How about a 7 layer mexican dip and tortilla chips? Should go over with the cheeto group ;)...

Or the 7 layer salad? I've made that several times. My family likes it, and it can be made ahead. I usually combine the recipes Woodie and Teresa shared a while ago.

How about broccoli slaw? Similar but a little different. :) Get the big horse stemmed kind, serve the florets for dinner and grate the stems instead of cabbage. Add carrots and whatever else you like. You can add jicama for more crunch, and red pepper confetti for color.

I recently made a great salad from many colors of heirloom tomatoes, basil ribbons, jicama matchsticks, and sliced scallions. Vinaigrette of olive oil plus some very fragrant EVOO and sherry vinegar (or any wine vinegar), with seasoning and Italian herbs. Don't use too heavy a hand with the EVOO or the flavor can be too intense.

You can make a white bean salad with the beans cooked to fairly soft (or canned), and all kinds of crunchy chopped veg plus any kind of dressing you like. This is a good one to have if any vegans show up since beans are more substantial than a lot of salads.

I love bean salad - white beans, green beans, chickpeas.....with tuna, spring onions and herbs through it and an olive oil vinaigrette.

Could be an overload of the veggies . . . How about a big bowl of buffalo wings?

How about ratatouille? It great eaten cold as well.

Here's a wonderful recipe by Claudia Roden.

http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/moroccan-ratatouille

Cucumber and sour cream salad was always a big hit for my mom when she brought it to potluck picnics. Her recipe called for sour cream, lemon juice, salt, cukes and chives. You can make it with scallions though, that is more traditional.

Broccoli salad that has bacon, cheddar, red onions, toasted pecans is always a huge hit here at our "white bread" people potlucks. It's actually exotic compared to some of the things that show up but it is delicious. I can post an exact recipe if needed.

I have a couple standards that are well received and I promise you they are healthy! I'm happy to provide full recipes if any of them seem interesting, but I'm sure you can wing it from the descriptions.

- wheat berry salad with roasted veggies in a balsamic vinaigrette. The wheat berries offer a nice chewy, nutty kinda thing and add substance to the veggies. I use whatever veggies are around, usually eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, red peppers (raw). A few cranberries add a little sweet.

- zucchini "noodles" with roasted cherry tomatoes and pesto. If you don't have a spiralizer you could use a peeler to make zucchini ribbons instead of noodles. But spiralizers can be cheap and super fun.

- soba noodle salad with matchstick carrots, shredded red cabbage, edamame. This is super colorful and I have a dressing I like that uses amino acids and a little tahini. Top with sesame seeds. Very pretty.

Happy to provide more details if you'd like. I know you think they won't go for anything "weird", but if you bring something new and they like it, you'll be a hero! If not, you will have delicious leftovers.

Well it may be time to broaden their menu likes. You never know till you try. Who knows they may have always wanted to try something new and were afraid too. I never thought I would like broccoli salad but I love it. Maybe a tuna salad or an egg salad, Deviled eggs is also good on a picnic or anytime. I get bored with the old traditional picnic menus. Dips and chips too is always good and so easy. Have fun and enjoy your family.

For the last picnic that I went to (in Griffith Park), I made a sort of calzone/focaccia, which was filled with cold cuts and cheese. I rolled the bread dough out into a large rectangle, put the cold cuts and cheese in the middle, made diagonal slashes on the sides, and then make a sort of braid on the top by overlapping alternate strips of dough. This travels very well and is good eaten cold. It can be more like a bread dish if you go light on the fillings. If you want it to be more like a salad, you could fill it with vegetables and cheese.

I like Greek salads, and they are easy to make.

A salad of fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil? Broccoli slaw with a peanut dressing?

supersoakers! oh, wait . . . cooking forum . . . ;)

That's exactly the inspiration I needed. Thank you all so much for your suggestions! You guys are the greatest!

Lars, do you actually bake the bread?

We already have a gal who always makes the deviled eggs...

These folks are so white bread that I'm afraid to try even anything like wheat berries or even eggplant. But the cucumber salad might be a hit...the farm stand has lots of cukes and cherry tomatoes now which would make a nice salad. And I have lots of fresh chives in my garden. And who doesn't like fresh mozzarella!

They have a pool so the super soakers may already be included...I'm sure there'll be pool noodles!

I haven't made my tortilla dip in a long time...maybe that would be good to bring....in the old days, we'd arrive for noon and have both lunch and dinner, but now the younger generation has taken over so we come around 2 and then have dinner later. So having some nibbles around ahead of time may be a better bet for people to snack on before dinner.

Annie, it is pretty much the same as making pizza, and I use my pizza dough recipe. The difference is that I make the dough thicker for this, it is rectangular, and the edges get braided over the toppings, which become a filling instead. I have a photograph of this at home, and I'll look for that. It looks a lot like braided stromboli, which might be the proper name for it.

I think a cucumber salad also sounds very good and refreshing. I use cucumber when I make a Greek salad, but it uses feta cheese instead of mozzarella. I also add olives to it.

