Great Party Part 2: Food Planning and Prep

, and someone asked “How can you possibly have a party without either cooking all day or catering the whole thing?”  Today I’ll shed some light on party planning and food prep.

I like to cook for parties and events because:

1. It’s cheaper than catering.
2. Home cooking usually tastes better than catered foods.
3. My family has favorite foods, and I like making those favorites for special events.
4. Cooking a day ahead of an event frees up my time for the event itself, and with practice, it’s not a problem.
5. I like to cook, and it’s enjoyable for me to put a big event together.

Here is Saturday’s menu:

Appetizers:  These will be completely assembled, so the first person home from church (probably not me) can place them out:

• Vegetable and dip platter
• Fruit and dip platter
• Chip tray with tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole (from Costco, theirs is better than mine) and heated chili-cheese dip (3 microwave minutes)
• Deviled eggs (family fave)
• Relish tray
• Pita chips and hummus (also Costco, I like theirs better)

Beverages:  Iced Tea / Beer / Wine / Soda / Coffee.  These, too, will be ready for the first guests, except for the coffee, which will be ready to brew.

Main Course:

• Fried chicken (catered)
• Make-ahead mashed potatoes (warmed in the crock pot, click here for recipe)
• Macaroni and Cheese (vegetarian, sauce made ahead, macaroni made morning of party, warmed in the crock pot)
• Quinoa and Black Beans (vegetarian, made ahead, click here for the recipe )
• Cole slaw (slaw from a bag, assembled with dressing morning of event)
• Bakery bread and butter

Dessert: Strawberry pretzel salad (my mother-in-law is bringing this), cookies (mine) and Ice Cream Cake (catered)

Start with clean counters for good work space, and a clean refrigerator to store your assembled foods.  Also, use cookie sheets to keep each recipe’s ingredients organized. 

Thursday night, when making dinner:

1. Assemble serving dishes
2. Hard boil eggs, cool and peel
3. Clean, peel (with sons’ help) and chop veggies
4. Shred 2 pounds of cheddar cheese (with help)

 After Dinner (an hour):  Assemble and refrigerate

1. Chili Cheese dip
2. Deviled eggs (with sons’ help)
3. Dill veggie dip, tastes better after a day (with sons’ help).

Friday night, when making dinner

1. Brew tea
2. Make cheese sauce for Macaroni
3. Peel and boil potatoes, make mashed potatoes
4. Make Quinoa and Beans
5. Chop Fruit, Puree Strawberries for fruit dip
6. Assemble Fruit, Vegetable and Relish trays, cover in plastic wrap, place in refrigerator.
7. Load big white cooler with beer and soda

So, next time you have a big event coming up, or even a big meal for your family, look at your menu and determine what you can make a day or two before, to free up your time and attention for other things.  

For More Party Planning tips, READ:

This is part of the May edition of Colleen CPO's Blog.