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

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

Comments & suggestions, after reading everything everyone else has said:

1. I love roll-up sandwiches. It feels more like "food" than crackers & cheese often do -- and I can keep my fingers dry.

2. Hummus *is* super-easy to make. It's also super-easy to make bland, dull, boring hummus. I know, I've done it too many times. (And yes, I *do* know how to use garlic!) Go ahead and buy your hummus this time.

3. Talk to a caterer to get an idea of amounts. Just say that you're starting your plans and need to get some ideas - you're having a party for nn people, and how much will that run you and for how much food? They'll give you info you need.

4. Check cookbooks for suggestions, too. I'll just bet that various editions of "Joy" have info on how much finger-foods to make for gatherings.

5. Juices or juice squeezes as well as soft-drinks and water. If you have anyone who is a non-drinker, they'll appreciate having as many choices as the drinkers do. (This, from personal experience.)

6. If your gathering is going to be more than about 2 hours long, hold back some of the food to set out a little later. People will descend upon the fresh plates like locusts - full plates are very attractive.

7. Ditto with sweets. If your party will be very long, consider holding back most of the sweets for the first bit. Maybe set out some candies, but wait on the cookies, cake, whatever. Again - full plates are very attractive.

8. Do you need people to be leaving by a certain time? If so, be running out of food about then. It gets the message across in subtle ways.

9. If it's not too informal, leave paper bags sitting around for trash & recycling. And label them with BIG FAT markers, too. Make it really obvious & easy for people to help you, and they will. (If you're using paper plates, etc, leave around LOTS of paper bags for trash. People will want to throw their stuff away - we're well-trained for that.) Oh, and prime your bags - put a used paper-plate in one, and an empty beer bottle in another. Or whatever is appropriate, of course.

(Ahh, it's been too long. Makes me want to throw a party in this tiny house we live in.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

2. This sounds sensible. I'll do my learning later. :)

5. Kern's Nectar okay? We have a small pile of that.

8. I never would have thought of timing the food/departure! Thanks!

9. Also never would have thought of priming the bags. Awesome. That'll get the message across with more immediacy than labels do.

I'm getting excited now. I want this dang thing to be this weekend!