COOKING FOR A CHASUNAH - HELP!!

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energy11

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 8:56 am

I volunteered to cook for my daughter's Chasunah - on a budget!
We're having less than a hundred guests.
I am a great cook and enjoy cooking tremendously.
I even cooked for my boys Bris!
BUT, I need your help with menu ideas (on a budget) and food presentation.
I don't want to waste your time typing recipes, I can pretty much figure out how to cook anything.

Anything you have seen, liked or got impressed with, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a million and Tizku Lemitsvos!!

Dev80

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 9:15 am

No useful ideas this second, just wanted to say WOAHH I AM IN AWE OF YOU!!! Mazel Tov and Much Hatzlacha!!!

aidelmaidel

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 9:48 am

Do you know how many courses you are serving and how it is being served? Buffet, family style, waiter, etc?

What is the custom in your community?

Is there food at the kabbolos ponim? Is it just cake and fruit and seltzer or is it a whole smorg? If the former, can you pass that off to a friend to do?

What time of day is the meal? Is it lunch time or dinner time? What season? Now? Late September/October? December? (Soup is easy to make and very filling for the winter months, but might be too hot for right now). Is this indoor or outdoor? Is it a sit down affair or a backyard with cafe tables affair? I would definitely serve different things depending on the type of season, where, etc.

Can you buy parts of it like dessert, bread, etc?

I think I saw Mindy make once for sheva brochas something with puff pastry with poppy, sesame, and some other sort of seeds baked on it and then stuck that in a scoop of mashed potatoes and it looked super fancy.

Are you thinking:
fruit/appetizers
Fish & Salad
Soup
Main course / Vegetable / grain/starch
Dessert

Liba

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 9:53 am

Fleishigs?

energy11

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 9:56 am

THANKS FOR THE COMPLIMENTS~

The Chasunah is next Wednesday, sept 1st.

It will be served as buffet and I mostly need ideas for:

FRESH SALADS
FANCY DIPS
ELEGANT SIDE DISHES

thanks!

aidelmaidel

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 10:04 am

My favorite dip is a "fake" french onion dip from the "Easy Kosher Cookbook"

Tofutti Sour Supreme
Mayo
Grated onion
parsley (use fresh if you can get it)
dill (ditto on the fresh)
celery salt (or salt if you can't get celery salt)

mix together and chill over night - amazing!!!! Everyone swears it tastes like real sour cream dip.

A nice salad is black beans, avocado, corn, mango, red onion with a little oil and a drop of white vinegar. Very fresh and will hold up over several hours.

As a side dish, maybe individual sweet potato pies? or mini quiches? What about salmon bonet from the kosher ~~patchke~~ pallette? A sliced multi-layered vegetable terrine is also very nice. Or in the most recent vegetarian times there was a GREAT recipe I am making for sukkos which is baked apples stuffed with a wild rice mixture (looks delicious). I can give you the recipe tonight IMYH when I get home.

Liba

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 10:32 am

Guacamole always goes over well. I make mine with just avocado, garlic and salt.

Corn salad made with corn, snow peas and peppers can be made in advance to reduce last minute pressure.

Techina, matbucha, chummus with olive oil, pickles and olives, roasted peppers and eggplant...

pina colada

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 10:53 am

cold cut salad with lettuce and croutons and ceasar dressing

brocolli cashew craisin red onion salad with mayo

red cabbage salad

cole slaw salad with red onions, toasted slivered almonds, dressing with vinegar, oil, sugar and some other ingredients

side dishes:
low mein without the meat
potato knishes/bourekas

mominlkwd

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 10:53 am

corn salad

3 C. Corn
1 Cucumber diced
2 Sour Pickles
1 Red Pepper Diced
1 Onion Diced

Dressing

3 Tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp. mustard
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper

combine dressing and pour over salad

Chinese Sesame Noodles

1 Lb. Very thin spaghetti
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Sesame Oil - dark is best
Garlic Powder to taste
5 Scallions cut up
Sesame Seeds

Cook pasta, drain and cool. Combine all ingredients. Refridgerate a few hours before serving. Sprinkle more sesame seeds on top before serving.

