<p>“Dear Opie ofMaybery2,
Husb and son loved the pork in tortillas. THANKS.”</p>
<p>You’re so welcome. I’m glad it turned out well for you.</p>
<p>Hi All~
Just thought I’d update you and let you know that my D’s grad. party was a huge success. The weather was great, the yard with the tent, chairs, flowers etc looked very pretty. The food was delicious and plentiful, and most surprisingly of all, the mother of the grad was calm, organized and proud! Thank you all for your support-I know you were there in spirit!</p>
<p>I am very glad to hear your good news! We’ll all be there for the leftovers later this afternoon! :)</p>
<p>My little sister told my mom she wanted shepards pie at her graduation party. My mom looked at her like she was insane.</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>I always provide a bowl of fresh mixed fruit. It’s easy to prepare, looks pretty, and appeals to those who want an alternative to more guilt-provoking foods. Usually- peaches, strawberries, mandarin oranges (from a jar or can- I don’t care for them, but the kids like them), red and green grapes, strawberries, and blueberries. Raspberries are a little too delicate.</p>
<p>Edit - Am too late. Glad you had a great party, BonTon!</p>
<p>I thought I would bump up this thread…tis the season. I am hosting a graduation party for about 130 kids and adults (mostly kids) from 1 to 5 on the Saturday before the ceremony. Do you have any food suggestions? I am trying to keep the costs down and am thinking that because of the timing, the party is in between lunch and dinner.</p>
<p>One big hit at a party were hot dogs. Seriously. We must have gone through 200 of them. We borrowed the hot dog cooker from the concession stand at the high school. Had buns, condiments next to them. Other cheaper fare the kids loved: nachos with cheese.</p>
<p>We did the Mexican theme with D1 two years ago - worked well - had one of those 3 compartment warmer things for nacho cheese, taco beef and chicken - all the usual fixings - we had lots and had hardly anything left by the end of the day. Lots of fruit. The cake (full sheet) went FAST! </p>
<p>I love the idea of the slushie machine! Any idea how much to rent it? </p>
<p>Will be planning grad #2 this time next year…I’m already thinking to do my crockpot root beer pulled pork…and, I’m going to let Costco be my friend to help out with sides this time. :)</p>
<p>The hot dog idea works really well! A nice addition is to get a keg of rootbeer.</p>
<p>My bff served store-bought meatballs in a new sauce from Williams-Sonoma at a large crowd gathering recently–excellent AND easy. Believe the sauce is called “American slow cooking sauce”…She just dumped the thawed out meatballs into her crock pot with the sauce and warmed them up!
Yummy!</p>
<p>We soo many vegetarians coming. Any thoughts on what to serve?</p>
<p>The taco theme can work well with vegetarians, too. You can have rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato and all the fixings. If people want beef or chicken on them they add them, if they don’t then they don’t have to. We are using it for a large party and have used it at Girl Scouts. Works well.</p>
<p>I like the idea because people can make what they want, but isn’t it messy? We are having 130 people.</p>
<p>Baked Potato ‘Bar’? Toppings can vary, baked potatoes are easy to keep warm and vegetarians will be happy campers!</p>
<p>I’m going with all finger foods – the little hot dogs, mini quesidillas (some with cheese for the veges), vege trays.</p>
<p>We did the cook out thing…but we also had a ton of appetizers. Chips and Salsa and quacamole, chips/dip, veggies, pita chips/ hummas, fruit, little pizzas, hot dog wraps, etc. The wholesale clubs have lots of choices for both things to bake and things to just serve…price is decent. LOTS of different kinds of sodas, lemonade and ice tea…and bottled water. We had an assortment of hotdogs, burgers, veggie burgers, several different kinds of buns, and a couple of trays of toppings for the cooked “stuff”. Prepared potato salad an a couple of large green salads in advance, and had relishes. </p>
<p>Desserts were a cake, and ice cream with toppings (like an ice cream bar…it was fun).</p>
<p>Somewhat inexpensive and fun.</p>
<p>If you want to do the grill thing, you can offer veggie burgers (but maybe divide the grill so everybody’s comfortable with it) and also, extra firm tofu marinated in something (really anything you would use for meat or have around is fine – BBQ sauce, soy sauce, even Italian dressing) and grilled would be really good. </p>
<p>I think tacos would be good, too. You can have refried beans and/or fake ground beef. It’s messy, but you can have napkins. Hummus and veggies? One thing I would say is that if you have that many vegetarian, don’t assume that they all eat dairy and eggs. I know people who are just offered, say macaroni and cheese as a vegetarian option, but they’re really vegan. If you know they are all lacto-ovo, great, but I think maybe even having a vegan dessert option would be appreciated by those who aren’t.</p>
<p>When I cook for a crowd specially for brunch I always do a Mexican theme. One favorite that is incredibly easy to prepare is chilaquiles. Dilute some jars of good tomatillo sauce (I use Herdez mixed with homemade) with some chicken broth. Keep warm, when ready to serve put some bags of tortilla chips in (be careful that the tortillas are not too salty or lime flavored, buy restaurant quality chips) Mix gently with the sauce, cover for 3 minutes and serve inmediately. The chips should still be firm and somewhat crunchy. Offer shredded chicken, goat cheese or firm Mexican cheese and creme fraiche or mexican crema as garnishes. Really good and very easy.</p>
<p>I go to our local Indian restaurant and get a platterful of samosas and pakora (both can be vegetarian) and chicken tikka. They always get snarfed up.</p>
<p>If you want to help get guests to mingle, a popcorn cart, slushie machine, chocolate fountain or cotton candy machines are all great fun. </p>
<p>You can buy food in vast quantities at a good price at a Costco or Sams. </p>
<p>Also don’t forget using cheap kids candy (buy at a discount party store or dollar store) as both decoration and dessert! You can scatter it on tables or arrange it in festive baskets that double as centerpieces.</p>