Bena Mae’s Kitchen: You mean everyone brought potatoe salad!

A potluck supper is when everyone invited to the meal brings some food, generally already prepared and ready to eat. They are called “pot luck” because everyone brings a “pot” of something and you take your luck with what they offer.
I cannot think of potlucks without remembering my late sister Inez Young and her dear friend Acel Masters who attended many of them together. Inez was so meticulously clean that a germ never dared get near her. And she had to know who prepared each dish before she took a bite of it. So she would have Acel scout around to find out who brought what and report back to her. She would only partake of a dish if she knew the cook personally and knew they kept a clean kitchen. The two of them had many laughs over the years about Acel’s secretive clean dish surveillance at potlucks.
In organizing a potluck supper, sometimes it may just be left to the discretion of the guest on what to bring. It’s always surprising when the various dishes turn out to be a well balanced meal. But this is not always the case.  One time my garden club held a potluck luncheon without telling members what to bring.  There were 15 of us in attendance. And 11 of us brought chicken casseroles. This made for lots of laughs and the realization that there are more chicken casserole recipes around than one can imagine.
I am reminded of the time when I was a guest at a luncheon at a little country church a few miles from where I live. It was a small church, picture postcard pretty if you will, white with a steeple and perched on a little knoll among tall oak trees. My hostess told me that the congregation had molasses sales in the church yard each fall, selling homemade molasses, jams, jellies and home baked bread. From her description, it sounded like a Grandma Moses painting.
While we were eating she told me that the church’s pastor was new and had only been there for a couple of months. A few days after his arrival, the congregation gave him a potluck supper to welcome him to the church.  As they were going through the buffet line, he was overheard saying that he loved banana pudding. At the next church potluck there were 12 banana puddings on the dessert table.
I’ve saved the most disastrous potluck story for last: 
Tragedy struck a Baptist Church when every covered dish at the church’s monthly potluck was a green bean casserole. Stunned onlookers watched in horror as family after family arrived with the same popular side dish in tow. By the time grace was said over the meal, there were over 25 green bean casseroles lining the buffet table with no meat dish in sight. The reason for the tragedy?  A super market in town was having a 25 cents off  sale on cream of mushroom soup.
A little seven year-old boy was heard to say, “I’m glad they weren’t brussels sprouts.  I would have puked.”

Herb stuffing is baked with chicken breasts and topped with a creamy sauce for this quick and easy main dish.

Broccoli Cheese Chicken Casserole

4 1/2 cups Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Stuffing
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup water
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Paprika
1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s® Condensed Broccoli Cheese Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/3 cup milk

Crush 1/2 cup stuffing and mix with 1 tbsp butter in small bowl. Set aside.
Mix water, remaining butter and broccoli in large bowl. Add remaining stuffing and mix lightly. Spoon into 3-qt. shallow baking dish. Arrange chicken over stuffing. Sprinkle with paprika.
Stir soup and milk in small bowl. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle crushed stuffing mixture over soup mixture.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.