The Lutheran Women sure know how to put on a luncheon

[KitchenWitch]

Jebus - there were at least 20 hot dishes and 10 different salads at the funeral luncheon today not counting the jello molds and fruit salads.

[WCGreen]

1. Covered Dishes.....

Yummmm....

Comfort food to comfort the grieving.....

The Catholic Gals over to small town PA did a good one when my Grandpa passed on....

[KitchenWitch]

2. There were 3, count 'em, 3 tater tot hotdishes!

[WCGreen]

3. You can't beat a tater tot hot dish....

[KitchenWitch]

4. Well you could, but why would you want to?

[Redstone]

5. Is it because of being Lutheran, or Minnesotan?

I understand from that hilarious book "How to speak Minnesotan" that they LOVE to git them "hot dishes" going up there, for almost any reason.

Yum! At least it provided you with a little bit of cheer during your unhappy day, yes?

Redstone

[tuvor]

7. It's 'cause they're Lutheran.

Sounds like a typical Edmonton Lutheran pot luck dinner to me!

All that's missing is the orange jello with the carrot shavings.

[KitchenWitch]

10. I was raised Catholic

I dated a Lutheran man for awhile who turned me on to a book entitled something like "They Glorify Mary, We Glorify Rice" or some such...it lampooned both the way Catholics and Lutherans view the world. Hilarious.

[tuvor]

15. My sister married a Catholic.

Maybe I should try to find that book! :)

[KitchenWitch]

17. Here

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961343745/103-2307630-2779019?v=glance&n=283155

[tuvor]

18. Thanks so much, KitchenWitch!

:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

8. It was great comfort food

and it surely helps.

[RevCheesehead]

6. Ah, but the real test, (a la Garrison Keillor):

Was there a Tuna Noodle Casserole, with cream of mushroom soup?

[KitchenWitch]

11. Why, yes there was

And since I do not eat canned tuna, I left it for the others.

[RevCheesehead]

12. Then it was an authentic Lutheran church meal.

Congratulations! You've now officially "lived." :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. Mmmmm!

[In_The_Wind]

13. yum

Okay, I'll share.

[KitchenWitch]

14. MMMM

Bageldogs!

[In_The_Wind]

16. I've got plenty to share!

Help yourself. :loveya:

[RevCheesehead]

30. Are you usually that sloppy?

Or were you just in a hurry to get to them there taters? ;)

[Oeditpus Rex]

40. Hey, the ketchup was warm!

I am not responsibile for condiment consistency.

[FuzzySlippers]

19. Tater tot hotdish.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[xmas74]

20. Is that the one w/ hamburger and cream of mushroom?

[KitchenWitch]

21. And sometimes peas or green beans

[xmas74]

23. I grew up w/ that when I lived in WI!

In MO I notice they leave the veggies out.

I notice they leave the veggies out of everything here.

[FuzzySlippers]

24. Definitely the "French cut" green beans.

:scared:

[FuzzySlippers]

22. Looks like it.

:scared:

[xmas74]

25. I prefer burger bundles or brocoli, rice and cheese

for our potlucks and luncheons.

[FuzzySlippers]

26. I'm afraid to ask what burger bundles are.

:scared:

[xmas74]

28. Take some hamburger,

smash it into patties, salt and pepper them.

Make some StoveTop stuffing according to the directions. Place a small amount in the middle of each patty and form the patty around it, leaving the top open.

Mix together ketchup, cream of mushroom (you knew that was coming) and Worchesture (sp.) sauce. Pour over the top and bake.

Sounds gross but it goes fast at every single potluck.

[FuzzySlippers]

31. No. No. Nothing gross sounding about that. Nothing at all.

:scared:

[xmas74]

34. And you're still shaking.

How about a nice dump cake.

Crushed pineapple still in its juice on the bottom of a baking dish, cherry pie filling on top of that, dry yellow cake mix over the top of that and pats of butter over the top of the mix.

Bake until golden.

Want some that are even worse? Ask me about zippy onion salad! Now that is scary.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

42. What in the world is that?

There's something gooey all over under the tots.

