Eating together has been one of the great human pleasures since forever.

Potlucks Make Eating with Friends Possible
But now more than ever, sharing the job of preparing that food is important, maybe even necessary, if eating together is going to happen. Otherwise, we may not sit down to a meal with friends anymore—except in a restaurant.

Mercifully, most of our good friends and family also live over-full lives. They know we aren’t lazy, disloyal, inept, or cheap if our invitation to a meal together comes with a food assignment.


Family Reunions and Fellowship Meals
When I was growing up, we took a hot dish and a cold dish to family reunions and church fellowship meals. That’s when I learned that Dorothy’s deviled eggs were the best and Luetta’s rhubarb pie was unmatched.

Neighborhood Picnics
When our kids were growing up, we lived between two great families. Our kids played together, but we grown-ups seldom had more than two-sentence-long conversations. That’s when we instituted three backyard picnics a summer.

Each time, one of us made a main dish (usually grilled), another provided salad and veggies, and the other brought dessert. We took turns bringing the different foods. Whoever hosted the event took care of dinnerware. Unless we were running short on plates or silver and asked for a little assistance from the others. It was that kind of easy atmosphere.
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