There is Beauty All Around Us!
Archive for January, 2009
Huge Batch Hot Cocoa Mix
January 9, 2009
Cooking for a Crowd
January 7, 2009I organize the funeral dinners for my church and this past weekend I was given the pleasure of providing the meal for a wedding reception. Before my kids kept me so busy, I used to be in charge of the meal for the annual 4-H Livestock Banquet in our county. Throughout these different ventures I have gained a little bit of knowledge about cooking for a crowd. Here are a few tidbits that might help you the next time you need to plan for a bunch of people!
Coffee: 1 cup of ground coffee to 33 cups of water. A good rule of thumb is to use about half as much ground as what the instructions on the can actually say. The more servings you make, the less grounds you actually need.
Punch or other non-alcoholic beverage: Plan for, at a minimum, double what the suggested serving size says on the container. To stretch your punch a little bit, you can have water pitchers on the tables or easily accessible. If your punch seems to be running low, add more 7-UP or whatever you main ingredient is. No one will know the difference!
Potatoes: 80 lbs of potatoes fed about 250 people at the wedding. That is approximately 1/4 lb per person. If you are making scalloped potatoes, you can do slightly less or go by the casserole suggestion below.
Hot vegetables: go with the serving size on the side of the container.
Relish Tray: I would guess about 2-4 pieces of veggie per person. Remembering that carrots are the most popular crudette on the platter- Get more of them than you do any other veggie. Veggie dip, go with the servings on the container.
Salad: We calculated 3 oz per person for the wedding and had way too much. I would think 1-2 oz per person would be a better guess. And most people used less salad dressing than the suggested serving size as well.
Hot meat: Boneless meat like roast beef or ham is about 1/4 lb per person. Bone in meat like chicken is closer to 1/2 lb per person but not more than that.
Lunch meat: There is a trick to this one. If you pre-make the sandwiches, the meat will go further, as little as 1/8 lb per person. When people make their own they often over-do it, especially if the meat is shaved instead of sliced. If you do not want to pre-make the sandwiches, buy your meat sliced (I tell the deli to slice mine as thin as possible while maintaining a whole slice) and have silver-dollar sized buns made. 1 slice: 1 bun: person. If you think you have to have regular sized buns, go with 2 slices of meat per person.
Pie: The average size pie can be cut into 8 pieces. Smaller, bought from the freezer case pies are about 6 pieces.
Cake: On an average single layer cake, a 2×2 piece is sufficient. So, a 9×13 pan would make about 24 servings of just slightly larger than 2×2.
Casseroles: If the casserole is a main course, you can fit about 12 servings into a 9×13 pan. If it is a side dish like scalloped corn or green bean casserole, you can use the same 24 servings as you would for cake.
Cold salads: like pasta, potato, pea, etc. One large spoon full per person is a good guess. That would come out to 1/4 t0 1/2 cup per person.
Hope this helps! Feel free to send me a comment if you have something specific you are preparing and don’t know how much. I’d be glad to offer my opinion!
How to cook “from the garden” SQUASH
January 5, 2009Butternut, Acorn, ETC
Slice in half. Scoop out seeds, Lay face down on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for one hour. Check for doneness by stabbing with a fork in the non-seed end. If fork goes in easily it is done. If not, return to oven for another 15 min. and check again. Repeat as needed. It will depend on the size of the squash. Once it is soft, turn over and scoop out the flesh and place into a heat proof bowl. Add a little butter and salt and stir to combine. Enjoy. This will make a very moist squash, if you like yours drier- bake with the cut side up instead. Any leftovers can be used to make “pumpkin” pie (follow basic pumpkin pie directions but replace pumpkin with squash) or you can add small amounts of leftvoer squash to pancakes, waffles, or muffins.
Roasted Potatoes
January 5, 2009Chef Rod’s Roasted Potatoes
Red Potatoes, washed and cut into bite size or slighly larger pieces
Olive Oil
Basil
Parsley
Thyme (1/4 as much as the Basil and Parsley)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Place your cut pototoes into a large bowl. Drizzle plenty of oil on them and mix by hand to coat them (or put them into a ziploc bag and have your kids shake it up!) Then sprinkle on the herbs and toss to coat as well. I would use maybe a Tbl of basil and parsley to maybe 3/4 tsp of thyme for the average sized family meal. Spread potatoes onto a single layer on a cookie sheet or any shallow pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Bake 325^ for about an hour (350^ 45 min- 450^ 20 min) until done when pierced with fork. They will be stuck to the pan slightly but if you use a sharp spatula and are careful, they crispy underside will come right up and it’s the best side!
