We had another successful potluck last weekend. The sun came out and so did our friends. We had thirty-five friends, new and old, enjoy dinner outside in the parking lot of Payton's Produce. It's been in the high 70's and 80's the last couple of weeks. It was a perfect summer afternoon. My friend John came and played his original folk/blues music. Nothing I like better than Sunday afternoon in the sunshine with some live music, good food, and friends. We put up a few canopies, some tables and chairs, and set up the food. It's getting much easier now. It's our fifth one and a core group has formed. There are about ten friends who try to make every potluck so we all know what it looks like and the set up just takes place. I am so grateful to friends and coworkers, the tables and chairs and canopies were the would be a big expense. Everybody pitches in to help. Jimi brought some nice door prizes such as: fresh flowers, fruit, lavender products, and other items from local farms and businesses. We were able to give a few copies of Forks Over Knives away. If we don't have a speaker for our December or February potlucks, maybe we'll just show the movie. That would be fun.
When I first began this potluck I talked to the people I know at Northwest Veg who've been sponsoring a potluck in Portland for over twenty years and another in Vancouver for the last five years. I asked them some questions about what works and what doesn't, what to provide, or not, how to get speakers, etc. One of the things Jill told me was that they weren't always culinary wonders. She said sometimes it's only six people and sometimes one hundred or more. That's usually the January or February potluck, health and fitness are pretty popular those months. But, ours have turned out to be culinary adventure. Some of the friends who come to the potluck think about what they might make a month before and even practice some recipes. We've had some absolutely wonderful food. It's changing with the seasons too. This time zucchini was the star of the show. Our next potluck is in October. I'm looking forward to the pumpkin and winter squash meals that show up. We're all learning from each other too. Most of the food this time was vegan, raw, and quite a bit was even gluten free.
Some people took their ingredient cards home so I don't remember them all, but of the wonderful food we had was:
Raw Sweet Potato Salad
Vegan Potato Salad
Organic Fruit Salad
Wheat Berry Salad
Raw Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Trail Mix Cookies
Vegan Potatoes, peppers, onions, and green beans salad
Little apricot tarts
Zucchini Hummus
My Cheesy Chili Flax Crackers with fresh carrots & zucchini
Eggplant walnut paté
Flowerless Chocolate Torte ~ This one was very popular
Vegan Peach Banana Cream Pie
Carrots, snow peas, and honey, with lemon juice
Raw Zucchini Ravioli
Two versions of raw zucchini spaghetti, one with bean sausages
The next potluck is October 21, 7:00 p.m. Dr. Richard Heitsch from the Integrated Medicine Group in Portland is going to give a talk about reversing heart disease. I'll be sure to post the details as it gets closer.
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