3 Best Recipes for Potlucks, Church Dinners, and Family Reunions

Do you remember church basement dinners? Mother-daughter brunches? How about family reunions in the park? In my Midwestern Scandinavian community we had many events that focused around food, family, and fun. These gatherings bring back great memories for us and can even start our mouths watering for those old favorites of our past.

Here’s a favorite hotdish recipe that was a staple at our church basement festivities. It’s easy to make, a real crowd-pleaser, and uses everyday ingredients. This casserole contains healthy food groups so you can feel good about serving this all-in-one dish piping hot to your friends and family.

Add a favorite sweet salad that was all the rage in the 1960’s in my North Dakota hometown. It was served as a salad, but it could easily pass for desert with its light, fluffy, fruity base. Try it out and see what you think.

Favorite recipe #3 is for dessert. We always had dessert at our family reunions and church dinners! Rhubarb is a must for a great dessert in our Scandinavian homes. Rhubarb Crunch can be served warm or cold with whipped topping or ice cream. Or delicious all on its own!

Six Layer Dinner

Serves 8.

2 lb. hamburger

4 potatoes

4 full-size carrots

1/2 c. dry rice–white or brown

4 onions

1 lg. can tomatoes

1 can tomato soup

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 c. water

Fry hamburger in skillet. Set aside. Spray large casserole with oil. Add the following items in layers and in the order given:

Peel and slice 4 raw potatoes. Place in casserole in Layer #1.

Clean and slice 4 raw carrots and place on top of potatoes as Layer #2.

Rinse rice and sprinkle over carrots. Layer #3.

Add fried hamburger on top of rice. Layer #4.

Clean, peel, and slice 4 onions. Place over hamburger. Layer #5.

In small bowl, mix tomatoes, tomato soup, salt, pepper, sugar, and 1/2 c. water. Pour over onions. Layer #6.

Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 1.5 hours.

Cherry Berry Salad

1 can cherry pie mix

1 small can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 tsp. almond flavoring

2 c. whipped topping

Gently mix all ingredients together and chill overnight or for several hours. Delicious as a salad or desert. A drop of food coloring gives it a pleasant coloring for the plate.

Rhubarb Crunch

2 c. diced, cleaned rhubarb

6 T. flour

1/4 c. oatmeal

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. butter or margarine

Arrange rhubarb in greased 8×8 baking dish. Mix other ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over rhubarb. Bake 40 min. at 325 degrees F. Cut into 9 pieces and serve warm or cold.