When you have a large group of close friends coming over for dinner you can go the standard route and prepare a home-cooked meal, thus showcasing your domestic goddess talents and ensuring everyone’s sincere appreciation and gratitude for the remainder of the evening.

Or you can try something quirky and really fun.

The next time you invite a group of friends over for a meal, instead of slaving over the stove, suprise them with a Fast Food Potluck. This is not your usual bake something at home and bring it over potluck, this is a prepare to indulge in quick to acquire convenience food.

Assemble your group in one room, sit them down and open the evening by asking everyone to determine their absolute favorite fast food guilty pleasure. Make sure each person understands that anything is game but it must fit the basic definition of fast food – that being food or dessert prepared by a take-out restaurant that likely has a drive-thru.

Ask your guests to write down their favorite fast-food appetizers, entrées, desserts, and beverages. Then you do a vote to pick the best of the best. Ed and Charlene swear by Pizza Hut Pan Pizza Supreme, Grace and Willy love KFC buffalo wings, Tad and Trey will eat burgers only from In’N’Out, Joy and Denise claim life is infinitely better with a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake while Ned can imagine no better drink than a fresh Orange Julius. You get the picture.

Once definitive favorites have been chosen – and constitute a well-balanced meal – the scavenger hunt portion of the evening begins. Send your guests out to individually acquire their treat of choice (and only their treat of choice) in a quantity large enough for the potluck.

By the time everyone has reconvened around the dinner table you should have the very best guilty-pleasure dinner offerings ever assembled. At this point, healthy eating is more or less out the window but indulging with friends on occasion is healthy in other ways. Plan to play “Goin Round the World” once a month to enjoy your usual fast-food picks as well as your guests’ exciting favorites. Regardless, a get together over fast-food means no one has to do the cooking, guaranteeing a great evening for all.

If you want to stake out your favorites before the party, visit the website of your favorite fast-food restaurant. As a side, if you are concerned about the nutritional values of your picks, most fast-food websites provide nutritional information. 

Points and Prizes Keyword: WINGS worth 50 points good through 02/24/08.