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Texas BBQ Wedding for 85 in May
Jean 04/10/17	Please review my menu and quantities for our daughter's wedding. It will be in an un-airconditioned dance hall and we have 85 adult guests attending. Thanks so much. Your website is a godsend. Vegetable Tray: 6 pounds Chips: 5 pounds Dip: 5 quarts Cheese Tray: 10 pounds Crackers: 6 pounds Sliced Smoked Brisket: 30 pounds Sliced Smoked Sausage: 16 pounds Smoked Chickens, in quarters: 26 chickens Barbecue Sauce: 4 gallons Baked Beans: (2) 7-quart crock pots Creamed Corn: (2) 7-quart crock pots Kale Superfood Salad: 4 gallons Marinated Cucumbers & Tomatoes: 3 gallons Coleslaw: 2 gallons Pickles Slices: 1 gallon Onion Slices: 6 pounds Pickled Jalapenos: 2 quarts Bread: 7 loaves, pre-sliced Butter: 4 pounds Pie, sliced into 8ths: 20 pies Ice Cream Cups: 100 individual cups Water: 6 gallons Iced Tea: 6 gallons Lemonade: 6 gallons Coffee: 40 cups Decaf Coffee: 20 cups Beer: 20 cases Red Wine: 24 bottles White Wine: 16 bottles Coke: 2 cases Diet Coke: 2 cases Sparkling Water: 2 cases
ellen 04/10/17	You are doing very very well, you can cut back a bit: Vegetable Tray: 6 pounds OK Chips: 5 pounds OK Dip: 5 quarts OK Cheese Tray: 10 pounds- 8 enough Crackers: 6 pounds- 5 enough Sliced Smoked Brisket: 30 pounds- 25 enough Sliced Smoked Sausage: 16 pounds- 12 enough Smoked Chickens, in quarters: 26 chickens-12-14 enough, and cut some of the quarters into 2 pieces Barbecue Sauce: 4 gallons-way plenty Suggest 1 crock of meatless patties, Quorn unchicken nuggets or Field sausages Baked Beans: (2) 7-quart crock pots- OK, as long as each is really at least 6 quarts. Consider 1 meatless Creamed Corn: (2) 7-quart crock pots- OK Kale Superfood Salad: 4 gallons, probably some left- not everyone eats kale- 3 would be pretty close Marinated Cucumbers & Tomatoes: 3 gallons- plenty, maybe some left Coleslaw: 2 gallons, 2 OK Pickles Slices: 1 gallon- OK Onion Slices: 6 pounds- OK Pickled Jalapenos: 2 quarts- OK Bread: 7 loaves, pre-sliced- 10 pounds, consider good rolls Butter: 4 pounds, 3 plenty Pie, sliced into 8ths: 20 pies, cut 6ths and 18 is plenty Ice Cream Cups: 100 individual cups- OK Water: 6 gallons Iced Tea: 6 gallons, 2 unsweetened Lemonade: 6 gallons- 4 enough with other beverages Coffee: 40 cups- have some extra held back Decaf Coffee: 20 cups Beer: 20 cases- calculate 4 bottles per beers drinker, or 1 full keg per 40. This looks like too much. Red Wine: 24 bottles- would serve 40+ wine drinkers White Wine: 16 bottles- would serve 30+ wine drinkers This is a lot of alcohol unless it is a very heavy drinking crowd. Remember that in most states the host is legally liable for any accident a drunken guest gets into on the way home. Coke: 2 cases OK Diet Coke: 2 cases OK Sparkling Water: 2 cases OK You can write back. If this saves you time trouble, or money, please make a donation. maybe a quarter per guest, to support my remodel. Thanks
Jean 04/11/17	Ellen, Thank you so much for your rapid response. I do have a few more questions. 1. Wine: Should I buy equal amounts of red and white? Red goes with meat, but white goes with hot weather. Would 20 bottles of each be enough? 2. Beer: We have a lot of beer drinkers. If I scale back to 15 cases, would that be adequate? 3. I did not plan to use any roasters and I am glad after reading that they can cause circuits to break down. I will be using 4 7-quart crock pots and 2-2 quart crock pots; plus 2 coffee makers. Will this be a problem? The building is old, there is no stove or hot water, just a cold water sink and one very old refrigerator. I plan on storing cold food in ice chests. The meat (except for the sausage) will be cooked by vendors offsite and transferred to our very large outdoor propane smoker to keep warm. 4. Beans: Is your "Plain Old Church Supper" baked bean recipe good to use in a crock pot? Can I add 1/2 cup worchestershire to spice it up? Considering the electrical issues, would it be better to cook Borracho Beans in a pot outdoors using a large stainless pot over a propane burner? 5. Pies: The vendor has advised cutting the pies into 10 slices per pie so people can have more than one taste. What do you think of this? Thanks so much. I am very grateful for your help. Jean
ellen 04/11/17	OK, 85 people. First, thanks for your generous donation. The beans would be fine, spicing fine. Precooked and reheated is best. The problem with cooking a big pot from scratch is burning/sticking. A shallow pan on the smoker would be a good reheat, if you have room. Suggest you cut some pies in 6 and some in 10, so people have choices. Not everyone likes little pieces either! If it is all 10-sliced, you will have a lot left over as some people who want more will only take one little piece. Alcohol With 85 people, you would normally expect either at most 15-18 cases of beer OR 40 bottles of wine, and you have both. So you are about double safe amounts on the alcohol- people do have to get home! The MOST you would want for 60 beer drinkers is 15 cases, and 10 would be safer. As for wine, consider doing just a sangria (cold wine punch) for this summery event, this recipe easily serves 100: www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/plan/punchfont.html

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