<p>For some reason I’m completely stymied by the thought of what to serve at D’s graduation party. I’m cleaning the house, planting flowers, anything to get ready and to avoid planning the menu. I guess it may be because I’m uncertain how many are coming and when. We’ll have about 25 family members come right from the grad. ceremony and maybe about another 25 friends and family drop by during the course of the afternoon. Any suggestions from seasoned party-throwers would be most welcome!</p>
<p>We’re just having picnic food; hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, baked beans and macaroni salad. It’s mostly for the kids, anyway, so we’re gearing it towards them. But we’re having it 3 weeks after graduation (graduation is mid-week and senior week starts the following Saturday so we’re having it after all the madness dies down.)</p>
<p>Lots of things you can make in advance. Cold salads from Greek to Potato. Chips and good breads with lots of dips you can whip up the day before in your food processor or blender. Put out a platter of cold shrimp or nice cold cuts. Then light the BBQ and grill favorites later on. Maybe marinate some meats and fish. See foodnetwork.com for recipes.</p>
<p>Get some big pans of pulled pork/beef? And buns.
And another big pan of mac and cheese. Another of baked beans.
Some fruit (watermelon, cateloupe, pineapple).</p>
<p>Bagel bites and mini pizzas get snarfed down my the younger crowd here.</p>
<p>As our open house was following graduation, food had to be ready to go. I only made a few things myself in advance…such a fruit salad in a carved out watermelon, dips and also the cake. But otherwise, we ordered platters we picked up on our way home from the ceremony…easy things to pick up such as shrimp platter, veggie platter, individual mini wrap sandwiches, mini roll sandwiches, stuff like that which was all cold. Tables and everything else were all ready to go.</p>
<p>I depend on Middle Eastern foods such as pita, hummus, baba ganouj (eggplant salad), roast pepper salad for summer crowds, since those are meant to be served in hot weather and taste best at room temperature.
Many are marinated. None require mayonaise, so food poisoning isn’t a worry. </p>
<p>Then on the grill, I have the usual hamburgers, hotdogs or shishkebabs for those who are weirded out by anything unusual. I put one jovial person at the grille. I have everything else ready in the refrig the night before; pull it out to the kitchen counters the morning of, so it’s all there to serve when I get home.</p>
<p>Sometimes for desserts I’ve had success putting out big tubs of ice cream with toppings, cannisters of whipped cream or coolwhip, then encourage all to “build your own sundae.” They like the participation. Alongside that, some choc chip cookies, baklava. Also GRAPES because they are so refreshing when chilled. If you pull them all off the stems, the children eat them like candies.</p>
<p>That can go next to a sheetcake, but lately I’ve found sheetcakes don’t get eaten much. Instead, I decorate a sign with the same message (Congratulations, X…) and put it next to some store-bought berry pies. As they are eaten you can bring out more pies from the refrig; but if they don’t get eaten they’ll stay frozen. It’s just easier to deal with as leftovers if it’s a pie than a cake. Just a recent preference of mine.</p>
<p>It’s easy to buy pop beverages, but people might remember it better if you buy a plastic punchbowl and ladle, get a punch recipe, and stack some paper cups next to it. Some punch recipes use ginger ale and sherbet, for example, kind of festive. </p>
<p>Back in my kitchen, it seems like I always have to brew some coffee. Sometimes I do this in a 30 cup percolator, other times I make less and put it in a thermos server pitcher. Always a nuisance but some people get so tired after these events they need the pick-me-up. If anyone asks for tea, I just point them over to my microwave with a mug, a tea bag in it, and tell them to take tap water and make their own. I put out the usual assortment of sugar, artificial sweetener, and halfpints of milk or half-and-half. If it’s informal, just keep them in the paper carton so people will know which is which.</p>
<p>Lately I find students want water not from the tap, so I buy some little bottles (maybe a dozen) and chill them. I don’t serve it, but when people specifically ask me for water to drink, I give them that.</p>
<p>Finger food is the way to go…</p>
<p>try to pick a theme and go with it…</p>
<p>I recently had a big promotion party for a co-worker…we had 2 big crock pots of soup…1 seafood chowder and 1 french onion soup… and we also had a big cesear salad, with a platter of chicken and steak slices for toppings…we used paper products for everything…including paper hot coffee cups for the soups…</p>
