If you caught the shenanigans on my InstaStory on Friday night, you may be wondering, “What the hell is a potato night!?”
Well, Potato Night is something that I’ve done for over 15 years and its origins lie in the “broke-ness” of student life. While wanting to host a dinner party and not having the funds to do so, a sharing dinner concept was born in the humble baked potato.
Tasty, vegan friendly, vegetarian friendly and EASY, the humble potato has been the centre of the dining room table for many a girls’ night ever since. (Sprinkles with a lot of booze, obvs.)
What’s the T?
I make a whole bunch of baked potatoes and every guest brings a topping. It provides an easy, sharing experience with LOTS of diverse foods and tastes and is really yummy.
What binds it all together? One sauce to rule them all!
One of the easiest and most versatile recipes my mom ever taught me was how to make a cheese sauce. So when Potato Night was born, I’d make a large pot of cheese sauce and all the girls would bring a topping. That way we would all pitch in, have a large spread, but also have something to tie it together.
Sharing really is caring and sitting around a table is a great way to meet new, like-minded women and have a few laughs.
No Boys Allowed
Potato Night started as a girls’ night simply because my boyfriend at the time lived really far away. There was no point including him so all boys were automatically excluded.
ALL these years later, there have only been 2 occasions when boys have been included:
- When baby boys were born! We all get to play mommy if the babies join us on the night.
- My birthday party this year when Pam coaxed me into having a massive potato night with 28 people including the boys. Bloody hell is all I can say!
I even had a friend at the time accuse me of hating men just because I wouldn’t include boys, LOL! Keep calm peoples, it’s just a girls’ night!
Give People a Chance
Because I’ve had a bunch of different chapters in my life from living in Namibia, London, going to acting college in Cape Town, working in radio, the rock n roll/dubstep/punk and drum n bass music phases and now the day job life, I’ve aggregated a mix of awesome friends from different parts of Cape Town and the world.
This means everyone arrives a little apprehensive of “being alone”, but as soon as they see everyone’s in the same boat, party time kicks off. We’re mostly all working women, some moms, some starting their careers, some half way – so it really provides a great space to get great advice and share troubles.
Potato Night for Life
By gathering around a table and sharing a meal, everyone feels included; a LOT of good laughs are had and the sharing experience of trying different foods also comes into play, like vegan toppings, vegetarian toppings.
It’s also great for St Paddy’s Day where I do an “Irish mixed grill” where we don’t only have baked potatoes but also fries, roasted potatoes, baby potatoes, etc.
There’s only one rule I have for potato night which is – NO FISHES! I hate seafood! But if you like it, go for it!
Dress Code
I try my best to do a Potato Night on a Friday night because being hung over on a Sunday is a bit of a pain. So everyone just rocks up in their ugly clothes, no makeup, no hair did and everyone just has a good time relaxing, lounge dancing and shooting the breeze.
That way they can lie in on Saturday and STILL have the whole of Sunday to do something fun or with the family without a headache! (We’re getting old peoples! Dem hang over take a while to clear!)
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Potato nights are honestly such a fun way to talk through work stress, share relationship stories, discuss female health (or male health for that matter!), talk babies, enjoy pop culture and generally just have a laugh.
Sometimes I ask girls to bring any makeup they’re not using or any clothes that don’t fit and we swap. No point in new products (that don’t work for you, that you can’t return) just sitting there when there’s something would could use it.
This past weekend we enjoyed some Mirror Moon Eco Glitter fun, which helped support my friend’s local business and gave us a bit of fun!
Give potato night a go, it’s LOADS of fun and how can you go wrong with over drinking and eating?! And if you DO try it out, please tag me on Instagram so I can see and share the fun!