I've never heard of a tater tot hotdish before. :shrug:

[FuzzySlippers]

51. What?!?!? You don't have tater tot hotdish in Texas?!?!?

The goo is hamburger in cream of mushroom soup.:D

[Lone_Star_Dem]

53. Perhaps I was just sheltered as a child

But I've never had that stuff. :shrug: I have a feeling I should call my mother and thank her. :D

Here we do King Ranch Casserole. It's actually very good if you like spicy food.

[no name no slogan]

27. I served 4 years at a Lutheran institution of higher learning

And if I never see another piece of pickled herring or another strawberry jello salad or another tater tot hotdish, it won't be soon enough.

[Rabrrrrrr]

29. It's not a luncheon if it's for a funeral.

Now, the question is, what was their official funeral casserole? (or maybe "funeral hot dish"). Every church ladies group has an official funeral food - they might serve a lot of other stuff, but there's always something called "Funeral hot dish".

What was yours?

Also, jello IS a salad for Lutherans.

Sorry to be nitpicky, but its important to know these important and essential cultural idosyncracies. Also, fruit salads count as salads, even if all they are is fruit cocktail from a can and some marshmallows and that goddamn "Cool Whip" shit.

[xmas74]

32. Jello isn't just a salad for Lutherans,

it's a salad for all that are from the North.

I grew up in WI and the UP of MI-jello is the official salad. Seems to go over well in MN also.

FWIW-zesty onion is, IMO, the nastiest of all the jello salads.

[KitchenWitch]

36. I second the zesty onion

:puke:

What possessed the first person who "created" that salad to put onions in fucking jello.

[xmas74]

37. The one we have is

lemon jello, onions, shredded carrots, mayo and cottage cheese.

WTF was that person smoking!

[Rabrrrrrr]

46. OMG, that's the worst - fuckin' carrots in the Jell-O.

What the hell is up with that? The carrots, the small marshmallows... FUCKIN' YUCK!

I grew up in that culture, and I never had a Jell-O with onions. I think I should consider myself lucky.

[xmas74]

54. Consider yourself quite lucky.

I saw zesty onion at every potluck, along w/ devilled ham jello.

[FuzzySlippers]

38. I saw a postcard once that was captioned

"Minnesota Salad Bar". It had four colors of Jello and iceberg lettuce. I remember thinking to myself, "That's just like the Iowa salad bar, except we don't have the lettuce."

[xmas74]

39. I used to have a postcard that said

"The Four Major Foodgroups of Wisconsin-Brats, Cheese, Beer and Jello Salad."

They were absolutely correct.

[FuzzySlippers]

33. Not to be nitpicky, Rabrrrrrr,

but you forgot the flaked coconut.

[KitchenWitch]

35. I believe the official dish was Tater Tot Hotdish

[XemaSab]

44. That's my culture man!

:grr:

That's all the ethnic heritage I got! :P

[Hardrada]

41. There are rules too.

Banana slices in red jello ONLY

Slices of pear in lime jello ONLY

Meatballs and ludefisk for serious church holidays ONLY

[eeyore]

43. Okay, you people are freaking me out!

Jello salad with marshmallows I know. But this whole concept of a hot dish is totally foreign to me. Wow! It's amazing anyone is still alive up there. I suppose everything is made with ingredients from Schwanns?

[FuzzySlippers]

50. Hotdish is upper Midwestern for casserole.

[realisticphish]

45. For us Lutherans

potlucks aren't meals. They're a way of life.

[Orsino]

47. You bet. n/t

[Love Bug]

48. Yep. Church ladies sure know how to throw down some food.

But church ladies in the Midwest got nothin' on those from the South when it comes to potlucks. Southern church ladies treat potlucks like a contact sport!

[Bridget Burke]

49. For true enthusiasts of Minnesota cuisine....

Did you know you could purchase a dish towel, potholder or T-shirt showing "Minnesota: Principal Hot Dish by Region"?

http://keepthefaye.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=42

[madrchsod]

52. Methodist women are better cooks

i`ll put my church ladies up against the Lutherans any day of the week..

[xmas74]

55. I'll back you up there.

Damn fine cooking every Wed. night at my Methodist church and that's just for our group meal!

Imagine funeral potluck. I'm salivating as I'm typing!

[GOPisEvil]

56. ...and y'all call southerners weird...

:P