50 Potluck Experiences That Traumatized These People

Had a friend show up with “his wife’s specialty”. It was deviled ham and cheez wiz scooped onto a ritz. They were also made some time ahead because the crackers were no longer crisp.
To make it worse, he walked around with them and his wife telling everyone to try them.

That was the night I learned that it will be ok to strategically lie about having food allergies.

We had a potluck today and someone brought some Doritos. People started eating them and complaining that they tasted like dirt. We looked at the bag and it had a promo for Mockingjay part 1. The chips expired in 2014! This was a mixed department pot luck and we haven’t found the person that brought the 9 year old chips.

My grandmother-in-law. Everything she brings. The first time was stale cake in a bowl of syrup(?). It was both cake and soup, while also being neither.

She has meat in her deep freezer older than some of her grandchildren. She’s a depression-era cook, so expiration dates don’t apply to medicine, cupboards, or freezers. Once she tried to give my daughter (2yo at the time), cough medicine that expire 9 years before she was even born.

Some kind of “lasagna” made by someone who had no clue what lasagna is. There were layers of pasta; but the rest was things like chicken, grated cheddar cheese, canned jalapeños, mushroom soup, frozen mixed vegetables, spicy mayo etc.

This one requires some setup because the dish is actually very popular at family gatherings.

My dad was well known for his cakes. Small variety of different ones. Nothing fancy, just good cake.

He made one and iced it to serve later that day at a family potluck. The dog comes along and can barely get his tongue over the edge of the pan and gets about 1/3 of the icing off the top. Dad had leftover icing.

So the moral of the story, eat from the same side of the dish that my dad serves himself from.

Went to an office potluck and someone had made a breakfast casserole. I cut a slice, was about to put a bite in my mouth and noticed the bottom was FURRY. Literally lined with cat hair. I can’t understand how she didn’t notice before putting the food in the dish, so gross.

A half eaten chicken something dinner from their meal at Olive Garden the previous night.

The dish itself (a salad) was really good. It became gross when my coworker explained how they made the dish. She went into great detail about how she cleaned her sink, put everything in the sink, and mixed it IN THE SINK. And THEN, once everything was mixed, she would put it in the bowl. I haven't eaten at a potluck since. I don't care how well someone cleans their sink. That is downright disgusting.

An apple pie, but they didn't have apple pie spices, like clove, cinnamon, or nutmeg, and said they used taco seasoning by accident and expected people to eat it.

I, a dumb b***h who likes to torture themselves tried it, and promptly tossed it into the trash when they looked away.

A work colleague brought in a half filled casserole dish of little smokies (mini cocktail sausages, probably made up of 2+ animals) to a potluck. I asked her about the recipe and she said that she didn’t know. Apparently they were leftovers from a 3 day camping trip she had in eastern Washington. That means they were prepared by someone else at some outdoor site, picked over, and then packaged up (hopefully in a cooler? But who knows) and driven at least 5 hours through a mountain pass before they ended up on our conference room table in Seattle. Blech.

A girl in our group is great at cooking. Then we noticed she changes the diaper of her 1yo kid and doesn't wash hands later. Never.

Covid and TV tutorials on how to wash hands were her last socially acceptable opportunity to learn this ancestral trick. But after she had a kid, her habits never improved

Chocolate chip cookies but she didn't really mix the ingredients very well. So there were lumps of flour and baking soda (or powder). They were godawful.

Second worst was a macaroni salad that had some kind of white fish in it.

I still feel bad for one of the office ladies who once brought ice cold green bean casserole not knowing her crock pot was never turned on.

After this; she literally brought 2 cans of green beans, a bowl and a can opener.
Of course no one ever ate the canned green beans after she stood at the microwave warming them up for 8 minutes or however long.

At a later several years reunion, she was still working there and had grey hair.
And it occurred to me in that moment that she never had much in life.

Life isn’t lucky or full of joy for everyone.

I’ll fall on that sword. I brought Shepards pie to a Christmas party and thought it festive to colour the mashed potatoes green.

Sidewalk beans. They spilled beans on pavement scooped them back into the container with bits of stuff and served it with the warning that they’ve spilled them on the pavement and there’s a chance of finding pebbles in it.

A korean american coworker brought homemade kimchi, but she admittedly didnt know how to make it and just "winged it".

It was fermented wrong and was covered in mold, which she didnt seem to understand was bad. The vegetables were basically half liquified and it smelled like dumpster juice.

The thing is...half of the chefs at work had learned to make kimchi correctly and safely since various different kimchis used to be on the menu before she was hired. So we all instantly knew it was wrong and unsafe, but no one wanted to tell her.

A dessert made to look like a cat’s litter box. It had Tootsie Roll “poop” hanging off of the sides.

“Homemade fried chicken.” Which translated to ‘chicken that I covered in pancake batter and breadcrumbs and dropped into a frypan until the outside looked cooked.’ It wasn’t even seasoned.

A “salad” that consisted of shredded carrots, miracle whip, and raisins.

I’m sorry grandma, but f**k that salad.

Orange Rolls. For those that don't know these are cinnamon rolls that have orange zest or extract in the dough recipe. Usually delicious.

**This maniac took a cake pan, poured orange juice in it. Dropped Biscuit dough in it and then baked it.**