What should I feed the party guests?

[jd11365]

Ok, so the b-day party has grown into something a little bigger than I had expected and we need to order some food...without completely breaking the bank...which we already did on party supplies...have you priced party supplies lately? Good grief...but that's another story... (Yeah, I should have thought of this all before I sent out invitations to 27 adults and 10 kids!) And yes, I know...1st birthdays are supposed to be small...but we're having it in a park and honestly we are just so excited to get all of our friends together for the first time in...well...a year...so couldn't help it. We could use the grills at the park, but DH really wants to spend time more with our friends and less time over a smokey grill...which I understand. I'm thinkin' 6 foot sub kinda stuff or something...but I don't know... Deli trays are nice but pricey, but I think maybe I could make them myself...MIL and future-SIL (from out of town who invited themselves to stay at my house...cough) will be here and can help with that. I don't really cook myself...ok, I don't really want to cook so I use that as an excuse but shhh don't tell. Anyone thoughts?

TIA!

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[JLiebCamm]

My best party food for a crowd is shredded beef sandwiches. You buy 2 good size sirloin tip roasts (they are buy one get one free every so often at the grocery store or can be found at Sam's Club and the like). You dump them in a crockpot with a bottle of beer and a jar of pepperoncini (juice included), slow cook for 12 hours (in a big crockpot or at 250 in the oven), shred it up with 2 forks, and serve with rolls and cheese. It is such a hit; everyone raves about it and wants to know how to make it. I'm not even a beef lover but really enjoy eating it. And it doesn't have to be served hot- just room temp- so it can be easily transported to the park. Ii know beef might sound pricey but this recipe is actually pretty economical for a large crowd. Good luck!

[August Mom]

I think a sub or a sandwich tray would be great. We did a sandwich tray from a local grinder shop and it was a big hit. Another idea is BBQ. You could have a restaurant do it or make your own. That's fairly economical. Or, you could order pizza or by a bucket of KFC.

BTW, for party supplies, I found the best deals at Party City. I returned all the things I bought at the first store (Card Factory Outlet) and bought the same stuff for about half the price. The Paper Factory had the next best prices.

[sweetbasil]

If you have a Sam's Club membership, they have really reasonably priced deli trays, and even sandwich trays.

Sounds like lots of fun! :)

[cchavez]

Our b-day party keeps on growing and growing!! I thought doing pizza would be nice and economical especially if you have a cici's pizza nearby but DH really wants to grill fajitas. My MIL will be here and she can cook the rice and beans. What are you serving the little ones??? I am doing yo baby, goldfish and chkn. nuggets.

Anyway, I also don't want DH grilling all day but he said he would do it in the AM before the guests arrive and we would keep the fajitas warm in the oven. (The party will be at our house.)

I bought most of the party supplies at PArty City. We are doing the Sesame Street First B-day theme. Anyway, I bought all I could at party city but they didn't have the table cloth so I decided to use solid red and yellow table cloths. They have them at the dollar tree! I also got my cutlery and favor bags there. Oh, and they had these cute Big Bird inflatable pool toys/rings there too!! Those are going to be our favors. I am going to tie the goodie bag aroung Big Birds neck. The goodie bags will include a bag of goldfish, elmo snacks, dum dums, a squirt toy and sunglasses. The squirt toys are from the dollar tree and the sunglasses from Target. I also bought an inexpensive bubble machine from Walmart (they also have them at TArget) so the kids can play w/ bubbles in our backyard. The other "games" I have planned are: "fishing" for your own rubber ducky (like) Ernie in a baby bathtub (each child w/ keep the ducky...also from the dollar tree) and take a picture w/ elmo. My MIL and FIL are painting a life size elmo so that each child can take a pic w/ elmo. I am going to print each picture and send it to each child in a card photo frame as the thank you card.

So I think we are splurging on the food and cake (Sesame street drum cake w/ matching smash cake) but I didn't spend too much on favors or party decorations b/c I included some cheap solid color items from the dollar tree. Sorry this is a long post....but maybe some of it will help. So if you have a dollar tree please go check it out!!!

[McQ]

Well we didn't have nearly the size that you're planning (10 adults and 6 kids with Declan being the second oldest) and this is what we served:

Chicken salad
Crossiants
Fruit salad
Cheese & cracker tray
Veggie tray
Lemonade
Cake

And I had a bowl of animal crackers out for the little ones but most ate the crackers off the cheese plate. And a lot of them ate fruit from the fruit salad.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03
and number 2 EDD 9.14.04