Keep Ellen Cooking!
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Karen 06/09/14 |
Wedding was beyond expectations. Totally worth all of the worry and work. My first time cooking for a huge crowd. And it was my first son's wedding hosted at our farm. I had enough helpers. (my mom, my sister and my friend. A couple kids to carry food to barn and an extra pair of hands the day we cut up fruit). Was the best decision to hire professional help for the roast chicken and pulled pork. I'm a food prude and didn't want to serve our guests what I consider junk food from Gordon's. I wanted to give them the best of my kitchen. Home cooked, healthy and very fresh, tasty food. Huge success in the sense that the plates were heaping over and people came for more. Comments were:" WHO was the caterer? The food is amazing!" "we never see food like this at a wedding!" I was very pleased. I used this site to gain confidence and get an approximation for the quantities of food. My mom said the quantities were far too large ..but I wanted to be sure we didn't run out in case extra people came and I knew we had a big eating crowd coming and they would be hungry. Ellen, thank you for your efforts, but mom was right. The amounts were WAY off. We made 600 cookies; you said 1000. We have TONS of cookies left over. I bought 12 huge watermelons, (la little less than what you suggested) 15 lbs of grapes (you said 20) and two flats of fresh strawberries for a fruit salad. We have 3 huge bowls of delicious watermelon left over. Guess I will make watermelon juice with lime and ginger and freeze it. I bought 50 lbs of shredded cabbage and have 9 gallon sized baggies left over. I made 5 roaster pans full of red potatoes seasoned with olive oil, garlic, chives, cracked pepper and sea salt and sprinked with parmesean cheese. I had bought 125 lbs of potatoes and 40 lbs of them wouldnt fit in the 5 roasters and are untouched. I have 2-1/2 roaster pans left of cooked red potatoes. You said 60# of corn. Maybe 1/2 of that was eaten. I bought 9 lbs of carrots, 9 lbs of broccoli, 6 heads of cauliflour. I have about 4 lbs of carrots left, 6 lbs of broccoli and 3 heads of cauliflour left. I bought 10 lbs of dill dip and have 1/2 that left over. I also had 5 huge containers (forgot how many quarts at the moment) of sweet angel cherry tomatoes and just 1/2 of gallon sized baggie left. So that was close. made twice the amount of lemonade as you suggested and ALL OF THAT WAS DRANK and we were rushing to the store to buy more mix and had extra helpers whipping that up at a frantic pace to keep up. Unsweetened Tea was about right. Had plenty of extra beer but we went waaay above what you suggested for that. No worries there, it will get saved for another party. As for the meat, we ordered 50 chickens and 76 lbs of pork shoulder roast. The roast was cut on site as people were eating it and bbq sauce added separately. It was JUICY AND EXTRA tasty! People raved about the meat. YES, ALWAYS HIRE THE MEAT DONE!! We only have 1 gallon baggie of that left and we have 1 small cooler full of roast bbq chicken. There was a "how sweet it is" table for kids with pretty candies and that went well too. I'm glad we had plenty of food but now I have to figure what to do with it so it isn't wasted. It may not have been cheaper than hiring a caterer, but I feel it was much more special and appreciated. I am glad I wasn't discouraged and just dove in and got it done. The feeling of doing it myself and doing it right is the most rewarding feeling ever. |
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ellen 06/09/14 |
Thank you for the feedback, and congratulations on the great success. As the group gets over 100, the quantities do get more difficult; still, I am surprised at some of your left overs. |
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ellen 12/08/14 |
Reflecting. Cookies- I do recommend up to 4 per person, but 2/3/4-bite size. If larger, that may account for the overage. Hope they went in the freezer.
"made 5 roaster pans full of red potatoes seasoned with olive oil, garlic, chives, cracked pepper and sea salt and sprinked with parmesean cheese. I had bought 125 lbs of potatoes and 40 lbs of them wouldn't fit in the 5 roasters and are untouched. I have 2-1/2 roaster pans left of cooked red potatoes. "
"12 huge watermelons, (a little less than what you suggested)" I suggested about 4 ounces per person or 65 pounds; not sure how you ended up with 12 huge ones, which might be 120-150 pounds or more. The 1 pound per person in the tables is only for picnic style desserts. Cole slaw/ cabbage; this one surprised me, as 20 pounds per 100 is very typical. "You said 60# of corn, half eaten". Would have expected at least 50... "9 lbs of carrots, 9 lbs of broccoli, 6 heads of cauliflour. I have about 4 lbs of carrots left, 6 lbs of broccoli and 3 heads of cauliflour left. I bought 10 lbs of dill dip and have 1/2 that left over." This is only about 2-3 ounces veg per person. 10 pints is 1 pint per 25 people and I am very surprised at this amount of leftover, the only thing I can figure is, they just did not eat the usual amounts of veggies, so did not eat the dip, either. "made twice the amount of lemonade as you suggested and ALL OF THAT WAS DRANK". I checked back, saw I wrote 6 gallons, and that said 6 gallons per 100. My bad if it was not clear... Thank you for helping me refine the amounts. |
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Hayley 12/09/14 |
We had allot leftover from our wedding food too, but I think being in the northwest people might have smaller appetites than some other regions. I really appreciated your help with the amounts and was glad to have too much than too little! we had just a handful of teens...if the guests would have been all teens I am sure we would have been much lower on the leftovers. |