Quantities for 50th Anniversary Party
Sally Waggoner
03/30/06 		Ellen, we are planning a party for late May. It will be a self-serve buffet. We do not have the RSVP's yet, but there is a possibility of 38 adults, 14 teens, and 12 younger children (which will probably change). We are planning to have mini crossiant sandwiches (purchased), potato salad, pasta salad, a fruit salad bowl, baked beans, relishes (pickles, olives, and veggies) with dip, potato chips, coffee/tea/pop, and cake. How do I determine the quantity division between the three salads and the baked beans taking into consideration the division of adults, teens, and children and the fact that it will be self-serve? Thank you for your help and comments.
ellen
03/30/06 		You have hit on the hardest part of estimating- the "more than one choice" challenge.

The fruit is 1/2 cup per person, some will eat it as dessert, but pretty much everyone will have some.
The baked beans, I would allow 1/2 cup per adult or teen, none for kids.
I would split pretty evenly between the potato salad and the pasta salad, unless one is defitely more adult (for example, a pasta salad with salami cubes, black olives and artichoke hearts would not be a kiddie hit). So about 1/3 cup each.
2 sandwiches per adult, 3 per teen, 1 per kid unless the sandwiches are really small.
1/2 gallon of pickles. 1-2 quarts of olives, depending on how good they are and whether there are any in the salads. 2 ounces raw veggies per person for relishes. 3 pounds potato chips or 4 pounds corn or tortilla chips for 50.

Some bowls of salted nuts scatter ed around the table would be nice, too.

Then, when I had figured the amounts, I would add 10% for self serve and on the teen-popular items another 10% for teen-ness.

Preteens 6 and up count as 1/2 person for side dishes. Under 6, unless there are a lot of them, just slide in to the fudge factor.

Hope it is a nice day.