<p>It’s one week away & I’ve been procrastinating…
Somewhere b/c 50 to 100. It’s loose-- I do not want to cater (too $) it all but willling to order tray of labor intensive stuff. I will have help with servers. I want everything ready to serve at party start time of 5 PM - which eliminates a BBQ-ing it’s less expensive but too labor intensive.</p>
<p>This is definite:
6 ft long hero
Ceaser Salad</p>
<p>Maybes:
Penne Vodka (I would make it- any good easy recipes out there?)
Ziti (ditto above)
Filet Mignon - on sale - pre make it - how do you prevent it from “going gray”?
Pulled pork w/ rolls- I’ll make it – not really sure how but did it many times before…
Veggies? what’s easy do before? maybe order grilled trays?
Eggplant - order 2 trays ($90 ea)?</p>
<p>Appys:
Any easy ideas besides- chips & salsa</p>
<p>I know I’m being flakey-- I’m just exhausted & do not want to spend $2000 on a catering bill. I’ve done it before but it was vefore I started working. I have 1/2 a day on Friday.
Thanks!</p>
<p>For apps I would hit costco and go easy on yourself. You can find pre-made dips (crab, taco, spinach), bruschetta, hummus, pre-cut veggies, cheeses, shrimp trays, etc.</p>
<p>We always got cake, cold cut platters, vegetables & dip, fruit tray, rolls for sandwiches (cut before party) pickles & olives on a relish tray, a salad tray (5 types of salad), ordered from the deli at one of our chain grocery stores. Put out mayo & mustard for the sandwiches. Beer, wine, soda, coffee, tea. No cooking involved! No hot food! </p>
<p>Did it for all 4 of our high school graduation parties, picked everything up at 7:00 AM & put it away. Went to 10:00 AM Graduation ceremony. (meanwhile family members who did not attend, got stuff ready while we were gone, only allowed 4 tickets for ceremony)</p>
<p>Really cuts down on the stress factor by keeping it simple!</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Barbecue burgers/dogs/veggies (but you already nixed this)</p></li>
<li><p>Tacos/burritos self serve style - just a bunch of shells/tortillas, prepared meat (shredded beef and/or hamburger and/or chicken and/or pork). Self serve style lets them get the quantity and selections they want and put on cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salsa, quacamole, sour cream. This should be inexpensive, not all that much work, and maybe not that much work, something a little different, and most important - tasty. Also have a lot of tortilla chips and quacamole and salsa available. Vegetarians might eat just the chips/salsa or they can take a tortilla, put some of the shredded cheese on it, and microwave it to turn it into a cheese quesedilla.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>We had a Qdoba nacho bar, in addition to burgers, dogs and salads. It was excellent and everyone loved it. We had 100 people, ordered Qdoba for 80 people, and had about 1/2 left over. The nacho bar was about $10 per person.</p>
<p>I try to stick to things that taste good even if they aren’t the exact perfect temp and can sit for awhile in a crock or whatever.</p>
<p>Meatball sandwiches…meatballs in pasta sauce in a crock pot…with mini italian rolls on the side…shred cheese for people to add on top. Some of the frozen meatball sold at Sams or Costco are fine. Defrost, add pasta sauce and you’re good.</p>
<p>Pulled pork sandwiches…can use similar roll/buns as above. Sams club has pulled pork pre-made in their freezer section. I usually just add more BBQ sauce to it and stick it in a crock pot. </p>
<p>I think the 6ft sandwich might be too short if you have a bunch of people. - hint…ask them not to put the wet ingreds on, ask for the mayo, mustard, V&O to be put on the side in containers …and let people add those themselves. The sandwich doesn’t get mushy that way. And…sometimes you can have the sandwich made “half one way” (like with Italian-meats) and half another way (like roast beef or ham).</p>
<p>appetizers for that size crowd will be hard since those can be time consuming to make…</p>
<p>And easy one is…get the large box of frozen taquitos from Sams Club (Costco has them too), cook those up and serve with salsa and guacamole (also pre-made at Costco and Sams).</p>
<p>easy one…the big bag of frozen Buffalo wings at Costco or Sams…there are other flavors too…like Teriyaki.</p>
<p>Stacy’s Pita chips served with various flavored hummas dips (also at Sams and Costco) </p>
<p>Actually both Sams and Costco have a lot of pre-made appies.</p>
<p>LOL…can you tell I use Sams and Costco as caterers?</p>
<p>And…if you get the peach/mango salsa at costco or sams…I suggest putting into a blender for a little bit to get the pieces a bit smaller…everyone says that they like it better that way.</p>
<p>For pulled pork, you can use pork shoulder/butt roast, put it in the oven at 250 degrees with a little bit of water and plenty of seasoning, covered for 8+ hours, and then crank it up to 400 with the cover off at the end to brown it up. When it’s done, it should be very tender and pull apart easy. Shred and mix with an ample quantity of your choice of BBQ sauce. I recommend Sweet Baby Ray’s, but that’s just my preference. It won’t have the smokey flavor of REAL BBQ, but it’ll be nice and tender and taste pretty yummy with the sauce. You can also put it in a disposable chafing dish with some sterno underneath to keep it warm throughout the party. It seems to be a pretty common dish at these kinds of things and it’s a crowd pleaser. It’s also something that you could probably do the day before and reheat the day of.</p>
<p>Thank you - I could cry … (I said I was tired) all your ideas are awesome. I’m going to cherry picking from each post. </p>
<p>The crying thing-- I had an unexpected cry – public speaking – I had no idea it was there! I was in a group amongst young girl scouts & their mom leaders. 30 - 40 people?
I was asked to speak about my girls–My scout troop = 8 seniors/ 6 got their Gold Award; the 2 that didn’t 1= HS Valedictorian, 1= a 2 time beautiful girl suvivor of cancer. They have been a troop for 12 years… Booo hooo. All the mothers, who didn’t know me, were crying! I was so embarassed & totally surprised at my emotions! Gee wizz</p>