Neighbourhood meals

In many parts of the USA, churches sponsor events like that. We call them Pot Luck suppers. I have had some excellent treats at these. Many lades put a lot of effort into preparing their very best dishes.

It's done a lot int he US, but not necessarily associated with a particular time of year, although it's more common in summer. American Independence Day (July 4th) is a common time.

It is sometimes called a"block party,"
>a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic.

Or one family might just invite a lot of neighbors over for a "potluck." In that case, the hosts often provide the main dish (in summer, it's likely to be barbecued something) and the guests bring the rest. If the group is really huge, as it might be for a block party, then it might be that each family brings their own food, plus a dessert to share.

You food sounds a lot classier that I would expect at a neighborhood party, which would usually be pretty informal. Potato and macaroni salad. Crudités. Barbecued hamburgers & hot dogs. Cheap wine and lots of beer, with sodas for the kids and abstainers. Chips (crisps) and dips. Watermelon. Cookies, and ice cram and someone will probably bring s cake or a pie.

You food sounds a lot classier that I would expect at a neighborhood party

Well -- this is France so people tend to bring stuff that tends to be a bit fancier. Some years when there have been more people, it was mostly people bringing their own food and maybe sharing with those sitting beside them. Then desserts for everybody put on a separate table. Yesterday there were only 28 of us, so everyone cut stuff up small and went around offering to everybody else.

No possibility of keeping ice cream so desserts were apricots off someone's tree, canelés, a cherry clafoutis, a peach tart, a lemon meringue pie! (not very French), and a pound cake surrounded by fresh strawberries.

Wow!

I sure as heck wish I lived in your neighborhood, bjd. If such a matter-of-fact description can make my mouth water even after I've just eaten my own home-cooked chicken with bread stuffing, I expect that I'd almost be drooling if I were to sit down to the real thing.

I think it's a lovely idea. Don't know if it would work here in Poland... who knows. People would probably start bickering about where it should take place and who would clean up afterwards... not too much neighbourly spirit. Unfortunately the catholic church would not be likely to sponsor such an event here, unless it got something out of it...

No church involvement in France, given how few people go to church!

Here, it's either a group of neighbours, or else an association that has been set up that does the organizing. In our case, it's a retired lady who likes to keep busy. You usually need a driving force of some kind to deal with the organization. There were only her and me to set things up, but everyone helped with the clean-up afterwards. Just rolling up the paper tablecloths, ditching the paper plates into garbage bags. Everyone brings their own cutlery and takes back whatever pan or plate they brought.

Here it has become organized enough that our city hall supplies the tables, chairs, bread and water. But it's a small suburb of a bigger city. The mayor also stopped by to say hello, have an apéritif and answer a few questions.

Edited by: bjd

If I were the mayor, I'd have only one question: Who made the lemon meringue pie?

He didn't stay for the meal, just the aperitif. In fact, the lemon meringue pie came from a store selling only frozen food -- it was the only dessert that hadn't been homemade.

That's interesting; it seems that Mrs. Smith has a French counterpart. The French version looks French, though, doesn't it?