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Serving Family Style and Quantities
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 4:09 pm
I'm making a simcha for approximately 100 people and would like to serve family style. Can anyone here help me with quantities please? How do I work out how much food to make?
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 4:34 pm
I always make a bit more rather than a bit less. Say 120 portions instead of 100 in case some people will help themselves to seconds etc.
You are bound to have leftovers either way. Just freeze all the leftovers and use it for supper when you are short on time
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 4:39 pm
Bizzydizzymommy wrote:
I always make a bit more rather than a bit less. Say 120 portions instead of 100 in case some people will help themselves to seconds etc.
You are bound to have leftovers either way. Just freeze all the leftovers and use it for supper when you are short on time


Fully agree. But how do I work out quantities for hot veg and salads?
And if there's an option of two starches, how much do I make of each? 60 portions of each?
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 4:44 pm
What are you making?
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ChutzPAh




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 4:50 pm
Better to make less variety and more of each because everyone can end up wanting the same stuff and you run out while the other sides just sit
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 5:02 pm
ra_mom wrote:
What are you making?


Two types of chicken, stir fry hot veg, vegetable rice, noodles and cabbage, some sort of kugel/muffin and fresh salad.
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purple 1




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 5:07 pm
ChutzPAh wrote:
Better to make less variety and more of each because everyone can end up wanting the same stuff and you run out while the other sides just sit


I agree. Also you will have the people who want to taste everything and then throw out a lot of food.. which is bal tashchis - you find this a lot with kids and desserts - they want one of everything and don't even eat it
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 5:09 pm
purple 1 wrote:
I agree. Also you will have the people who want to taste everything and then throw out a lot of food.. which is bal tashchis - you find this a lot with kids and desserts - they want one of everything and don't even eat it


That's exactly why I want to serve the main course family style. Plated food results in a lot more waste.

Starters and dessert will be plated. One portion per person.
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 5:47 pm
I would make a double size roaster pan of each side dish
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 5:53 pm
amother wrote:
Two types of chicken, stir fry hot veg, vegetable rice, noodles and cabbage, some sort of kugel/muffin and fresh salad.

Chicken leg quarters?
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 15 2017, 6:19 pm
amother wrote:
Two types of chicken, stir fry hot veg, vegetable rice, noodles and cabbage, some sort of kugel/muffin and fresh salad.

Probably
-120 chicken legs (you can separate drums and thighs and use 100 leg quarters)
-8 cups raw rice
-8 packages ea bow tie noodles and cabbage
-I don't know what your vegetable stir fry recipe is but I'd probably make it x8 as well.
-120 muffins
-Fresh lettuce salads go like hotcakes so if that's what you're serving, go with 4 packages of the commercial size 32 oz lettuce. (Each package is equivalent to 4 regular packages). Put out 2 packages to start and refill the bowls as necessary.
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Bnei Berak 10




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Oct 16 2017, 7:32 am
OP, please state the exact menu including salads, side courses etc. How many adults and how many children?
Will try to figure it out from here but an exact menu is a must.
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Mon, Oct 16 2017, 8:29 am
You've all been so helpful. Thank you! Thank you!

Simchas by all.
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 11:14 am
ra_mom wrote:
Probably
-120 chicken legs (you can separate drums and thighs and use 100 leg quarters)
-8 cups raw rice
-8 packages ea bow tie noodles and cabbage
-I don't know what your vegetable stir fry recipe is but I'd probably make it x8 as well.
-120 muffins
-Fresh lettuce salads go like hotcakes so if that's what you're serving, go with 4 packages of the commercial size 32 oz lettuce. (Each package is equivalent to 4 regular packages). Put out 2 packages to start and refill the bowls as necessary.


It looks like I won't manage to do both the rice and noodles. If I do just rice should I use 16 cups raw?

Thanks in advance Smile
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 11:24 am
amother wrote:
It looks like I won't manage to do both the rice and noodles. If I do just rice should I use 16 cups raw?

Thanks in advance Smile

Yes. Maybe make 2 versions of rice.
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amother
Azure


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 5:56 pm
IMHO
Use whole chicken cut in 10, 12 chickens = 120 pieces

I think you should make 1 type of chicken and 1 type of roast.
Roast could be cut very thinly.
Moshe's has roast at $5.99lb this week.
Calculate 1/4lb per person that's a total of 30lbs = $180 if you want to be safe make 33lbs
Chicken may cost less, but you are also paying for the bone, and boneless will cost the same.

