I am catering my friend's daughter's graduation party in May.

dawn_mo

dawn_mo

Well-known member
Here are her requests:

Lasagna

Pasta w/ sauces

Meatball Sliders

Pasta Salad

Crostini

Brownies

Cookies

I had some influence on the menu with the sliders and pasta salad.

There will be around 40 people (this is the same person when I asked her how many people would be coming for her oldest daughter's party, she replied 24. In the first half hour there were over 24 people easy. I called her aside and asked her again, how many people were coming, she replied that she had sent out 24 inviations. That is when I replaced the large serving spoon in the taco meat to a teaspoon. We didn't run out of food, but just barely.) I have asked her specifically how many people she is expecting. And I will ask again.

Back to my question; how much do you think I should be portioning for each of these dishes? Thaniks!

 
The good news is, you could easily add another pasta dish if people came in droves.

She sent out 24 invitations but that doesn't include +1 or +3 (with families).

You've got a ton of pasta there and lots of overlap with the entrees. If possible, I'd switch the pasta salad to a regular salad. smileys/smile.gif

And if you're looking for ideas, Ina Garten's Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta is awesome.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tomato-crostini-with-whipped-feta-recipe.html

 
If I were doing it, here is how I would portion it...we serve 40 high school kids this way:

Lasagna - 3" square per person
Pasta w/ sauces - 1 cup pasta plus 1/2 cup sauce
Meatball Sliders - 1 per person (assuming the mini buns?)
Pasta Salad - whether pasta or green salad, I'd allow 1 cup per person
Crostini - 2 each
Brownies - one 2" piece each
Cookies - 2 small cookies each

Not everyone eats everything, of course, and you always allow a little extra. Make sure you pre-cut the lasagna or kids will take whopping big pieces and probably not eat half of it. Sometimes when we do salad, we portion it out in those 8 oz clear cups or paper bowls. That way, they can grab one and go.

 
That was interesting on how you portion the food. Good idea!

I often watch Ree Drummond when she is cooking for her family and ranch hands, she usually serves the food. I think folks tend to take too much food and then have no room for it all. By portioning it out, it assures everyone gets fed well and those who want to come back for seconds can.

 
Graduation Party

Lasagna goes so well with a nice green salad. I agree with Traca about eliminating a pasta dish, either the pasta with sauces or pasta salad. Another thought is that many times there are several parties planned on the same day. That makes a difference in the am't of food you will need. Many of the kids go from one party to the next so food consumsion might not be as great as when you are the solo party . I admit I'm old fashioned but maybe a veggie platter/antipasto platter?.

 
Great info and advice cheezz! I learned that the hard way at the Xmas party I catered.

I switched over to serving quite quickly when I saw everyone heaping on the pulled pork!

 
I am dropping the pasta with sauces, but keeping the pasta salad.

My experience with the parties here are that there are a majority of adults compared to kids. A lot of family gatherings including the whole family. I am keeping my menu with what the grad girl has requested. A nice veggie tray or anitpasto sounds like a good idea! Now if I can just talk her out of crostini!

 
These people tend to be heavy eaters. It drives me absolutely nuts

when I see people loading up there plates and not being able to eat it. Seconds people, seconds!

 
Drives me crazy - food needs to be monitored with kids. I was just at a backyard bbq

and took a very large tray of 5 different kinds of cookies that I had labored over (including the sugar cookies with perfectly flooded icing) and the kids grabbed cups, filled them with cookies, took them back to their seats and ate ONE bite out of each one then threw them in the trash!!!!!!
I.had.to.breathe.deeply

 
Oh No! I am sorry for you. I really don't have words.That is just wrong, I am sad that it happened

 
Well....it WAS a church function so I couldn't very well kill them at the moment smileys/smile.gif

 
We were kids once and would never had done that. Or been allowed to. Wasting food was

A huge no no. Mom grew up in Russia. Do not waste food was our 11th commandment. And I'm pretty sure she would have said something. She just couldn't help it. Not sure what I would have done, but I might have channeled Mom. So sorry your beautiful cookies were wasted cheezz

 
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