<p>you could do an oriental food theme…sushi and egg rolls, chinese chicken salad, pork fried rice…spare ribs, chicken wings…</p>
<p>flank steaks, marinated in olive oil, garlic and rosemary, S&P, grilled and then sliced thin on a diagonal are a great thing to cook ahead of time…or have someone head home early from graduation to throw them on the grill…pork tenderloins are also nice and easy to grill and slice real thin, both go great with a nice potato salad and cesear salad…or an oriental cole slaw…</p>
<p>Ice cream sundaes, brownie ice cream sundaes are great for dessert…cupcakes instead of a cake? pound cake and fresh fruit…with ice cream…</p>
<p>definitely keep it simple…so you can enjoy…</p>
<p>We did a Mexican theme. It’s all light, summer-y food. You can make big plates of nachos, leave out chips with sala and guacamole, and make a fajita/taco bar with chicken, beef, beans, rice, and sides.</p>
<p>A Honey baked ham!</p>
<p>We had a very similar menu to Maineparent’s! London broil (similar idea to Maineparent’s flank steak - also sliced thin on diagonal.) Bought it at Sam’s - a double pack, so it’s not too expensive, and it serves a lot. Make diagonal cuts 1/4 inch into meat on both sides and marinade overnight in 1 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup oil, chopped onion, 3 t. lemon juice, some garlic powder. Best part is H does the grilling!</p>
<p>We also had potato salad, potato chips, hot dogs and buns for kids who wanted them, biscuits, canteloupe, grapes, Asian salad (from Nappa cabbage), cheese Spaetzle (a German noodle), egg rolls, and cake. We had about 25 people and about a perfect amount of food.</p>
<p>We’ve recenlty had parties. In the aftermath I’ve seen these go over well:
A crock filled with kraut and sausage and potatoes (why? I don’t know)
A pan of mostachiolli w/extra sauce warmed in a mini crock plus cheese
Salad always, always is appreciated and is very easy to prepare these days. In fact if you think there will be plenty of ladies, don’t stint on this, and find some larger throw-away bowls for salads. We serve it dressed with Italian, but you could just set out bottles of dressing and leave it undressed.
Deviled eggs are always popular too.
Good luck!</p>
<p>For my older D’s cake, I spelled out “2004” in cake. I used round and rectangular cake pans and cut out these numerals…four cakes on a covered board.</p>
<p>The “2” and the zeros were from round layer cake pans (same numbers needed this year) and the four (but could be the seven) was cut from a rectangular cake pan. Then all were iced and decorated.</p>
<p>We just had a graduation party for about 50 kids. We served wraps and for dessert a delicious cake from BJs with D and best friends picture on it - it was only $20 for a huge cake that says feeds 30 - but we got alot more than that. It’s a real bargain! If you don’t have a BJs near you probably Sams Club or Costco has a similar deal.</p>
<p>Rent a slushie/margarita machine!!! It can be set up a few hours beforehand so the mix has time to freeze and churn. They usually have 2 side-by-side dispensers so you can have 2 flavors. Mmmmmmm. I think that a $15.00 jug of concentrate makes 5 gallons of slush.</p>
<p>We have a neighborhood party in a park shelter for groups of graduating seniors. On the menu for this year, are small sandwiches premade from a local grocery store, homemade coleslaw and other cold salads, a crock with BBQ meatballs, kegs of root beer and diet root beer, vegetable platters with dip, taco layered dip with tortilla chips, sheet cake from a really good bakery.</p>
<p>Were I to cater this, I’d choose an ethnic theme. Mexican-taco bar would be plenty easy, and could morph to salads or tacos. New Orleans-jambalaya and gumbo, red beans and dirty rice with corn or french bread. I love the above middle eastern suggestions. </p>
<p>Wraps are a very good idea, can be adapted all sorts of ways.</p>
<p>My kids’ graduation parties were for family, adult friends, and kids’ friends. I served premade hoagies or wraps, buffalo wings, zitis, coleslaw/potato salad/macaroni salad, ziti, watermelon, chips, and cake, I think. If you buy cans of soda to put in ice, don’t forget bottles of water too. Many kids and adults seem to prefer bottled water to soda at parties.</p>
<p>MotherOfTwo…are you from Philly? I grew up near Philly and that is the only place where I have heard the term, HOAGIES, used. We always referred to subs as hoagies but if I were to do that now where I live, nobody would know what I was talking about!</p>
<p>Yeah, a two-foot hoagie from Wawa…great idea!</p>
<p>WoW, thank you all for some really great ideas! I’m beginning to think I can do this and am getting excited! </p>
<p>Great Lakes Mom, where/how does one get a keg of Root Beer? That would be a huge hit with my gang, but noplace that I’ve called in NH has ever heard of a keg of root beer.</p>