Prompt of the Day-You have been roped into cooking for 100 people! Describe your day from the trip to the supermarket all the way through the interminable clean up.
Source- "1000 Creative Writing Prompts" by Bryan Cohen
I want to do this someday because I love to entertain but 100 people sounds so intimidating! But, I'll give it a go. I'll come up with a pretty easy menu. Rigatoni with tomato sauce, veggie tray, sandwich tray, chicken tenders, scalloped potatoes, big salad. Easy and cheap. If it's during the winter, soup. So, first we need a list. I won't mention quantities. Just items.
*Rigatoni noodles
*Cans of No Salt Added plain tomato sauce (I like to add my own seasonings because I have diabetics in my family and we're all trying to watch our salt intake)
*Frozen chicken tenders
*Panko breading (again, watching the salt and panko has a really nice, light flavor)
*Oil for frying
*Potatoes
*Cheese
*Salad mix
*Veggies
*Dip
*Bread
*Lunch meat
*Fruit (whatever is in season)
*Bottled water
*Tea mix
*Soda pop
*Juices
*Paper plates
*Plastic ware
*Plastic cups
*Assorted spirits
*Garbage bags
*Ingredients for my mom's yummy salad dressing
*ingredients for Grandma's bbq sauce
*Assorted dressings
2 Days Before:
Shopping- get everything except fruits and veggies so nothing goes bad
Start on Grandma's barbecue sauce. It's an all day project. I've yet to try it for real but my dad promised he would teach me.
While that is cooking, I'll start cleaning the house. I assume I'll have a huge house by then. Say this is a family reunion of some kind. My family ends up bringing more things. My list just contains major essentials I would provide as hostess.
1 Day Before:
Finish shopping.
Keeping with the family reunion theme, start setting up the back yard. Tables, chairs, tent, maybe I'll have a pool so I have to clean that so we can swim.
I'd also make Mom's salad dressing and drinks. I've been getting into fusion waters and those are best when left sitting overnight. I could try the same with tea as well. Cuts the amount of sugar and will give the tea a fun, interesting flavor.
Day of:
Get up ungodly early.
Start cooking. Make the chicken and potatoes and everything else. If this is a family reunion, then I have to have room for more food that will likely arrive because I have a large Eastern European ancestry and I swear they invented emotional eating so there must always be a cray-ton of food at family get-togethers. Whether it's a wedding or funeral or anything in between.
Around 2:00, people start to arrive. I have a huge table set up for desserts and more sides arrive and appetizers. So, until the main meal is ready, people nibble and chat. Maybe some people jump in the pool or start a baseball game.
4:00- Dinner is served. People get in line. We always serve buffet style. Some family members help direct traffic and change out empty trays. I start on dishes. (There will be a dishwasher in this situation) I recruit some muscle for the trash beginning to pile up.
Fiinally, I'll say around 7:00, I can eat whatever is left and have a glass of wine and visit with people. It's a tradition to set up a table, either in the garage or backyard, for beer pong. People nibble on the vast amounts of desserts and we talk and drink and laugh and visit well into the night.
When the guests leave at last, I take care of some of the clean-up. If I haven't been able to get people to take leftovers, I pack food away in the refrigerator and take out the trash. Breakdown of chairs and tables and tents can be after I pass out for a few hours.
Day After:
Time to get the house back in order. Break down the tents and tables and chairs. Return them if they're rented or borrowed. And then, after everything is cleaned up and returned, take a relaxing dip in the pool to reward myself for a job well done. :)
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