Menu crisis nearly solved

[cjsmith]

There's a lot of easy stuff I can do, which is a relief.

- Cheese and dried meats platters w/crackers
- Dawn's Famous Hot Dogs In Crock Pot
- Rolled up lavosh sandwiches
- Chopped veggies w/dip
- Fancy olives
- Hummus (on crackers or veggies)
- Cookies, chocolate, etc
- Soft drinks, water, wine, beer

I must apologize to the person who suggested Whole Foods, because I think I'll have to pass up that idea; I took a look at their prices and... well, I didn't faint. (This is expensive already, and I'm not even buying wine -- we'll just wipe out my existing collection.) I am totally happy to chop and arrange a lot of cheese and veggies myself. Sadly, this means the platters won't look anywhere near as pretty.

Two questions left.

1) How do I know how much food I need? (Drinks I'm OK on.) One thing I'm giving up by not using a caterer is that I have to guess at this answer. Assume my menu is just what's written above, and I've got 35 or 40 people. How many pounds of cheese and dried meats are people going to stack onto how many crackers? How many tubs of hummus? How many double-handfuls of chopped celery/jicama/carrots? How many crock pots full of hot dog bits? Rob thinks I'm going overboard and is now threatening to invite more people and not tell me. :)

2) I now own more than one crock pot. If I want to offer an alternative to Hot Dogs In Tangy Sauce:
2a) where do I find and what do I do with party meatballs?
2b) what do I do with those Lil Smokies sausages if I'm too lazy to turn them into Pigs In Blankets? BBQ sauce?

I am keeping records. NEXT time, I will HAVE these answers, darnit. I won't panic. I'll know exactly how much money I should expect to spend if I am inviting "thirty plus spouses". I'll have the crock pots and I'll have the wine glasses and I'll have the serving trays. This could get to be a hobby. In fact, with this kind of initial outlay, it had better become a hobby!

Comments

[dpolicar]

What I usually do with little party meatballs is put them on a large platter next to a pile of toothpicks and a plate of mustard with a spoon in it.

As for volumes -- pick up about as much food as I would order, then cut that in half. (Which is to say, I'm _so_ not the person you want to ask.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Must remember to put toothpicks on the list.

pick up about as much food as I would order, then cut that in half

[laughter] I know the feeling! That's usually me!