Conference turris::cooks

The easiest is to get a cold cut platter, some salads, and rolls from a deli
or the deli department of the supermarket. It was perfect.  I picked it up 
the morning of my wedding.  When the guests came to our house, one of our 
over night guests set everything out on the table.  People really enjoyed it, 
and it was no muss, fuss or bother for us on an already hectic day.

						-JP

	My parents held an after wedding reception get together at their
	house and found it exhausting.  They chose to serve salads and
	hamburgs and hotdogs; a wise choice since they did not have time
	for anybody else.  Neither one got to eat however since each time
	they started to, somebody was leaving so they had to act the 
	polite hosts and say goodbye.  They only had about 20 people back
	too!

	Anyhow, the following is a salad my mother makes at every party
	she has and it goes quick.  Even if it did not go quick, it lasts
	two weeks in the fridge.  I make it all the time and pack a small
	container of it with my lunches.  It probably costs $3-$4 for 
	one batch of it.  I also included a punch recipe that I bring to
	all the potluck lunches I go to.  It always gets rave reviews and
	requests for the recipe.

	Four Bean Salad
	---------------
    
	1 can chick peas
	1 can kidney beans
	1 can wax beans
	1 can green beans
	1/2 C olive oil
	1/2 C red wine vinegar
	1/2 C (scant) sugar
	1/2 vidalia onion (or other mild onion), chopped 
    
        Combine olive oil, sugar and vinegar.  Then pour over the beans and
        onion and toss.  Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.  Lasts up to
        two weeks.  Note: I tend to cut the 1/2 C portions to 1/3 C since
	I don't think it needs that much.

	Holiday Punch

	1 12-oz can frozen pink lemonade
	3 2-liter bottles Slice (Sprite is fine too but more expensive)
	3 cans pineapple juice
	1 can grapefruit juice
	2 12-oz cans frozen orange juice plus necessary water
	1/2 gallon sherbert, any flavor

        Make an ice ring by combining the frozen lemonade with 2 cans of 
	water (not 3) and freezing.  Chill juices and sodas before servings.

        When ready to serve, combine Slice and remaining juices in punch bowl.
        Add ice ring and float large spoonfuls of sherbert in the punch.

        Serves 50.  For a smaller crowd, the proportions are as follows:
        3 parts Slice, 3 parts pineapple juice, 2 parts orange juice, 1 part
        grapefruit juice.  You can buy orange/grapefruit juice too but will 
        result in a tarter punch.  

    After my son's wedding we had about 35 people back at our home.
    The wedding dinner was about 1:00 and we got back home around
    5ish.  I couldn't believe how hungry people were!! I didn't have
    much trouble with the party.  I was very organized and I had the
    help of some great friends.
    
    The day before the wedding my husband and I assembled our own
    meat platters.  We copied a picture from a brochure of a meat
    platter from one of the local supermarkets. They came out looking
    pretty good.  I also served three salads that were made by
    friends - fruit salad, tri-colored macaroni salad with shrimp,
    and a pineapple/cream cheese jello salad.
    
    I served cans of soda and beer which had been in coolers since
    before the ceremony.  I also had wine and some mixed drinks.
    Everyone really helped themselves to the drinks.
    
    The highlight of the buffet were the desserts.  My friend's
    brother-in-law is the pastry chef at Country Gourmet in
    Merrimack and he made us 3-4 wonderful looking desserts
    like you see on the cover of Bon Appetit sometimes. Cheesecakes
    with kiwi/strawberries on top, little fruit tarts, Chocolate
    mouse cake, little cream puffs and something else but I've
    forgotten what. There wasn't a crumb left!
    
    Hope this helps.  Good luck with your party. I'm sure
    everything will turn out great!!
    
    Mary Jane
                                                    

    My neice got married June 29th and her parents invited all guests (200)
    back to their home after the reception.  The wedding was at 10:30 a.m.
    and the reception was from noon to 5:00 p.m.!
    
    They had three tents up and chairs all over (set up the day before by
    family and friends...) and EVERYONE brought a dish to the afterparty.
    Wonderful food - the only thing my sister-in-law had to prepare
    was the coolers for beer and I believe she purchased one deli tray
    from the supermarket.
    
    There were marinated peppers and garlic, meatballs, potatoe salad,
    macaroni salad, pasta salad, tossed salad, sandwich rolls filled
    with tuna, egg salad, ham salad and imitation crabmeat, lasagna,
    baked beans, bean salad, swedish meatballs, deviled eggs, sausage
    and peppers.  For dessert there were mini cupcakes, brownies, cake,
    cookies, mini-cheesecakes, chocolate trifle, pizzeles, ricotta cake,
    pound cake, someone carved and filled a watermelon....believe it or
    not I enjoyed that meal better than the one at the reception.
    
    And, the nice thing was, that people stayed to help her clean up
    so she wasn't left with a mess.  A very nice (casual) gathering.
    
    

Try an antipasto platter accompanied by crusty loaves of bread.  You can 
buy all of the vegetables at the grocer, but some could get expensive.  You 
might be able to get some friends to roast red peppers and marinate mushrooms 
for you.  Also, some of these come in economical large sized jars.

	Variety of sliced cold cuts -- ham, genoa salami, capricola, etc.

	Sliced provolone

	Marinated artichokes

	Olives 

	Marinated artichokes

	Roasted red peppers

	Marinated mushrooms

	Pepperocini

	Whatever else crops up in the Italian section at the grocery store

	
Then I would do a fruit salad.  Just cut up whatever is in season and mix 
together with or without a splash of fruit liquor or brandy.  If you (or
some good friends) had the time, you could make fruit skewers with melon 
balls, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, and/or pineapple.

If you need a desert, try trifle.  The recipes usually make a lot, and 
there are several recipes in this notes file.

    Somewhat related question:
    
    I'm helping to prepare light refreshments for a reception on 
    Sunday. It's a two-hour event, but people will be arriving and
    leaving during the two hours, so I don't think many will be there
    the full two hours. There will be 50-60 people in total.
    
    I'm in charge of punch and I'm wondering how much liquid I need
    for that many people. Any guidelines?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Kate
    

re: .6

The punch recipe in .2 says it serves 50.  However, that means 50 servings
of punch, not 50 people.  Count on people having at least two servings, then
get some extra bottles of soda since not everyone will want punch.  I can't
stress how tasty that punch is in .2 though!  As far as cost, I think that
one batch will cost you $10 to $15; depends of if you get anything on sale.

Karen

    Thanks for the advice. Here's what I did. 
    
    Punch:
    
    2 large cans frozen lemonade
    1 large can frozen orange juice
    1 large can frozen cranberry-rasperry juice
    8 cans water (or maybe 10; I lost count!)
    2 liters ginger ale
    Fresh strawberry slices for garnish
    
    The punch was very good and this was just enough to last the two hours.
    However, most of the people arrived during the last half-hour, so 
    there wasn't really a full crowd the whole time.  
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Kate
    
    PS. Now point me to the what-to-do-with-leftover-cheese note!