Office Christmas Parties are a great way to celebrate the
holidays and to build employee morale. I
think a good ol’ fashioned pot luck is a great way for employees to participate
in the celebration even if they are not “planning” the event. Here are a few tips to help you pick out what
to bring to your office’s Christmas party:
1. Transportation –
The first thing you want to think about when picking out a recipe to share with
your fellow employees is how you are going to get it to the office. If you drive to work, your options are a LOT
different than if you walk, bike, or take a train!
If you drive: the possibilities are almost endless
depending on the type of containers you own and the type of driver you are!
If you take a train:
pick a recipe that is easily picked up and sat down, (stay away from
things like chili, soup, gravy- anything liquid can slosh around and perhaps
make a big mess!)
If you bike or walk:
stick with a recipe that you can fit in your bag (yummy rolls, or
desserts like cookies and brownies would be perfect!).
2. Temperature- Next,
think about the temperature that the items needs to be eaten, or if it needs to
be baked/cooked before eating. If the
food needs to be either hot or cold, you need a way to keep it warm or a refrigerator/cooler
to keep it cool. Make sure you ALWAYS
look up the proper temperature for foods, you wouldn’t want to be the cause of
a breakout of a food borne illness!
A room temperature food is ALWAYS easiest!!
3. Ingredients- People have allergies, and I’m sure even
though you “know” your fellow employees, they might have food allergies that
you don’t know about, or if you do know about an allergy and you want to let
someone know about the ingredients in your recipe without calling them out here
is a tip:
Create a tent card to place near your dish or platter that
says a message about an ingredient, such as “contains nuts” or “gluten
free”. That way there is no question to
anyone as to what is in your dish!
4. Presentation- (Of
course, I would touch on this subject, after all it is a party planning
BLOG!) When eating other people’s
prepared food, presentation is about 90% of the reason someone decides to put a
piece on their plate.
Let’s be real, if you have two platters of cookies, one is
on a paper plate and the cookies look good but were just thrown onto the plate,
and on the other seasonal platter, the cookies are nicely formed and placed on
the plate as if someone cared, which platter would you eat from?
It’s all in the presentation (and it doesn’t have to be an
EXPENSIVE platter, and there are plenty of ways on Pinterest to turn a paper
plate into a very darling Christmas cookie platter!)
Don’t be in a contest with your fellow employees on the
“prettiest” casserole, just use your head and put a little effort into it! (Read here on how to turn “good into great”)
