Refreshments?!
Answers: I'll need to provide refreshments (very general, but they woud be served late evening) to about 200 people next weekend. Any suggestions on economical (yet adequate) dishes?
200 people and a week to plan????? Good gracious! Ok, here are some ideas:
1. Go to Costco or Sam's Club and pick up some trays of meats and cheese, veges and dip, etc.
2. Cookies, brownie bites, tarts etc.
3. Cheese platters with several large blocks of cheese, such as Tillamook (more economical!), crackers and sliced baguettes. You can purchase other kinds of cheese at Trader Joes very inexpensively and get a great variety, but most folks just want to nibble familiar stuff.
4. Spinach dips in bread bowls with crackers and baguettes.
5. A crockpot with either mini meatballs in marinara or lil smokies in bbq sauce.
6. Vege platter with ranch dressing
7. Olives, pickles, cornichons, pepperoncini, marinated mushrooms and marinated artichoke hearts.
Any or all of the above would certainly take care of their food needs! Plan on about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of stuff per person and between 5 and 10 hors deurves. If you are serving wine or drinks, plan on 4 persons per bottle (1 -2 glasses per) and have a lot of sodas and sparkling waters on hand. Punch would be easier and more economical, or have folks bring a bottle to share.
Late evening implies your guests will have eaten dinner, so you just need a light buffet. Coffee and Tea, fruit platters, mini pastry platters maybe some fancy cookies. You can get the latters from Cosco or BJs and the prices aren't too bad.
Drinks
coffee, water, soda, punch
finger foods-casual
chips and salsa, chips, veggies, fruit for simplicity
More Formal?
Sam's club has a multitude of different quick foods that are economical
buffalo wings, mini eclairs, veggie rolls, cheese cubes, mini egg rolls
OK, now I am hungry!
Hey get some great ideas from Rachel Ray cookbook and it won't break you either.Good finger sanwhiches and cool salad,all kinds of dips and green spice punch.Or if you want something alittle more filling chicken mole-spanish rice-refried beans-brisket sliced thin and a killer sauce,potatoe salad,baked beans.A case of chicken at Sam's is cheap.
finger foods Sam's your best option.
chips salsa,sandwich,taquitos dips veggie trays, coffee and cookies
Chocolate fountain can last all night.
All you need is a load of fruit, crisps, really anything you can dip in chocolate. Fantastic night and can serve loads of people.
Late evening probably means they've eaten earlier. If so only light "finger" food"
Vegetable dips (carrot, cucumber etc) in a varity of dips eg blue cheese, tarmosalata, houmus. All available in the supermarkets.
Prawns preed and combined with breacrumbs, lightly fried and served with a sweet chili sauce.
I'd also do a cheeseboard and biscuits.
200 people in one week? Boy you are brave. Obviously take some help from the store and get a cheese and veggie tray (s).
Another thing that you can do that's really easy to prepare some tuna, egg and or chicken salad. They can all be made a day ahead of time and still be good. And with that variety you could probably get away with not providing enough for all 200 people each. I like to serve this with lettuce instead of bread. Just a little fancier. But mini rolls would work well too. I generally make mine pretty benign and have tomatoes and onion on the side.
Have dishes of good olives and pickles. Open and dump.
Spinach bread dip, the recipe is on the box. Easy to make in bulk and can be made a few days ahead of time. One tip for this is to go to the bakery for the bread. Have them cut the bread in half, then in thick slices. Then you don't have to worry about hollowing the bread. Just arrange the bread around the bowl of dip.
This pasta salad is easy and can be made a few days in advance. 1 box o tri color rotini, 1 bottle of zesty italian dressing. From here add whatever you like. I generally dice up an onion, red pepper, add a small can of sliced black olives and cubes of pepperoni. Just boil the noodles. When they are hot add 1/2 the bottle of dressing. Once the noodles are cool add the rest of your ingredients and the rest of the dressing.
For Drinks: Tea, coffee and water.
For food: Biscuits and little cakes.