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I have a family reunion to go to and don't know what to bring.

I don't love to cook and really hate to cook for other people so I would like it to be something I can throw together last minute.

Anything will do, a main dish or a sweet thing. It doesn't matter.

Raw veggie platter

Fruit salad

Cheese sampler with crackers

Macaroni salad!

Boil the pasta, drain, and cool in the fridge.

Depending on what you like, you can chop and include:

Celery

Black Olives

Green Olives

Bell Peppers (NOT green.. the sweet ones are great. I use red, orange, and yellow for color. Sometimes you can find purple!!)

A little bit of finely chopped red onion

Ham (small cubes)

Cheddar cheese (small cubes)

You can go many ways with dressing. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I just add mayo. Add a tablespoon at a time till you like the look.

Oh, and some garlic salt... I'm addicted to that stuff. Just a little.

Can you get one of those large frozen entree platters from the grocery store - like lasagna or macaroni and cheese or something like that that feeds 8 or 10 portions?

Alternately, my standard for a gathering like that is to make Baked Ziti. Buy Ziti noodles, Racotta, mozzarella and parmasean cheeses and follow the directions on the side of the box. PM me if you want more detailed instructions.

These are easy - just put fruit on a stick. Always pretty and always a hit. If you want to get fancy, buy a little dish of fruit dip at the grocery store - they usually have it in the produce area.

Plates

Bag of chips with dip

Pizza

Keg & Solo cups

Do the fruit or veggie tray and be done with it. People always eat the fruit and veggie tray and no cooking required.

Tho I do like the keg & cups idea Mexican caviar is always a hit. Can eat it scoops tortilla chips or as a side dish. Its yummy. Let me know if you want recipe. Its basically dumping avfewvcans of stuff in a bowl!

Caprese salad is one of my favorites:

get one of those little tubs of the baby mozzarella cheese, drain it (I usually rinse them too... they get kind of gunky)

add a container of grape tomatoes

add a container of fresh basil cut up (if you keep the leaves bunched together, and have a kitchen scissors, three cuts will usually do it)

and then toss in a bit of balsamic vinegar and sea salt.

That's it. Easy and delicious!

I usually bring a veggie tray, chips & salsa (from a local restaurant), or cookies. If it's a smaller gathering, I'll offer to bring boneless wings... I don't make enough money to buy enough for a large party!

I don't like dips or salads, so I stay away from those.

Take a tray, cover the bottom with a layer of ice cream sandwiches (the rectangular ones with chocolate cookies and vanilla ice cream.). Cover the ice cream sandwiches with cool whip, caramel ice cream topping and chopped up Heath bars. Put on another layer of ice cream sandwiches and another layer of cool whip, caramel and heath bars. Put it in the freezer over night.

The hardest part is unwrapping all of the ice cream sandwiches.

A box of wine.

Place an order at your grocery store's deli. My local stores have some awesome food.

I have made this for years... everyone really seems to love it, and I get requests to make it...

I just call it mango salsa - it's a sweet fruit salsa. It was originally a recipe to help sell Chicken of the Sea canned tuna, but I found I (and everyone else) liked it much more without the shrimp!

This is really easy - just requires you to do some chopping (and not really that much).

- 1 can pineapple tidbits, drained

- 1 large tart green apple, peeled, cored and diced

- 1 cup diced, peeled mango (usually, one mango is good)

- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- 1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

- tortilla chips

In a large bowl, combine the mango, apple, pineapple and cilantro. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Pour the vinegar mixture over the fruit and mix well. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Notes:

- if you really want the shrimp, it calls for two 6 ounce cans, drained and rinsed.

- You can you canned mango (usually in a jar), but I don't think it comes out as good.

- If you've never selected a mango, you can't tell anything by the color. Pick one that is a little soft, but firm - similar to what you want in a ripe peach.

- To chop the cilantro: Pull the leaves off the stems and then chop them.

- Don't worry about exact amounts for the fruit. I never measure - just get a medium size granny smith apple, and an average size mango. If you go overboard with the red pepper flakes, though, it will get hot once it sits for a little while!

And the most important note: I always buy the lime tortilla chips. Using those with this salsa is what really makes it good!

Oh, and this works great for cooking with chicken or with shrimp too!