Maximum Fun Forum

Is a potluck... IMMORAL?

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The bums will always lose.

Potlucks are my social bread and butter. That is to say, when the bread and butter are not being supplied by someone else.

I just had one this weekend (kind of), I supplied the drinks and bagged crisps and nicely cleaned apartment; my guests brought pie, artichoke dip, dried bread and pizza. Not only do potlucks divide the responsibility of the food, but also with the leftovers.

Also, variety is the spice of life, and if I don't like what one party provided, I can politely ignore one dish and resale its appropriated stomach-space to something else.

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this aint Narnia, kiddo...
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I'm a little disappointed that the Judge didn't take the opportunity to educate listeners about the etiquette of hosting a potluck dinner. I've been to more than one potluck event where no one brought a food that can be reasonably considered a main dish.

My mother went to a Thanksgiving dinner one time where (appropriately) every guest was asked to bring something. But the host did not put any effort into coordinating things and for some reason decided that, since she was hosting the dinner, surely no one would expect her to do the turkey as well. Meanwhile, absent any instruction about what to bring, the host and every single dinner guest brought a pie. Nothing else. All pies. Never in the history of mankind has a table full of pies been so depressing.

And is it just me, or did the complainant and defendant flee the courtroom while the Judge was in chambers? There was no interaction at all with either party during Hodgman's ruling. Was there some lost audio? Or did the Judge change his mind about the ruling and re-record it later? (hoping desperately to squeeze in "there is no party like an Ayn Rand party")

We had a recording problem and had to re-record part of the verdict this week.

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The bums will always lose.

I suspected there was some kind of technical problem, but I kind of like the idea of the defendant being so upset he's about to lose that he'd storm out of the courtroom. Man, that Bailiff needs to re-read his job description.

A great episode.

Really fantastic episode.

The middle ground that the Judge never touched upon was the potluck rubric. Take your guests, look at the distribution of their last names, and assign duties accordingly. Letters A-G bring a main dish, H-S bring side dishes, S-Z desserts. This is especially valuable for regular gatherings, as the burden of more expensive dishes can be swapped among the letter groupings from month to month.

And in general, if you need further potluck advice, just ask a Protestant.

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The unthinkable has happened. Judge Hodgman ... is wrong.

Aside from meat and dairy products, as well as some pre-made foods from the refrigerated section (potato salad, baked beans, etc.), the dates on foods purchased from a store are almost ALL "suggested use" dates.

Quick tip: If the label says "expiration date," then toss it when that date passes. Otherwise, use your own judgment.

A small sample of advice from pro-consumer website The Consumerist will settle this pretty definitively:

http://consumerist.com/2010/09/how-long-to-wait-before-trashing-expired-yogurt-eggs.html

Not when the date passed an entire month ago, though!

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Q) What do you get when you pickle a pickle?

A) A cucumber.

Once, about 10-12 years ago, my younger brother made a box of Kraft Spaghetti that had expired 10 years previously. This was pretty impressive because the expiration date was from before my parents moved into the house we were in. He didn't use the seasoning packet, just the pasta, but he claimed it was perfectly fine. Seeing that he was in college for Hospitality Management at the time, I guess he had some knowledge of this. And he's still around today...

I don't know if I have a point or just wanted to tell a story of an extreme example of expired food consumption.

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starry wisdom

If I remember it good, the example was of foods being prepared 3 months past their due date, nothing in that link is claimed safe that far down the road.

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this aint Narnia, kiddo...
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@kneemee:

Well, actually, yes. After a month. Two months. Six months. Depending on what kind of food it is, you can safely consume many products long after the date on the package. Mac and Cheese, for example. Pretty much any canned food ever. Frozen foods. And that's just off the top of my head. There are many, many more examples.

They may not taste the best, but they will absolutely be safe to eat.

@alittler: You don't remember it good. The complaint on the podcast only mentions "over a month" past the expiration date.

Also, the products in the link are only a small sampling of fresh foods that can be safely eaten past the date on the package. As I said earlier, dried, frozen, preserved and etc. foods are safe long after the date on the package.

On the other hand, if you're regularly eating food that is well past its sell-by date, you're probably not doing a very great job of organizing and planning your menu.

In my opinion it's one of the trickiest things to do, but the ability to plan out a menu and purchase the correct items in the correct quantities to feed your family is one of the most important skills you can have in life. Needing to make two extra runs to a store for this forgotten-ingredient or that can really zap your ability to devote some time to more important activities or recreation. And buying three times as many groceries as you should have (and still probably forgetting some things you should have bought) can be a terrible financial strain.

So while I don't have a problem with eating a non-perishable a reasonable amount of time after the sell-by date or a perishable item just after the sell-by date, I also realize that doing so too-regualrly indicates that I may have some larger problems with the way I am managing my nutrition.

You're right, of course. I don't mean to say that it's something you should make a habit of. I was just a bit surprised by Judge Hodgman's immediate, vehement denunciation of ever using a product after the date on the package.

I would be very interested to hear how the post interview went! For a moment I thought the Judge was going to go with the Complainant. I felt that with a more well-thought out argument, his view would have gone further with the Judge. Although I can see their place, I tend to dislike potlucks myself. Ah well.
But mainly I wanted to say-- I am a bit shocked that, upon the Defendant's last entry into evidence, his Honor failed to point out the entirely gross and off-putting habit of going barefoot on picnic blankets amongst the food! That is gnarly and just wrong. The Defendant has the soles of her feet inches away from the cheese. (I just vomitted a little in my mouth just now). Awful. I am totally off picnics because of this issue. Two years ago, I went to a Concert in the Zoo picnic with coworkers. Four words and I am out.
Potato Salad. Feet. Horror.
Everyone in this picture looks very nice and hygienic and all, but God help us all when we are not so lucky!
I understand that you do not want to carelessly walk on picnic blankets in your shoes. I am not a heathen. But this is the beauty of the picnic blanket; you sit and angle your feet either out, near the edge and politely away from the food, or if you are nimble enough, neatly tucked under you. You Can Not under any circumstances point the soles of your feet toward someone or near anyone's food. They will kill you for that in some places in the world!
Of course the sole exception to this rule is if the picnic consists solely of two lovers. Again, I am not a heathen.

This has quickly become one of my favorite new podcasts. If you have a potluck, I will be happy to bring the Entemans. Actually I would probably bring an unreasonably hot salsa of my own making...

Carry on.

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