Ya know, I really like nacho chips with warmed cheese sauce! If you have or could borrow a fondu pot, you could easily keep the cheese warm. I suspect there are even small crockpot like things. What a lovely hot appetizer!

Yea, the organizers are a bit crazy or maybe they aren't thinking things through as much as they should. But try to give them some slack. Organizing a party this time of year, when no one has extra time or energy is tough.

I suspect the organizers are new at this. I have done the organizing of parties like that dozens of times, and unless you really tell it like it is.......you will have a table piled high with bags of various chips and cartons of ready made dip. When I organize a pot luck party, I try to assign dishes to bring....with the youngest single guys bring the chips, dip and soda.
Don't gripe...unless you like a party with only chips and store bought dip, open a couple of packages of little smokies and warm them in the crock pot with some BBQ sauce....unless you want to do some real cooking and take something really nice.
Linda C

I shouldn't be so cranky about the hot appetizer thing. My kitchen stove had been disconnect for over six months for remodeling, I don't have a crock pot, and she scratched me off the list during a rough week.
Anyway, I'm over it. FWIW, I'm looking forward to the conversation and relaxed atmosphere, no matter what people bring to eat.

I'd just tell them "hey, I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel. Cut me some slack here." :)

My DH tells me that when he was single, he used to HATE it when he was assigned what to bring. The organizers (he referred to them as the party mafia) would assume that because he was young, single and male that he was by default also helpless in a kitchen, cheap and clueless. They'd say "oh, you can bring disposables or chips." He'd tell them that he brough real food or nothing, take their pick. Of course, after we married, he hated that they would assume I was making what he was "assigned" to bring. Maybe I just worked with an unusual group of guys, but most of them were good cooks and conscientious about bringing a variety of food. When one of them had a situation like Jason's -- whether remodel, or travel plans or whatever -- we cut them a little slack and they brought what they could contribute without putting them in a logistical bind or us in the hospital. :)

You could do both what you want and what they want. They said HOT appetizer right? Make a cold spicy nacho dish that is HOT in the picante sense rather than the caliente sense.

COLD HOT NACHOS

serve this in a shallow baking dish with a bowl of tortilla chips on the side and have a serving spoon for the topping. This is not a dip

take a quart of sour cream and a pound or two of cream cheese softened to room temperature and blended

add well drained green chili (frozen is best but canned is OK) - maybe 1/ cup to a cup - how hot do you like it?

chopped green onions about a half cup

chopped tomato well drained 1/2 cup

1/2 cup black olives chopped or sliced

1 red pepper chopped (or green if that is all that is available)

a dash or two of garlic salt - to taste

2 medium avocados chopped (add last)

Serve over a bed of canned pinto beans, garbanzo beans or kidney beans - well drained - use 2 cans

garnish with shredded lettuce, shredded Colby cheese and more chopped tomato

have tortilla chips and individual bowls or small plates on the side

Put a bed of chips down and spoon a little of the Nacho topping on it and that is it

Lee AKA Fireraven9
The snow on your eyelids that curtsy with age
A freezing rare stare on tyranny's wings
The bitterness, hardness, warmth of your skin
Is diseased with familiar caresses (Winter Song - Nico/Cale)

Linda.....I have to say..... you tell it like it is.

It's been said before, Kev!

I do kind of like store bought dip. . . so I brought some! But I went to a fancy grocery store that make it's dip on site and you scoop it into the size of container you wish to purchase.
By the way, there was WAY to much food at that party. The big hit of the pot luck contributions was the guy that brough a bowl of his recipe of stuff for making hot buttered rum. He would add a scoop of the stuff he'd mixed up (butter, spices, brown sugar) to a mug with some rum then pour in hot water from a teakettle.

Sounds like that guy has been to his share of potlucks and knows what works. :)

Buy a bag of frozen meatballs and throw them in a crock with Ragu. 10 Bucks

I have been steadfastly opposed to owning a crock pot. I have just never seen the need to devote space to that kind of appliance. Everyone's telling me that good potluck attendees have these things, but I still don't want to get one. Am I, by refusing to get a crock pot, engaging in antisocial behavior here?

Jasper, if it makes you feel better, let me share that I also refuse to own a crock pot. Don't have one, don't want one. I find myself frequently in the minority on this issue.

Had it been my office party, I would have brought what was convenient for me and hoped the food police didn't check me at the door. I'm not fussy about whether my chip dip is warm or cold and I don't believe hot appetizers will make-or-break a work party.

P.S. I went to a holiday gathering at a friend's house last night and just realized... there were no hot appetizers! And we all had a wonderful time! LOL

I have 2 big crockpots and I will likely buy another small one. We do entertain a bit and we go to potluck dinners at other peoples houses. The crock pot allows me to keep foods warm throughout the meal or party. The larger ones are good for hot cider or Glogg (mulled wine) or keeping mashed potatoes or Swedish meatballs warm. The smaller one will be perfect for gravy or Con Queso also. I would not use them at an office party (too much chance of a problem finding a suitable outlet), but they are a great help when entertaining.

Lee AKA Fireraven9
And I think of you now as a dream that I had long ago
In a kingdom lost in time.
And in the forests of evening the archer is bending a bow,
And I see you bring him bread and wine. - Al Stewart

No crock pot here......but I do have a chafing dish with a sterno burner and a fondue pot with an alcohol burner and a butane fuled hot tray....as well as a plug in warmer tray.
Hit a couple of garage sales and you also can be so equipped.....and tray warmers work for hot dips, warm cheese balls, hot sandwiches etc.....
And take up a lot less room than a crock pot.
Linda C

I have been tempted by some steam tables (Restaurants know how to keep food properly!) that I have seen for sale. We would have had use for them enough to justify the purchase, but no place to put them. Caterer sized chafing dishes are good too. Some hold the same size pans as the steam table. Really, I just need a bigger kitchen.

Lee AKA Fireraven9
And I think of you now as a dream that I had long ago
In a kingdom lost in time.
And in the forests of evening the archer is bending a bow,
And I see you bring him bread and wine. - Al Stewart