carry in

 Some friends and I enjoyed a carry-in supper this evening.  It was a light supper with cheese and crackers, salmon spread, fresh fruit, nuts, and other snacky things topped off with a lovely, yummy pie.  It wasn't exactly a cheese cake, too light and fluffy, but the filling was a delicious blend of cream cheese, sour cream and cool whip topped off with fruit.  This supper reminded me of the great American church tradition of carry-in suppers (or dinners, depending on where you're from).  These suppers, also known as pot-luck dinners, are a wonderful gathering of church members and friends with everyone bringing something to share.  The church I go to now is rather large with a cook on staff so when we do church dinners it's often just her cooking, which is very good, but sometimes I miss the variety at church suppers in smaller churches.  A side note here, when the Korean ladies in our church cook it is amazing.  When they have their eggroll sales they sell out fast.  But back to pot-luck suppers.  When my husband and I and our children lived in south-east Ohio for four years we attended a small (sixty member) country church which hosted the best carry-in suppers I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying.  It might have been because we all knew each other and no one wanted to be outdone.  Whatever, those carry-in suppers were so popular that they occasionally became a money maker.  Specifically on election days.  Our  little church was a voting place and on election days we served home-made food at a reasonable cost all day long.  That election day dinner had been a tradition for many years and was extremely popular.  It was a delicious and very effective way to get the voters to the polls. Hummmm...