You should make 2 starches and 2 veggies.
Every 1 cup of rice serves 4-6 ppl
Maybe bake some sweet potatoes and slice them up, super easy.
I still like the bow ties and cabbage much better.

For the veggies
Stir fry is A LOT of work.
Perhaps make stringbeans with slivered almonds.
Costco sells them trimmed already
A veggie kugel is a good idea, but if it's too much work to do them individual
you can bake in big pans and slice into squares.
An 8x8 pan can serve about 12 ppl.

Salad- Does your budget allow you to buy pre checked?
I would say about 4 oz per person of greens, and then supplement with other veggies (tomato, cucumber, pepper, radish, red onion, etc.)
Coleslaw or Red cabbage salad is very easy if you pre shredded
A crudette platter is also nice and not too much work, and sometimes you can find the veggies all cut up, a bit pricey but big time saver. Adds A LOT of color to your table. Serve with 2-3 dressings, I like tehina, honey mustard, Russian,

I hope this was helpful.
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Tue, Nov 14 2017, 7:20 am
ra_mom wrote:
Yes. Maybe make 2 versions of rice.


Thank you. Won't that look odd if I do only rice? Somehow serving two different starches seems to make more sense.
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Tue, Nov 14 2017, 7:24 am
amother wrote:
IMHO
Use whole chicken cut in 10, 12 chickens = 120 pieces

I think you should make 1 type of chicken and 1 type of roast.
Roast could be cut very thinly.
Moshe's has roast at $5.99lb this week.
Calculate 1/4lb per person that's a total of 30lbs = $180 if you want to be safe make 33lbs
Chicken may cost less, but you are also paying for the bone, and boneless will cost the same.

You should make 2 starches and 2 veggies.
Every 1 cup of rice serves 4-6 ppl
Maybe bake some sweet potatoes and slice them up, super easy.
I still like the bow ties and cabbage much better.

For the veggies
Stir fry is A LOT of work.
Perhaps make stringbeans with slivered almonds.
Costco sells them trimmed already
A veggie kugel is a good idea, but if it's too much work to do them individual
you can bake in big pans and slice into squares.
An 8x8 pan can serve about 12 ppl.

Salad- Does your budget allow you to buy pre checked?
I would say about 4 oz per person of greens, and then supplement with other veggies (tomato, cucumber, pepper, radish, red onion, etc.)
Coleslaw or Red cabbage salad is very easy if you pre shredded
A crudette platter is also nice and not too much work, and sometimes you can find the veggies all cut up, a bit pricey but big time saver. Adds A LOT of color to your table. Serve with 2-3 dressings, I like tehina, honey mustard, Russian,

I hope this was helpful.


Thanks for your help!

Do I really need two starches? What about the roast? If I do both chicken and roast how much do I need of each?

Just want to add that there's a large part of the menu that I didn't post as I don't need help with those. Besides for the main course they'll be starters, soup and dessert. Do I really need that much food?
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amother
Pearl


 

Post Tue, Nov 14 2017, 7:58 am
ra_mom wrote:
Probably
-120 chicken legs (you can separate drums and thighs and use 100 leg quarters)
-8 cups raw rice
-8 packages ea bow tie noodles and cabbage
-I don't know what your vegetable stir fry recipe is but I'd probably make it x8 as well.
-120 muffins
-Fresh lettuce salads go like hotcakes so if that's what you're serving, go with 4 packages of the commercial size 32 oz lettuce. (Each package is equivalent to 4 regular packages). Put out 2 packages to start and refill the bowls as necessary.


Just read through this again. If I use 100 leg quarters and separate the drumsticks and thighs then we'll have 200 pieces. Do I really need that much for 100 people?

Regarding the lettuce salad; last time I made a sheva brachos we were left with so much salad that I don't know anymore. It was a good salad but there's so much food that not everything gets eaten and salad can't really be re-purposed or frozen so it just ends up in the bin.
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shanie5




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 15 2017, 11:13 pm
One portion is considered to be 1/4 of a chicken-that's both the leg and thigh. The advantage of splitting it is less waste. People can take 1 leg and 1 thigh, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 1 thigh only, or 3 legs. I can almost guarantee that you will have leftovers-especially if there are more courses before the main. But its not worth risking making less.

When serving lots of food, people tend to take only a small portion of each. So make a sample salad. Then serve yourself a portion you think you would take when you have everything else to eat too. now count out how many portions you get like that from the sample salad. Multiply accordingly.
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