"Nancy Young" wrote

> I worked with someone like that. He'd bring the cheapest product he
> could find just to say he brought something. Like he'd brag he found a
> $1 pound cake mix to bring. He'd make the cake, don't get me wrong, but
> his stated goal was to spend as little as possible.

Ah ours are so different! We actually DO brag a bit if we got a killer
sale. Several of our little group that do this all summer long are on
limited incomes so they may use cans but they make up nice stuff from them.

Janieece (phonetic) just left. I got back from San Diego today so tomorrow
is a weekend potluck/cookout. She's got 4 kids and her husband just got
'busted' for something silly. Good timing for me (sucks for them) as I
overbought chicken and a few other things so we just filled her freezer.

Heheh Don just finished helping her cart over: 15 lbs of chicken legs and
thighs, 1 quart frozen chicken stock, 1/2 cup bacon grease, 1/4 cup duck
fat, about 3/4 cup fresh lavender (if you mush it down, grows wild in my
front yard), a bag of pasta, 5-6 cups basmati rice (tired of it), small bag
AP flour, about 1 cup dry milk powder (makes a couple of gallons I guess), a
2 lb block of frozen cheese (yellow, nothing special but she's got a cheese
hound there who carried it big eyed back all on his own), a bottle of spiced
vinegar (had 2 by accident), 1 cup sugar and 3 packs of koolaide, my
popsicle freezer (fruit juice, koolaide, whatever), and some onions.

Janieece is making her milk soaked breaded chicken bits. These are little
critters that are almost like hushpuppies with a small center of sweet
chicken. Much better than they sound! She's got an excellent hand with the
spices to get it *dead on perfect*.

Arthur's bringing ketchup, BBQ sauce and rubs, and a mess'o'fresh green
beans to go in my steamer. Mary is bringing about 3 quarts of blue-crab
spicy soup (cheap here, expensive elsewhere but they are practically
crawling up on the shore here due to overcrowding below). Jean is bringing
2 hungry kids, a hungry hubbie, 3 strawberry pies (oohh! I can't wait!) and
some ice cream. I've got 2 racks of pork ribs defrosting for Arthur's
saucing. Breadmaker just beeped. A rye/white mix. I'll have lots of
butter on hand as well.

It someone showed up here with just a can of corn, we'd first worry but
'uninvite' later if they were just being cheap. If however they showed up
with the fanciest cassarole sorta thing they knew how to make and we knew it
was 'lack of funds' we'd start showing them (kindly) some cooking skills and
how to adapt from what ya have.