Thans.

Check out my crock pot chutney and make several batches using different base fruits, especially apples, peaches, and green or red tomatoes. Mangoes or pineapples if you can get them- canned pinaple tidbits work.

In my big pots section there is a whole unit on pasta/ spaghetti feeds with some links, all will help. An 18-20 qurat electric roaster such as a Nesco plugs in anywhere, costs around 40$ and keeps warm enough for about 50 people without filling your pven or stove. Think super giant crockpot.

Thanks

1. Rigatoni
2. Meat & cheese trays
3. Fruit trays
4. cocktail weiners in crescents
5. pasta salad
6. potato salad

You also need to say whether this is a lunch ordinner or reception- it makes a difference on the amounts.

You can refrigerate/store the salads in the 2 1/2 gallon size food-safe ziplock bags. Trash bags are not food safe. Keep them iced until served and only put out 1 hours-worth at a time.

Finally, go on line and inspect prices for comparable meals in your area. You will find some consistency, and there is a reason for that. If your estimated price differs markedly, ask yourself, why?

How much shold i buy

Kim

with recipes and more advice on the related pages.

Thank-you
Valerie

Laverne, see any of my potato salad for 100 recipes and make a scant 1/2. You want about 15 pounds of potatoes.

This is way too big for easy. I have posted articles on food storage and safety and the article on planning you wedding reception. There are a lot of serious details besides just the food itself. You need to realize that you will probably miss the wedding, as will the approximately 30 helpers you will need to set up, sook, serve and clean up the meal.

thanks.

Does this sound correct to you? I am not to sure about the appetizers...if I should have more of a selection. My customer wants room temp appetizers..last year their hot appetizers were cold and the cold appetizers mushy..and not very good (from what I'm told). I would like to make a good impression on this job. Thank you for any help!

Amount of chicken is fine but what else goes in the saute. You need a great sauce. Rice requires only 2 cups of broth for each cup of rice and I would likely go with 24-27 cups rice, especially if buffet. Green beans are barely enough. You also need a fourth item/ plate garnish such as spiced peach or apples, mango salsa, stuffed mushrooms, etc. 1 large roll per person plated on the table or 1.2 if on buffet.

help!

Gail, See the mac and cheese recipes in Big Pots, they serve 100. Make 1 1/3.

Kelly, Since I posted all my quantity tables, I no longer do original estimates. If you use my tables to prepare and estimate, and post it, I will check it for you. The usual charge is 3 to 4 times the cost of the food, plus extra for equipment delivery and rentals- it totally depends on whether you are dropping off cooked food or doing setup service cleanup also. Weddings are a very BAD place to start catering for this large a group- they need to be perfect, and you need written contracts and liability insurance. Please read my catering your wedding article and think hard before accepting this job..

Thank You!

Mix jelly and chili sauce. Add wieners and simmer on stove for 45-60 minutes. To serve place in chafing dish or food warmer. Use toothpicks to serve.

Stewie

All these items are already covered in the tables, (plan for 100, baked potato bar, dessert bar) except for estimating the mix on the chicken. You use 1 1/3 the amount for 100 to cover 130. Please let me know if this is chicken quarters, pieces, breasts, etc. Also on the pork, is this sliced loin? Then I can give you some help.

Are you making the perlou, which is also called chicken bog, with the shrimp and/or sausage? If I bought all those chicken quarters, I might trim off that piece of backbone at the bottom of each and use those to make the broth. Or buy a few extra cases of chicken leg quarters...

However, when I freshen up canned beans, I usually also saute onions and finely diced celery. Sometimes I stir in prepared mustard or ketchup. Lightens the dish and tastes great.

For 100 people, you need 10-12 9x13 pans of casserole for the main dish, thats 30-32 quarts; there is a recipe for cornbread for many on the chili page; about 3 gallons, cooked of each vegetable, which is 4-5 #10 cans or about 20 pounds cooked (greens shrink when cooked, fresh beans, you lose about 10-15%).

My big question is how much salami/prusciutto/mozzarella do I need per person? The dips will be made using dried lentils and canned white beans, so how much of each would be reasonable? Thanks !

It sounds like a generous gift, I have done the same, only it was a Thanksgiving dinner! You have a simpler plan.

Usuallyt caterers allow 5 ounces ready to eat beef and 3 ounces of the second meat for each person, people eat more when there are several entrees served buffet style. You could cut back about 1 ounce each if the pasta has meat.

A little spoonful of mango salsa or another fresh fruit salsa would look great on this plate.

What a find you are! Need to know for this weekend how many pounds of pasta to make (Greek Salad Style !) for a party of young men and women. There will also be appetizers/sandwiches/Italian sausage/ "real" Buffalo chicken wings & veggies/
Ceasar salad/relish tray/desserts. Thank you in advance!!

To prevent sogginess, toss everything together just before serving, mixing veggies, noodles and almonds. Plate the salads and garnish with roasted sesame seeds and OPTIONAL mandarin orange segments.

Deviled eggs are a great side dish for a vegetarian pasta meal.

You might and a Lexington slaw recipe with these meats, I also have that recipe.

Love your sight! I am catering my son's football banquet. I am at a lost for a menu to feed 100 teenage boys, about 50 8-10 years olds, plus family and friends. I would like to serve an appertizer, salad, one -two meats, starch, vegatable, and dessert. As well as a tea and punch. I would like to serve that is kid friendly as well as a meal for the adults and older boys. Our team only has a budget of $3500 for food and paper goods. Any help you can provide is appreicated. This will be a Sunday afternoon event.

If you like one of these ideas, write back with more details.

Thanks for getting back to me. I would like more info on the pasta supper. I expect about 200 people.