Deviled eggs are always popular.

My husband's family reunion is coming up and there will be no 'weird' food there, either! ;) I make this Charred Corn Salad from Splendid Table for picnics and reunions in the summer when corn is SO good. I always take home an empty bowl.

Paula Deen's Frito Corn Salad is by no means healthy, but everyone seems to like it. And, you can't beat how easy it is to throw together.

Ah yes, Lars, I've made stromboli with the braided top...but usually I serve it hot out of the oven...I hadn't thought of room temp, but why not?

Phyllis Rosenberg's Cucumbers in Sour Cream Salad

1 cup sour cream (lowfat works OK)
3 TBLSP lemon juice (perhaps a bit less if using fresh lemon juice. Mom always used the reconstituted kind)
3 TBLSP minced chives or green onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 thinly sliced cucumbers. Sometimes I peel or sometimes make a striped pattern, depending on how the skin seems.

Combine all ingredients and let marinate at least an hour in the fridge. Stir before serving.

Bulgarian Salad from Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook

4 med. tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced Spanish or red onion
1 small bell pepper in thin strips
1 small (6 inches) cucumber, sliced
1 1/2 - 2 tsp. freshly minced marjoram or oregano leaves. (If you're going to sub dried, use half as much).
1 1/2 - tsp. freshly minced mint leaves. (ditto on the dried)
1 cup pitted Greek olives
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/2 lb. feta cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic (optional)
fresh black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and let marinate for an hour.

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

4 cups chopped broccoli and cauliflower
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup peanuts, skinless
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup mayonaise
2 TBLSP lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (I probably use way less than this, I just add it to taste)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Missouri Botanical Garden's 3-Bean Salad

1 15 oz. can black or kidney beans
1 15 oz. can northern beans or navy or blackeyed peas. You can also sub or add some additional steamed snipped green beans.
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 large tomato
1 cup chopped sweet pepper, any color you like
2/3 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 TBLSP crushed dried basil, or 2 TBLSP minced fresh basil
2 TBLSP snipped fresh parsley
2 TBLSP olive oil
2 TBLSP lemon juice (or cider vinegar if you want to be more traditional)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
Big dab o' mayonnaise
Salt to taste.

We had a huge 'bring a dish' picnic at work once and I made a big bowl of pico de gallo (I omitted cilantro)... it was GONE in about 5 minutes!

I made this last weekend for us, and we loved it so much, I'm taking it to a family potluck Labour Day weekend.

It's Pioneer's Woman Mexican Macaroni Salad. "Southwestern" would be more appropriate than Mexican, but I'm not nit-picking. I posted the pic recently on the What's for Dinner thread.

• FOR THE SALAD:
• 1 pound Elbow Macaroni, Cooked To Package Instructions, Drained, And Rinsed With Cold Water
• 2 ears Fresh Corn, Husks And Silks Removed
• 1 can (15 Oz. Size) Black Beans (or Kidney Beans), Drained And Rinsed
• 1/2 cup Chopped Black Olives
• 6 whole Roma Tomatoes (or 2 Large Tomatoes), Chopped
• 3 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin
• 1/2 whole Red Onions, Finely Diced
• Chopped Cilantro (optional)
• FOR THE DRESSING:
• 1 cup Jarred Salsa (spicy Is Best!)
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced Or Pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 2 Limes, Juiced (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Grill the corn on a grill pan, or just place it in a hot skillet to brown some of the kernels. Remove from pan, allow to cool slightly, then use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cob.

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined.

Place the macaroni, corn, beans, olives, tomatoes, green onions, red onion, and cilantro (if using) in a large bowl. Pour 3/4 of the dressing over the top and gently toss until all the ingredients are coated. Add the final 1/4 of the dressing if you think it needs it. Cover and allow salad to chill for 2 hours.

Garnish with cilantro, lime wedge, and any other extra ingredients you have!

Mexican Macaroni Salad

Something else I thought of was your camera. Make sure you take lots of photos of your family groups and one or two of everyone together. Share some photos that you have of various members who have passed. I know that my grand children want to see photos of my mom and dad. Also lots of drinks like lemonade fresh made. Games to play too. don't make it all about the food.

Oh, a note on those cucumber salads. Remove the seeds if they are big and tough. I never used to fuss with the seeds but now I am glad that I do. It's usually not a problem with the garden fresh ones, but store bought out-of-season cukes tend to have big woody seeds.

Well, DH won, and cole slaw it is. He said everyone likes it, no one else makes it and it goes well with everything else. I got the cabbage at our local organic farm stand and it's the sweetest one ever. I'm also making my taco dip which everyone likes and I'm going to make a choc chip bundt cake with chocolate icing...anything with chocolate sells.

But I will definitely keep these suggestions in mind for other events. DH's cousin wants to come for an overnight and I think some of these salad ideas will work well. Thanks!

I find myself making some version of coleslaw almost every week! We love it.