Potluck and Fellowship

At my church, we have a weekly potluck/game day on Fridays. When I first went to one with my father about 12 years ago, it was originally for the retired senior citizens but has since been modified to include anyone who wanted to attend. Some Fridays there are about a dozen or more people and others, there are less. But it is always fun.

It's nice to hang around nice people, talking and eating. Basically, having simple friendly fellowship. Sometimes I like to join in on the game that's played, such as if they play Sequence (a card game) or Tri-ominoes (dominoes in triangle form). But if they play a game called 3 to 13, I will pass and usually work on a craft I always bring with me.

Today, they played 3 to 13. I worked on finishing up a fox stuff animal I was making to send to my brother. I will join in on the conversations sometimes and it's always a good time. Put the finishing touches on the stuffed animal when my dad and I got home. Used some fabric paint to add eyes, nose, mouth, and whiskers.

I like to make different foods to bring to the potluck, with mixed reactions. Hey, I like to try new things! This week, I didn't get too adventurous. I have a recipe for low sodium BBQ baked beans (made in a slow cooker) that my dad likes so I made that for today. I pureed some of the cooked beans so there would be a thick sauce similar to canned baked beans. It went over pretty well, though admittedly it could have used maybe a tad more liquid smoke and/or low sodium BBQ sauce. In spite of that, it did taste pretty good.

My dad likes fruitcake, too. I have a recipe for a soft fruitcake that always goes over pretty well, and my dad never complains if there is any leftover! LOL. This week, I found a recipe on one of the containers of candied whole cherries and chunk pineapple. It was for pineapple cherry blondies. Essentially, a fruitcake in brownie form (without, of course, being chocolate). I thought it was sweet but not bad. I only had a small piece. Most importantly, my dad liked it!

I have been trying to make stuff that is low sodium because of my dad. He had gone into the hospital a few months ago with breathing issues. It was related to the severe swelling in his legs. I think the swelling was restricting blood flow, but I may be remembering that incorrectly. He was put on a diuretic and a restricted sodium diet. They monitored how much water he drank. He was in the hospital for almost two weeks and when he left, he had lost nearly twenty pounds. He is still losing weight but only a few pounds here and there. Sometimes he gains a tiny bit and they he loses it. I have purchased cookbooks for low sodium diets and looked up many recipes online. The BBQ baked beans is one of those recipes. The downside? No more hot dogs or ham. No high sodium cheese (but mozzarella, ricotta, and swiss are ok in moderation). No macaroni and cheese. No bacon or sausage. But I find things that my dad likes and work for me too (I'm a type 2 diabetic).

This new avenue in cooking is hit/miss for the potlucks. Some recipes go over very well, some don't. I look for different recipes to try or try to modify ones I have. People at potluck like to joke that I use them as guinea pigs! Sometimes, yes, I definitely do. One of these days, I'm going to make hot dog shaped hamburgers! I found a mold for them on the Walmart site. Hardly anyone has even heard of them, but I see them all the time with the taquitos at the gas station when I go get my dad his lottery tickets! I will definitely post how that goes! LOL