Interesting potluck themes

As part of our weekly community group meetings (most every Saturday at 6 p.m. – come join us) we always start out with a meal/snack of some sort. I think I’ve been delegated the food committee chairman and I have to admit, sometimes I’m at a loss for ideas.

I’d love to go all out each week, with “gourmet cuisine” but it seems that getting folks together once a week tends to be hard enough without adding an undue burden of everyone having to come up with a new dish/meal.

So here’s the question:

What creative potluck & party themes have you seen or would you like to see at a get together/party?

Some great potluck ideas I’ve enjoyed in the past:

• Greek/Mediterranean
• Cajun
• Mexican – always a big hit
• Italian
• Baked potato bar
• Make your own pizza

I did find one great thread that suggests building your potluck meal around dishes that contain one main ingredient (ala like Food Networks Iron Chef) or dishes with the same color.

A few other great potluck ideas:

• The last meal – everyone brings a dish based on the first letter of their last name. Blundell’s bring beans, Lehmann’s bring lima beans, Ellcey’s bring eggplant, etc. etc.
• Brinner – Breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc.
• Vegetarian – This could be a great win, or a flop depending on your group 🙂
• Thanksgiving – Who says you can only have turkey, pumpkin pie and all the fixings on Thanksgiving day? Why not have a huge Thanksgiving dinner in the middle of July as well? For that matter, you can probably come up with any number of holiday meals to have “out of season” and probably save some cash as well since no one else will be fighting you for a 20 lb turkey.
• Slow cooking – Only dishes cooked in a slow cooker are allowed. This might be fun to see how creative people get.

Another great idea to always encourage is for everyone to bring extra copies of their recipes to the potluck dinner. That way if folks try a dish they really love they can go home with the recipe and don’t have to hope someone remembers to send it to them later.

I’m also thinking I need to get more people in on The Pioneer Woman’s website and/or cookbook and do a Pioneer Woman Cookbook theme…

So, there’s the task I want to know what other clever/successful themes you’ve come up with… comment away!