BOY do we have leftovers.

[cjsmith]

Attrition was high on the morning of the party. This is partially due to the "people with small children" demographic intersecting with sniffles season; folks' kids would get sick and they'd let us know they wouldn't be coming. At least one guest sent regrets because he was not feeling well himself. Then there were the people who simply didn't come. We had twenty-eight, not forty.

We would have had way way way too much food even if we'd had forty. We're talking five TIMES too much food, here.

I estimate people ate:

About 1/8th of the fancy olives
About 1/20th of the hummus
Less than 1/8th of the jicama
Maybe 1/8th of the baby carrots
None of the celery sticks
About 1/8th of the provolone and the salami
Maybe 1/16th of the cheddar and the pepper jack
About 1/8th of the crackers
Most of the chocolate chewy cookies with nuts
About 1/4 of the TJ's truffles
Maybe 1/8th of the gingersnaps
Maybe 1/4 of the butter cookies with sprinkles
None of the pfeffernuesse
About 1/3 of the contents of the crock pots
About 1/2 of the rolled-up lavosh sandwiches
1/12th of the sodas
1/6th of the beer
Most of the fruit juice
All of the wine (except they brought some, so I do have a few bottles now)

I bet a lot of this was due to the layout of the food vs. chairs, the fact that the party wasn't very formal (thus people were wearing clothing that was comfortable to sit down in), and the fact that everyone there had a big interest in common. Eventually everyone sat in big groups, some folks in chairs and some on the floor, and had lively conversations. People didn't get up to go fetch food.

Next time: less food, food closer to where people will sit down, and buy more wine. :)

Comments

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

extra food is ok. sounds like it was a success if people were sitting and talking and stuff. cheese, meats and cookies can all be frozen, if you don't eat them up before then.

i hope YOU had a good time, and didn't over-do it too much. *hugs*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

There's an incredible pile of cheese and cookies in my freezer now! :-) Sadly the veggies were pretty much a loss, and I'll have to find someone to give those olives to (I'm not fond of olives).

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

*wave*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Are you free to drop by my work (appx. Wolfe & Central) before 5pm today? I have them here.

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

Drat. Got the message after 5.

By way of note, deedeebythebay's middle child's favorite food in the whole world is black olives. I suspect that there are folks who are getting food over to them (Darla is having surgery on Tuesday) who would be willing to transport any food you might have to offer.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh darn; that evening I gave the olives to a flight instructor pal who adores olives.

Thanks for the idea. It's not Meal Food but it's a lot better than nuttin' when you're stuck not able to cook.