are CLEARLY on her upper arm/humerus, NOT on her forearm. This is an OUTRAGE; I am disgusted and scandalized!
Jack Adams says
Wow, the support of MIX…the recent Le Pigeon = “L’Idiots” forum (this guy hasn’t worked a day in a restaurant or kitchen if he’s going to bitch about drinking and smoking in the kitchen or elsewhere), makes me question this site altogether. I thought when I first started reading it that I was getting a good little pool of Portlanders (and others alike) that share the same standard for quality and substance. And had real perspective on the food community, restaurants and nuances of restaurant life in our quaint, little town. Applauding the Oregonian, and/or MIX (well-designed and a good read…you must have a relative on staff at The Oregonian) and a multitude of other comments on this site just illustrate that Portland has a LONG way to go.
biabub says
who woke you up on the wrong side of the bed? i’ve worked almost 20 years in the restaurant biz, mostly in the kitchen. seen plenty of drinking and smoking. also know when it is appropriate (after shift, behind closed doors) and when it is simply obnoxious and stupid to do it in an open kitchen, without disguising the beer by pouring it into a coffee cup or something and having the audacity to light up inside a tiny restaurant with paying customers sitting in the room. bad enough that the guy smokes and is killing his own palate, which is a bummer for all of us who enjoy his food, myself included, but he doesn’t need to do it INSIDE the restaurant. period. doesn’t really matter how insightful you, mr. adams, think you are as to how the restaurant world works, we all get to have our own opinions about it. and that is why this site is so great. gosh, i just love MIX magazine. isn’t it swell?
Hunter says
It’s all subjective Jack. I don’t agree with everything everyone says but I’m certainly not going to question the site because of that fact.
Jack Adams says
I’m not questioning the site, rather disappointed by it – it’s interesting to me the opinions people have that have minimal or little experience in the food/restaurant industry. And yet, subscribe/comment/blog/post on food-type sites with such razor tongues and so-called “expertise” – The same goes with the local press in this city. It seems that the qualifications for things nowadays are a laptop and an expense account. It’s just too bad is all. And I’m quite aware that the comments are subjective – subjectivity doesn’t always translate well on the Internet when credentials and experience can have no bearing on its participants.
polloelastico says
Well, Jack Adams, I’m looking at MIX right now, some gorgeous photography, a tight grid-based layout, nice typography, and some fair-to-middling articles about food and restaurants which by nature of their subject matter tend to capture my attention, words and all. Maybe it’s not McSweeney’s Erudite Compendium of High-Brow Foofydom, but it’s a pretty inoffensive respite from watching the squirrels hump in my backyard.
And I think we’re all well aware that qualifications for posting on the Internet include a laptop. You’re right, we do have a LONG way to go before we’re collectively a self-congratulatory circle-jerk of pretentious knobs inebriated by indulgent quaffs from the voluminous well of their own extraordinary flatulence. But thanks for setting the bar.
biabub says
now i’m smiling again. thanks polloelastico.
Food Dude says
pollo, i nominate you for most entertaining comment of 2008!
nancy says
“The qualifications for things nowadays are a laptop and an expense account.”
Food Dude has neither.
And I’ll my hold creds up to yours any day, Mr. Adams
Jack Adams says
Wow, typical hot air from the usual suspects on me voicing MY opinion. I love when others who are so “open-minded” don’t allow the room for others to do so in return. Small-minded reactions in a small-minded city. Typical.
nancy says
You’re allowed have all the opinions you want, but you have stated that people who write about food in Portland, and for this site, have “little to no” food/writing experience. This is just not true, at least in my case (www.nancyrommelmann.com), nor in the Dude’s. What about you, Adams? Will you stand up and tell us about your experience? Or do you prefer to lob your displeasure from behind a screen?
Jack Adams says
My apologies, Nancy, as I did make a general brushstroke about the participants on this site – and I do know of your work and we have a mutual friend in the restaurant community. Perhaps my frustration with The Oregonian and some of the other local press was muddied with this forum – my experience is in restaurants. My culinary education/training is from the CIA. My credentials are a true love and passion for cuisine and dining. And interestingly enough, Nancy you have reviewed and given quite interesting remarks on some of the restaurants that have employed me and I applaud your candidness in a town where brown-nosing seems to be the norm and not an anomaly. Keep doing what you’re doing because I like to read what you’re bringing to the table.
salmonfly65 says
Nancy-
Do we have to have “creds” to offer an opinion or comment on this site? I don’t know Mr. Adams and am not familiar with his background – to me, it’s not particularly relevant. And, I’d think you’d agree that having “creds” does not necessarily translate into a well-founded or thought provoking “opinion” or “review.”
Having said that, if you (Mr. Adams) throw a dart, I think it’s reasonable to expect a reaction.
I like the O’s MIX and Portland Monthly – they are easy on the eyes and offer some insight into the local scene. They are similar to Gusto, a Central Oregon publication.
nancy says
Agh! Of course someone does not need creds to post here – geez! (And I agree that work in the field does not insure someone is worth reading.) But if someone states no one here has them, then I get to stand on my box and wave my CV. He or she is welcome (and people do, all the time!) to tell me to go jump in a lake.
Thank you Mr. Adams for your considered response, and your kind words.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m trying to find out who hacked into my blog…
Hunter says
Perhaps it would be better to withhold the stone throwing until and unless you actually know the “creds” of those you refer to as “small minded” and full of “hot air”. I will put up my culinary experience and my education against anyone’s. You’re making leaps of logic Jack and the name calling doesn’t help matters. And I have to agree with salmonfly, if you namecall, you really should expect a reaction.
josh says
Outraged? Well-paid, lazy yuppies?
