I hate work pot-lucks

[smetchie]

It's my boss's birthday tomorrow and I get a fucking email for like the 17th time this week prompting me to "think" about what I'd like to bring. She sends the list of stuff people are bringing right? check it out:

•7 layer dip
•Chips
•Guac Dip
•Chips
•Meat Dip & Chips , table cloth
•Meatballs
•Steamed and Fried Dumplings
•Cajun Pasta Salad
•Avacado, corn and jalepeno dip and chips
•Ham
•Rice Dish
•Brownies
•Rueben Casserole
•Cake / Sodas

So I gave the obnoxious chick organizing it $10 to chip into the retarded "best boss" plaque they're getting him for his wall. And she's like "do you want to give $15? Because we're also going to get balloons and Popeye's chicken."

What the fucking hell. I like Popeye's chicken more than you can ever know. But this is out of control. How much food can you actually eat during one day? And why do I have to give so much. 10 bucks is a perfect amount. Fuck off. I'm immune to your high pressure sales tactics. Even if I wanted to bring something I wouldn't.

[Tom]

I like to bring cornsticks for pot lucks. I make thread them in these cast iron pans, and they come out almost like crisp cornbread cookies...i love the things and stuff myself with them while they're still warm, and wind up having to make a batch and a half. The thing is, they wind up with brown bits on them from the cast iron, and they look...well, realy not all that appetizing. So i get to take most of them home, but nobody can say i didn't bring something.

[[deleted user]]

I hate all pot lucks. You're not meant to mix all of those different kinds of food together. It makes my stomach revolt.

Tom, I need the recipe for "cornsticks".

[Tom]

Recipe? Erm...well... i had a recipe, once. Got it from the newspaper when Taps (a local department store) in Columbia closed their lunch counter and published it. No idea where it is now, but i'll approximate:

1 part plain white flour, 1 part sugar, 2 parts self rising corn meal. Some eggs. Some milk. Some butter. Some cheese, bacon, ham, or cracklin's if you want. Mix it all up into a batter. Put one (or 2) of these in the oven at somewhere between 350 and 425 F. Once the pans are heated, take 'em out and brush with oil (i use canola or sometimes butter) then spoon in the batter. Bake 10-12 minutes. Turn out the corn sticks, and refill and repeat til you've used all the batter. Expect some to break when you turn them out. That's ok, you can either eat them immediately, or take them to the pot luck and know you'll get to bring them home.

A word on the temperature: i think that the temperature is the key to getting kinda crispy cornsticks instead of kinda bready/cakey cornsticks. I think you tend to want the temp a bit higher...but it's been a while since we've had a pot luck and anyway, i just experiment with the heat until i get it right, and eat the mistakes.

[Tom]

Or, you could use this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-co...

The cast iron pan is a crucial ingredient by the way. When you brush in the oil it heats immediately, and when you pour the batter in it starts cooking before you even put it in the oven.

[smetchie]

I like to make nothing for pot-lucks and ignore all the stupid food. The last time a couple of them did it on a smaller scale they told people they could have some for $5 a plate.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Tom! I play aroudn with it until I get it right. :)