Then use the quantities to make 4 times food for 50 and you will be good for 200. If you want further help on beverages or other dessert ideas, see the dessert planner and the beverage planner.

Brenda, is this short term or permanent, what kind of kitchen, stoves, refrigeration, etc, how much help, and what kind of budget?

Donnie, this depends on your budget, but you definitely want Irish soda bread, real butter, real marmalade and good fruit jam. If aiming for authenticity, I would do steel cut oats if it is not too hot where you are, half and half, sugar, etc- the amounts are discussed on the breakfast planning page. Strong black tea is traditional, coffee is a very late addition. White pudding and black pudding, or at least sausage. Boxty, Irish potato pancakes, crispy. Bacon or possibly ham, or creamed fish or kedergee or devilled kidneys [yes, right, just the thing to be staring up at an American breakfast eater from the plate...). Simple eggs (fried is the most common, or soft-boiled would be very traditional. Use pasteurized eggs so you don't have to cook them to death, and make sure the diners KNOW they are pasteurized). Sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes on the plate are also very traditional.

www.ellenskitchen.com/turkey/cornsides1.html

ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/beans100.html

As to the burgers and brats, I would probably figure 1 patty per person PLUS 3 ounces brats per person (1 pound for every 5 persons) or about 30 pounds of brats, unless you know they are very very popular with this particular group. On the sandwich event page there is a tables for sandwich condiments for 100 people, you would need 1 1/2 tikes these amounts.

As to the meat, you want to END UP with 5 ounces of ready to eat brisket PLUS 3 ounces ready to eat ham per person for party size servings. The shrinkage depends very much on the trim im your brisket and ham, and how hot yu smoke it, Use your experience with your own smoker to figure out how much raw meat to start woith.

I think You need to prepare a second dish for yourself and other non-egg eaters. Fruit and yogurt parfaits, maybe, or a cereal buffet.

Thanks, Lisa

You need 4 roasters to do this much chicken, as you can only do about 60 people's worth in one. You need 170-190 pounds quarters for this many people.

I don't know how long the party is; how many of your guests are kids or what the local preference for beef versus chicken is; or whether you will serve the plates or have a self serve buffet; or whether this is at lunchtime or dinner time, or truly afternoon and in between. All these affect the portions, so be sure to include this information when you post your estimate.

Assuming you will have bread/ rolls for the ham and cheese, allow 2 ounces of sliced cheese per person. Allow 1 pound ready to eat boneless ham for 4 people if it it pre-sliced, fairly thin. Allow 1 pound for 3 if it is thick sliced or slice-it-yourself. See the sandwich event page for a table to help with sandwich condiments.

Karen when you serve two meats, one beef, you need 5 ounces cooked meat PLUS three ounces cooked ready to eat chicken. That's about 2 pounds raw boneless beef for every 5 people, plus 6 ounces chicken pieces (about 1 piece) for each person.

We are nervous about the mac salad and potatoes. We bought 80 lbs of potatoes and 12 boxes of elbow macaroni - does that sound like enough?

You do him honor.

You want to use a total of about 11 pounds of fry rice between your two recipes. Potatoes for potato salad are covered on the plan for 100 page.

You might want to look at the catering section at chef2chef.com. You need event and liability insurance and in most states it is illegal to prep the food in your own kitchen, you have to do it at the site or in a licensed commercial kitchen.

That said, if this inquiry were from a home cook, I would say quite bluntly that it takes 3 chefs and about 12 other servers to do this dinner for 200, and you can't do it on one stove. How are you going to safely and rapidly chill and reheat this quantity of food? You can't cook, then transport an hour then setup and serve and stay within the two hour safety time limit...

I am hosting a surpirse 60th birthday party for 75 people. I will be serving for the main coarse:
15# Rigatoni
300 Meatballs
4 Gallons of Green Beans
100 Pieces Fried Chicken
Salad
We will also have A variety of appetizers, veggie trays and a cake/cookie display. Do my quantities sound right. Thank you!

Bakeer Muwwakkil

Be cautious; if you are really expecting 250 people and it is self serve, you need to allow 5 ounces of cooked chicken PLUS 3 ounces of cooked salmon per person for every person in order to have enough for everyone to have their first choice. Also, you need to add 10% to every dish when it is self serve; people eat more.

That's 2 pounds raw well trimmed brisket for each 5 people PLUS 1 pound sausage for each 5 persons.

How long depends on type and size of ovens, how many trays at once, for example a 4 rack convection oven is different from a home oven. So tell me more.

Julia

I am helping my church group with open roast beef and turkey samdwiches. Can you giv me an idea of how much mashed potatoes I'll need?

liefie

You can find many maore ideas with a google search for "braai menu".

Thank you in advance for any advice!

You want to end up with 1 pound of food available per person.

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks

Chris, you need to count on 2 dogs per person and 1 bun per dog. See the sandwich table for help on condiments (mustard relish etc.) You have to do your prices locally; we get hot dogs from 99 to 4.59 per 8, depending on what brand and type.

I also suggest that instead of omitting melon, you simply package and display it on its own tray.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck

Any suggestions? Need to pick ingreds up tomorrow. Thanks for any help you can provide!

For general purposes, you want 2 per person of items like the quiches and 2-3 ounces of sausages, meatballs, etc. This assumes that there is a wide selection of appetizers; for appetizers only with this size crowd. you would want at least 12 different kinds.

I would add at least cheese and crackers (Sam's has a good sharp cheddar and Monterey jack cheese in bulk and Kraft Swiss slices in 2 pound packages), you need about 50 pounds plus 20 pounds of crackers.

Shannon

Thanks!