 Questioning your sanity? Don't. Cooking for a crowd of 25 or more guests for a luncheon, church function, cocktail party or home brunch is a large undertaking, but you can pull it off with style and grace...yes you can!
Sure, you can do it all, but why should you? Call your most helpful friends and family members into service and be sure to draft a "second in command" to be responsible for coordinating duties when you are unavailable or unable. Above all, helpers should have a passion or readiness to take on the challenge of cooking for a crowd. Consider hiring a caterer or personal chef to do some if not all of the cooking, on the day of the event or ahead of time. Hire a culinary school student to act as assistant or to supervise servers. This may be needed for crowds from 10 to 100, depending on your entertaining and cooking comfort zone Check out what other kitchen warriors are up to
Your budget will decide the number of guests, location of the event, type of service, length of the party and the type and quality of the food. In turn, each of these will structure the menu. It is best to work backwards with your budget. Don’t start planning and spending money on what you really want without considering your bottom line. You will end up with the prime rib of your dreams, but little else. Find ways to compromise between what you would like and what you can reasonably afford. Who's Coming to the Party? The purpose of the event will shape the list of people or groups that “belong” at the party. The number of invited guests will be shaped by your budget.
When cooking for a crowd, it is crucial to have a “very close” head count of the number of attendees before you confirm the event space, the menu, food quantities and purchases.  The make
up of your guests will influence the menu in
a big way. Your guests will be made up of a
combination of
ages, genders, ethnicities,
religions and cultures. All of these factors should come into
consideration as you plan your menu. For example, a crowd of gleeful
teenagers and a
crowd of staid seniors will not like the same foods. If these
two groups are both attending the party, you will have to plan
a menu that both will love. Men eat more than women, except when only women are eating together (in my experience); children younger than 10 hardly eat anything but the amount they eat increases significantly after age 14. A cocktail party menu is best for a crowd of young professionals and a brunch menu is a great idea for a bridal shower.
You might also make general assumptions based on guests’ ages. For example, children will be the ones with nut and milk allergies, 20-somethings might lean towards vegetarianism and it has been my experience, that the older the crowd, the healthier they want to eat. More Party Planning Menu Planning It goes without saying…if you are cooking for a crowd of people your menu should be be as simple as possible. Choosing a simple menu with simple recipes goes a long way in reducing your stress levels and allowing things to run smoothly.
Using chafing dishes for a buffet Tips on Estimating Food Quantities Calculating food quantities is one part “guestimation” and one part math 101. Here's why:
|