Help me feed a crowd

February 9, 2009 8:48 AM

Help me feed a crowd of people, adults and children, on a trip. Ideas? More inside.

We have 16 adults and 35 kids (ages 8-17 years) going on a trip together. I need to put together dinner plans where we all bring things for our communal dinners. We have access to 3 smallish kitchens but with normal size fridge, stovetop and oven. Things to keep in mind: nothing too complicated in terms of time for preparation, appeal to variety of tastes (picky kids), easy to bring from home, not too expensive, no grilling (it's freezing there). In the past we have had: taco bar, ziti and salad, sub bar, lasagne. Looking for new ideas! Thanks.

posted by maxg94 to food & drink (6 comments total)

Pizza bar. You can either make a bunch of pizzas with different toppings ahead of time and then serve them cafeteria style or, and this is more fun, let everyone make their own little pizza - buy the crusts ready made for convenience - with a bunch of toppings available and an adult to slide them in and out of the oven.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:56 AM on February 9

Also: Baked potato bar. If you bake all the taters at once, then serve with a variety of things to put on top.
posted by Stewriffic at 8:59 AM on February 9

What about chili? Various kinds of chili with ground beef, chicken , or various vegetarian styles and different levels of hotness?

Maybe pulled pork sandwiches where you can just leave the meat roasting in a crock pot all day? Buy the buns!

Like the lasagna of the past, do it again. Perhaps with eggplant? Or regular old spaghetti and meatballs.

i really like the baked potato bar idea - awesome!
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 9:01 AM on February 9

Matzo ball soup bar, with broth, matzo balls, chicken, carrots, onions, crackers, parsley, etc.

Pasta bar - make a few different sauces (tomato, cream, pesto) and some meatballs ahead of time and freeze, then just before make shrimp, chicken, ground beef, meatballs, and 2 or 3 different kinds of pasta and maybe some raviolis. Maybe also a few different vegetables to top it with - zucchini, asparagus, squash, fresh tomatoes, braised leeks, roasted red peppers (from a jar), olives, artichoke hearts, basil, etc.

For the adults, maybe a bloody mary bar, with green beans, limes, tabasco, shrimp, ice, vodka, juice, etc.

Re chili, you could buy a bunch of small bags of fritos and let everyone make Frito pie, then add green onion, sour cream, shredded cheese, etc.

This is fun. I could do this all day.
posted by charlesv at 9:42 AM on February 9

Seconding pizza bar.

Pizza dough is easier than you think to make from scratch, too -- you can make a very decent thin-crust pizza dough with only flour, yeast, salt, and water, and you don't even need to let it rise:

3/4 cups water
1/2 tsp yeast
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the water to lukewarm (you should be able to comfortably stick your finger in it), stir in the yeast, and set aside for a couple minutes. Combine flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the center and dump in the water/yeast mixture. Use a spoon or your hands to combine everything, and when it all comes together into a ball, dump it out onto the counter and knead it all for about five minutes. (Add more flour if it's sticking all over the damn place.) Then divide it into two balls, and just roll each one out to about 1/4 inch thick, top with the sauce and every other topping BUT the cheese, and bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn the pizza around halfway, bake for another 3 minutes, put the cheese on and bake another 3 minutes. Voila.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:42 AM on February 9

Breakfast-for-dinner might be a good option, if it's not necessary for you to all actually sit down together at once (is this even possible with 35 kids?!) Kids seem especially to love having breakfast at the wrong time. Eggs, pancakes/french toast, bacon/sausage, fruit salad, muffins or quick bread, bread pudding, toast, cereal, etc. Each kitchen can produce one or two items. The "bar" format seems to be the simplest solution, as everyone has determined.

Other oven meals I like: shepherd's pie, baked macaroni and cheese, meat or vegetable pasties (this could be set up like the "pizza bar" mentioned above), enchiladas (with different meats or vegetables--you can buy premade sauces at the store, so these are pretty simple).

Also, burgers and hot dogs are possible (even easier, although not quite as tasty) without the grill, and are a kid favorite.

And I'm seconding the chili. Any kind of soup with rolls or bread would be great.
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 7:06 PM on February 10