I heard from many of you last week when I blogged last week about an upcoming event – thank you! One of you asked what I meant by Food Prep: “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.
Not everyone wants to cook for big events. It seems like a lot of work, and early food prep seems like extra work and mess, to dirty the kitchen twice. Also, I have a client that insists on everything being “fresh”, so she has not embraced my make-ahead suggestions, though she struggles to host big events. Indeed, some foods are best fresh. But many foods can be assembled a day ahead of an event to make the event go smoother, and still be fresh. Prep as much as possible a day or two ahead of your event, and leave the final assembly to right before serving.
I like to cook for parties and events because:
- Making some items is cheaper than catering the whole event. I would rather spend my money on other things.
- Home cooking usually tastes better than catered foods.
- My family has favorite foods, and I like making those favorites for special events.
- Prepping and cooking food a day ahead of an event frees up my time for the event itself, and after years of practice, it’s not really a hassle anymore.
- I like to cook, and it’s enjoyable for me to put a big event together.
Here is next Saturday’s menu:
Appetizers: These will be completely assembled, so the first person home from church (probably not me) can place them out for guests.
- Vegetable and dip platter
- Fruit and dip platter
- Chip tray with tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole (from Costco, I like theirs better than my homemade ones)
- A heated chili-cheese dip (3 minutes in the microwave)
- Deviled eggs (a family favorite)
- Relish tray
- Pita chips and hummus (also Costco, I like theirs better)
Beverages: These, too, will be ready for the first guests, except for the coffee, which will be ready to brew.
- Iced Tea
- Beer / Wine / Soda
- Coffee
Main Course:
- Fried chicken (catered)
- Make-ahead mashed potatoes (warmed in the crock pot, click here for recipe)
- Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (vegetarian, sauce made ahead, macaroni made the morning of the party, warmed in the crock pot)
- Quinoa and Black Beans (vegetarian, made ahead, served warm or cold, here for the recipe,)
- Cole slaw (slaw from a bag, assembled with dressing the morning of the 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 trays and platters. Also, use cookie sheets to keep each recipe’s ingredients organized (photo).
Thursday night, when making dinner:
- Assemble serving dishes: egg tray, platters, lidded baking dish for chili-cheese dip
- Hard boil eggs, cool and peel
- Clean, peel (sons will help with this) and chop veggies
- Shred 2 pounds of cheddar cheese (sons and Cuisinart will help)
After Dinner (an hour): Assemble and refrigerate
- Chili Cheese dip
- Deviled eggs (son #2 will pipe the filling)
- Dill veggie dip (son #2 will help). The dip tastes better after a day of chilling
Friday night, when making dinner
- Brew iced tea
- Make cheese sauce for Macaroni, refrigerate
- Peel and boil potatoes, make mashed potatoes (special recipe made with sour cream and cream cheese, is really delicious a day or two later!)
- Chop Fruit
- Assemble Fruit, Vegetable and Relish trays, cover in plastic wrap, place in refrigerator.
- Puree Strawberries for fruit dip and refrigerate (Lauren’s Fruit Dip: 8 oz each of Fruit on the bottom strawberry yogurt, cool whip and pureed strawberries. Mix all together, serve with cut fruit)
- 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.