WTF?????
I know some of these people, and the ones I know, work full-time for NON-PROFITS engaged in various socially conscious endeavors. And they have kids. In other words, they aren’t well paid. They aren’t lazy. And they generally have no life and have a hard time having a relaxing meal at restaurants that serve good, healthy, locally-sourced meals.
In other words, you’re outraged that there are people who work hard for not a lot of money are thrilled to have the opportunity to have a healthy, enviro-friendly locally-sourced meal prepared by someone else WITHOUT having to go to a restaurant and WITH the ability to actually speak to their adult friends during a meal.
The fact that they pay for the meal is incidental — they could or would have to do the same thing at a restaurant.
The irony is that all of the whiners would probably also complain if these people dragged their young kids to a restaurant b/c they aren’t able to supervise the kids the entire time and have a single conversation.
You should be offended at your self-righteous arrogant selves.
Mary Sue says
I love the smell of self-righteous hipster capslock indignation in the morning.
It smells like victory
josh says
Hipster, me?
In my dreams!
Mary Sue says
Sorry to hear you suffer from nightmares.
nancy says
Fight nice kids.
While we’re on the subject of that article: I personally don’t care how people spend their money and time in pursuit of food. What was striking about the piece, for me, was the portraiture, an above-the-fold, full-color, half-page shot of the bare-shouldered, laughing, sun-kissed chef being verily nestled by and beamed at by grateful diners. It was as though she were a celebrity, an idea augmented by a beauty shot of her, also on the cover. The scene looked like many I’ve seen in LA, only there, she would not make such a splash; there people are accustomed to being pampered, they pay for it; it’s no big deal. Here, she was a rock star. Maybe this on a subliminal level is what bugged so many. As a friend emailed, “If these were California transplants in a Pearl District condo (and the photos did look like some vapid condo brochure), people would be furious. But since they were Oregonians and the food was vegan…”
Dave J. says
Honestly, I thought the photo looked like the latest post from “Stuff White People Like.”
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
Yes, despite how people feel about the article, personal attacks on and between other commentors will not be tolerated on this site. As a reminder: https://portlandfoodanddrink.com/?page_id=9#fit
Thanks.
Denise says
Oh, you mean like this post made by Food Dude on the LHH thread?
Wait a minute… let me see if I got this right. You had a dinner with some service issues, sent an email and got a “heartfelt” response AND A REFUND, and yet still got on this site smearing the restaurant’s service, possibly costing them a large amount of additional money?
Ams37, what did you expect, a new car? They should close the restaurant? We get some incredibly idiotic comments on this site, and I rarely say anything negative about someone, but you have to be the biggest idiot EVER to grace these pages. You seem to be an example of someone who feels entitled to a perfect life, and when you don’t get it, you make sure everyone around you pays – in short an self-absorbed, entitled spoiled brat.
Food Dude says
The king can do anything he wants. It’s good to be the king.
salmonfly65 says
Oh dear FD –
I think the Miracle Fruit may have had some lasting effects on your (insert appropriate word).
Denise says
Lol. Mel Brooks, right?
Food Dude says
;) Yup! If I had a prize to give, you would have just won it!
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
Exactly! That’s a perfect example. That specific commenter from the LLH thread showed some serious egregious engagement with others on this site, misrepresented facts and was quite contentious. She had plenty of chances and warnings by this community and was finally (and rightfully so in my opinion) called on her BS by food dude.
sidemeat says
cbf,
personal attacks can be disturbing to many,
the few I have recieved on this site I have enjoyed.
you wouldn’t deny an old man
this small pleasure?
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
You Sidemeat, are a very special case. But back on topic ya trolling doofus! (you mean like that?)
sidemeat says
qualities you have for sure,
post about food i adjure,
attacks to me please,
chef ken the disease?
could sidemeat be the cure?
Jack Adams says
Kinda looked liked an ad for “Direct Buy ” or “Arbor Mist” fruit-flavored wines…
jj says
I’m sure some of you have read this article. Interesting in the same “new urban dining” theme/trend. Of course, the polar opposite of the vegan meals discussed in the Oregonian. I thought some of you might want to have a look.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/dining/27boar.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Jean Johnson says
On the Oregonian piece could it be that we’ve turned cooking into such a complicated task with all the measuring and steps–the equivalent of small chemistry experiments–that people think in terms of hired help for company dinners?
It was just a 100 years ago that we had no measuring cups. That was before something called domestic science invaded our kitchens when we were industrializing and building the railroads and believed so in science and technology.
Anyhow, all I know is that everyday ethnic cooks around the world still don’t use formal recipes. It’s only us in the West that have put such a fine point on cooking that–especially on weekdays when we’re tired and busy–we end up consuming more ready to eat food than our health and wealth can afford.
Cheers, Jean Johnson
Ben T says
I fully agree. I’ve noticed that most people don’t trust their own instincts or sense of taste. An over emphasis on recipes has intimidated most home cooks into thinking they don’t know food. If you enjoy eating, you can learn how to create your own unique meals.
My advice to folks who are afraid to improvise is simple: Alter ingredients (e.g. add things, take away things, replace pasta with rice) in dishes they already know. Add salt and spices last to taste.
That said, I think everyone deserves a night off, especially if they have kids.
kelley says
you know, in the midwest, a potluck is called a “pitch-in.” maybe that’s a better term for sharing the cost of a catered meal.