#potlucks

Assume you know the extent of their restrictions and it would be possible for the average person to accommodate without specialized knowledge; e.g. they can't eat gluten, or can't eat tree nuts, etc. (This isn't a "they're allergic to 20+ different things and I don't know exactly what's a problem" situation.*)

Already safe by default: for example, if the person can't have gluten, a dish of roasted broccoli can be assumed to be safe.

*This part of the premise isn't intended to make light of people with extensive allergies/restrictions; this is just to clarify. Anon has known people with complex lists of sensitivities that aren't necessarily "common sense" (e.g. based on specific chemical compounds the average person might not know about), which would be tricky to confidently accommodate without more specific guidance from the affected person. That is not the type of situation that this poll is asking about.

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One way or another, America’s MAGA era will come to an end, perhaps quite soon, perhaps not for a while. But when it does end, what a tragedy if we fail to replace it with its exact opposite, in both form and function. If MAGA was, to its believers, about an avenging angel punishing an army of enemies on their behalf, if it was all idolatry and spite, if it snuffed out so many of our neighbors’ better angels, then the polar opposite must be something far more profound than “the Democratic Party winning in the midterms.”

It isn’t an accident that many of the most transcendent social movements in American history (the Underground Railroad, Settlement Houses, the Flint Sit-Down strike, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, just to name a few) required, for their success, the rapid deployment of hospitality infrastructure (a literal warm bed for the night, an actual physical home, a factory transformed into living quarters, an alternative transportation network). The work, when it truly shook the world, was never just about firing up a crowd.

There is a massive difference between that which is possible and that which is inevitable. And as cool as nihilism sounds in theory, what a terrible attitude to govern your life. Maybe it’s true that your pickleball league or book club or Sunday dinner will only ever be an insular gathering of demographically similar true believers. But you never know what your tiny crew might be capable of creating if you never try in the first place.

We have all been pummeled with myths about what does and doesn’t constitute serious political work. The bloviators matter, we’re told. The casserole makers don’t. This, too, is by design. But that doesn’t mean we have to buy it.

The most malevolent forces in the world (those that worship money, power, or the intersection between the two), would love for us to choose fear and cynicism rather than risk loving and building and showing up again even when the last meeting annoyed the hell out of us.

This classic Old-Fashioned Pea Salad is the perfect cold and creamy potluck salad for every occasion! Vegan and gluten-free, this easy English pea salad uses eggless mayo, dairy-free cheddar, and smokey coconut bacon. A simple and quick allergy-friendly version of your grandma's go-to Southern holiday or cookout side dish!

Get Recipe: instant pot pulled pork