Feeding the crowd

I made dinner tonight for everyone at church.  The congregation here has a meal before services every Wednesday night.  I'm not sure why they started.  And to be perfectly honest, when we first moved here I wasn't so sure I was going to like it.  Turns out, I actually enjoy it quite a bit.  First of all, it isn't a potluck.  One person provides the entire meal for everyone and we rotate who cooks by signing up for it.  That means that I only have to cook one Wednesday night every 6-8 weeks.  Granted, that one time I have to cook is quite an undertaking, but still.  5-7 weeks off, even for one night a week is awesome!

The first time it was my turn I was actually nervous.  Trying to come up with something that you think everyone is going to like can be a little nerve racking.  But I finally decided on taco salad and it went over pretty well.  Everyone especially loved the brownies I made.  I take no credit--they came from a box. 

The second time it was my turn I made white chili.  I've never had so many people ask me what a dish was in my entire life.  Or so many looks of trepidation when they tasted it.  I think most of them told me they were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good.  I chose not to look too closely at the trash cans to see how much was thrown out.  Ignorance is bliss!

So tonight was my turn again. I considered chicken enchiladas, but that is what I make for pot-lucks.  I don't want to make them eat the enchiladas too often, then I would have to stop bringing them to the pot-lucks.  Right now I always come home with an empty dish so I decided not to mess with a good thing.  So I went back to taco salad.  I figured it had been about three months since I made it the first time.  I was feeling pretty good about how it all turned out until one of the elders walked in tonight, looked at the food and exclaimed, "It must be Anita's night to cook!"  I never did find out exactly what he meant by that, although I believe the general gist was that I can be counted on to bring something Mexican related.  I tried to tell him that the white chili wasn't even close to a Mexican dish, but he just smiled at me and shook his head.  I told him that since I was in such a rut next time I was going to only bring turnip greens and it would serve him right.  Unfortunately for me, he actually loves those nasty things so he would enjoy that meal.  Cajuns...

The plus side to all of this, is that even if I am constantly bringing food to this congregation that they don't know what to do with, they all love the desserts I make.  Most of them have gone over pretty well.  So even if most of the actual food gets thrown away, at least I can enjoy the compliments about the desserts!