AITA for taking my dish home after the potluck host moved it to a separate table?

Our block has a potluck every fall in the shared courtyard. I moved here in February, so this was my first one. The sign-up sheet had broad categories: main dish, side, dessert, drinks. I volunteered for a main dish and made a large pan of baked chicken with rice using my mother’s recipe.

It is not extremely spicy, but it smells strongly of garlic and toasted spices. I wrote the ingredients on an index card because several neighbors have allergies.

When I arrived, the host, Marcy, thanked me and placed the pan on the main table. Twenty minutes later, I noticed it had been moved to a folding table near the trash bins with two grocery-store pizzas and a bowl of plain pasta. A paper sign on that table said “kids and picky eaters.”

I asked Marcy why my dish was there.

She said the main table was crowded and she wanted to keep “strong foods” together so people would know what they were choosing. I pointed out that the pizzas and pasta were the least strong foods present. She lowered her voice and said one neighbor had complained about the smell before the event even started. She did not want a debate in the serving line.

I was embarrassed and angry. I picked up my pan and carried it back to my apartment.

Several people had already eaten some and later asked where it went. Marcy told them I had decided not to share it. By evening, the block group chat was arguing. Two neighbors said moving the dish was rude. Others said I punished everyone because one person made a comment and the host handled it awkwardly.

Marcy came to my door the next day. She apologized for the label and said she should have made room on the main table. She also said taking a nearly full main dish without warning left the potluck short on food. She had counted on the portions listed on the sign-up sheet and ended up ordering more pizza.

I apologized for not telling her before leaving, but I did not reimburse the pizza. My view is that once she separated my contribution as a problem to manage, she could not still count it as communal food she controlled.

Her view is that moving a tray five yards, however clumsily, did not cancel my commitment to feed people.

I know I acted at the peak of humiliation. I also know I would have felt worse watching people approach my family’s food under a sign for picky eaters.

AITA for taking it home?