Bring a Plate OT

New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the grip of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into peopleholes - I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev
--
God may have created man before woman but there is always a rough draft
before the masterpiece.

Bev wrote:

(snip)
I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Oh yes, this is relatively common here, except lack of co-ordination
between the participants can lead to unexpected menus, such as 10 plates
of egg and cress sandwiches, dozens of scotch eggs or a surfeit of
Cadbury's mini-rolls....actually, I don't think there's such a thing as
a surfeit of mini-rolls...

Deb.
--
Y! diatomdeb :: 0°07'W 51°18'N :: www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

Bev wrote:
New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the grip of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into peopleholes - I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev

Here in the US I have heard of it as "bring a plate" but more commonly
it is called a "potluck" as you take your chances as to what everyone
will bring. The luck of the draw, as it were. I think that there has
been a recent surge of concern for potlucks not so much that they are
unhygienic but because there is concern about keeping foods at the
proper temperature (hot foods hot, cold foods cold).

I am sometimes amused at people's tolerance for certain things. At my
husband's work if they find a hair in the food it is cause for
embarrassment on the part of the person who brought the dish. But once
at a gathering of guide dog raisers a dog hair in the food was toasted
as "extra fiber" :-)

Margaret
--
Margaret Fine

"Bev" wrote in message
...
New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and
took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother
was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were
battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt
Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and
all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the grip
of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into peopleholes -
I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of
all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev
--
God may have created man before woman but there is always a rough
draft
before the masterpiece.

In the United States, or at least in California, the 'bring a plate'
idea is called 'pot luck'. Churches often have pot luck dinners, and
sometimes other organizations, or just groups of people do this too.
When I was working at a large company, we used to have a pot luck
celebration for people's birthdays, and a huge one, including former
employees, at Christmas. Luckily, the PC people haven't attacked that
custom yet, but the business of taking down crosses and changing
terminology is in full swing. I cracked up the first time I went into a
fast food place and saw that the girl (sorry, woman) who took my order
was wearing a badge identifying her as a 'foreperson'.

Joy

"Margaret Fine" wrote in message
link.net...


Bev wrote:
New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and
took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all
participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother
was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were
battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt
Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and
all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes
and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the
grip of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that
the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this
behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into
peopleholes - I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of
all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev

Here in the US I have heard of it as "bring a plate" but more commonly
it is called a "potluck" as you take your chances as to what everyone
will bring. The luck of the draw, as it were. I think that there has
been a recent surge of concern for potlucks not so much that they are
unhygienic but because there is concern about keeping foods at the
proper temperature (hot foods hot, cold foods cold).

I am sometimes amused at people's tolerance for certain things. At my
husband's work if they find a hair in the food it is cause for
embarrassment on the part of the person who brought the dish. But
once
at a gathering of guide dog raisers a dog hair in the food was toasted
as "extra fiber" :-)

Margaret
--
Margaret Fine


Yes, unplanned potlucks can have interesting results. Some groups have
a semi-planned potluck, where you bring a main dish, salad, or dessert
depending on your last initial.

Joy

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

People do it all the time here. We call it "pot luck." Date: 1592
1b : a communal meal to which people bring food to share; usually used
attributively a potluck supper "

I've not heard people say it's unhygenic. I think it's great. I went to Ratfest
2003. It was potluck. Almost everyone brought chicken salads and cookies.

"Bev" wrote in message
...
New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the grip of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into peopleholes - I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev
--
God may have created man before woman but there is always a rough draft
before the masterpiece.

We call it Potluck. I love it but its usually quite fattening. I don't
believe it's ever been frowned on here, but the rest of the PC stuff sounds
like the US.

Karen

Karen Chuplis wrote:

"Bev" wrote in message
...
New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the grip of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into peopleholes - I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev
--
God may have created man before woman but there is always a rough draft
before the masterpiece.

We call it Potluck. I love it but its usually quite fattening. I don't
believe it's ever been frowned on here, but the rest of the PC stuff sounds
like the US.

Karen

There is quite a difference here between 'pot luck' and 'bring a
plate'. In New Zealand 'pot luck' pertains to a main meal and people
usually work out whether they are going to bring a main course, an
entree, sweet, etc. But 'bring a plate' is only a light thing akin to
afternoon tea or a late night snack. Supper here means a light snack
in the evening and we call our main meal dinner. Say I was going to a
meeting of The Cat Club in the evening for instance - I would have
dinner before going out at say 8.00 p.m., attend the meeting and then
have supper, with everyone bringing a plate. There would only be light
things like pikelets, scones, cakes, sandwiches and biscuits and we'd
have a cup of tea or coffee.

Bev
--

"Yoj" wrote:
Luckily, the PC people haven't attacked that
custom yet, but the business of taking down crosses and changing
terminology is in full swing. I cracked up the first time I went into a
fast food place and saw that the girl (sorry, woman) who took my order
was wearing a badge identifying her as a 'foreperson'.

I generally like the creeping feminization, or neuterization (if those
are actually words) of the language. It might make things more
convenient in the future if I want do things like refer to a baby
whose gender I don't know yet (like the Yowlet/Yowlette), or a
hypothetical person without using "it" or "they".

I think that "foreperson" is a pretty good word! I do still sense
some biases today that steer woman towards supporting staff roles
(like human resources, executive assistant, etc.) as opposed to line
roles like forepersons. Maybe women will be less likely to eschew or
rule out being in positions like "foreperson", "spokesperson",
"salesperson", or maybe even "ombudsperson" when the name of the
position doesn't imply a particular gender.

Well I am in OZ....so, yes, we do have the same thing. Not so stringent as
the US stance on it though with sanitation etc. (but then again, I guess
thats the laid back Aussie nature...."she'll be right mate").

Mostly though people I know buy things simply because they are too lazy or
busy to make anything themselves

Purrs

Angela and Gizmo

"Bev" wrote in message
...
New Zealand has an odd custom (I am told this by overseas visitors).
Sometimes if we go to a function i.e. a farewell for someone, a
commtttee meeting etc. we are told to 'bring a plate'. My German
sister-law admitted to complete confusion when asked to do this and took
an empty plate!

'Bring a Plate' means you bake or make something, cakes, scones,
sandwiches, or buy something and put it on the plate.
This constitutes supper and is consumed greedily by all participants.

I can remember when I was a kid living in the country and my mother was
a member of a country organisation called 'The Womens' Institute'.
These women made 'bring a plate' into an art form. There were battles
over secret recipes, who had the lightest sponge and what did Aunt Mabel
put in her shortcake. Once a year there would be a Spring Show and all
the women put in their best cakes and produce including knitting and
needlework. Many and varied were the battles for the top prizes and
much skulduggery went on.

I mention this because New Zealand has for some time been in the grip of
Politically Correct (PC) behaviour. It has now been deemed that the
habit of 'bringing a plate'is unhygienic
and should be frowned on. I might add that along with this behaviour
is more PC stuff, i.e. taking down crosses because it might offend
someone from a different religion, turning manholes into peopleholes - I
could go on forever.

I'd be interested to know what people from other countries think of all
this and if 'bring a plate' happens anywhere else.

Bev
--
God may have created man before woman but there is always a rough draft
before the masterpiece.