I have a beautiful dessert that makes individual slushy like fruit trifles. Really simple but a bit of a patchke because it's different layers. It's frozen so you can make it in advance, but you need a lot of freezer space. I make it for sheva brochos and it's always a huge hit. Let me know if you want it.

Also where are you, maybe we can help out - edited to add I just saw your profile - I don't think I'm gonna be able to help much embarrassed

Bella:D

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 11:06 am

I recently went to a wedding that had a salad bar at the shmorg. they had all sorts of different salad ingredients like different greens, mandarin slices, hearts of palm, corn, peppers, strawberries, mushrooms and others as well as four different dressings to choose from. I think that could be fun and nice.

energy11

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 11:48 am

Great ideas!!!
Keep thm coming, pleeeeease!
(Only problem is I am getting hungry as I read the posts, lol)

It is Fleishig, early evening and a small kabalat panim with drinks cakes and???

Thanks, ladies!!

aidelmaidel

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 11:57 am

If you want "fancy" for either kabalat panim or app on the plate or for dessert, I did a really nice melon thingy

take the 4 or 6 inch skewers

and either use melon balls or heart shape cookie cutters to cut out melon (or elul/RH themed cookie cutters shofar, rose, etc), using watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew for a variety of colors, (make sure the hearts are red though Smile

).

Place on skewer

Put one or two skewers on a plate

then drizzle with a sweet lime poppy seed dressing Here's the link: http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....03480

Also this is one of my all time favorite "dressings" to serve with turkey breast roast or with chicken breasts - a little spicy, a little sweet, a little tart: http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....08898
Super easy, just you need to make it in a very good heavy pot. My husband likes this with salmon and also surprisingly on hot dogs! Rolling Eyes

aidelmaidel

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 12:00 pm

Also this recipe with blueberries and peaches is delicious - and you can make individuals in individual foil tins if you like http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....box=y

tsiggelle

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 12:10 pm

I dont know if its applicable for you, and I dont know how exotic you want to be , but I like as a side dish

- spagetti in homemade tomato sauce

- rice with veg bits

-potato cubes with onion bits, mixed with oil,salt, sweet paprika in the oven

if you do foods that require long prep time, make sure it doesnt have to be last minute( plenty other things to do, and you need your strength)

if you are having cake and drinks by the kabolas ponim, would you consider fruit/veg platters?

can you delegate, or are you going to do it all by yourself?

energy11

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 12:33 pm

Great Ideas!
But, again, we are on a budget so we need cheap ingredients.
Cold cuts, blueberries, hearts of palms etc.. are expensive!!

aidelmaidel

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 12:40 pm

energy11 wrote:

Great Ideas!
But, again, we are on a budget so we need cheap ingredients.
Cold cuts, blueberries, hearts of palms etc.. are expensive!!

August is prime season for cheap blueberries actually. I don't know where you're located, but if you're cooking for a wedding check in with your local produce wholesaler - there are several in Brooklyn (3 guys is the first that comes to mind). or Buy in bulk at costco, BJs, etc for such a large amount of people. You definitely shouldn't be paying retail on produce for such a large wedding.

Also you can use frozen blueberries which are very cheap in bulk.

Also I would suggest a nice toasted orzo salad maybe? orzo is relatively cheap and goes far...

Liba

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 12:41 pm

Her location tag says "South America"

What are your local cheap fruits this time of year?

I am sure you have some wonderful produce available for great prices that we wouldn't even think of.

TzenaRena

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 12:51 pm

Quote:

can you delegate, or are you going to do it all by yourself?

mazal tov! I did the catering for my son's Bar Mitzvah, besides the main course which was bought. That is, salads, appetizers, dips, soup and desserts, even challah. I did have my daughter's help, and a friend made desserts.

But... I was soo stressed out! I would start earlier, but how can you do that with salads? Make sure to have it all done before the day of the chasunah. Buffet, or formal? Whichever, I really hope you're hiring waiters to set up, and serve. I did. and would absolutely not have managed without that.

Anyway, make sure to have lots of help, so you can have time for the really important things! Your daughter needs her mother before the chasunah, for so many things, including emotional support, preparing her for her special day, and so on. Besides the "gashmius" preparations of getting ready, dressed, makeup, hair, sheitel, done on that day, there are the spiritual preparations. Davening, saying Tehillim, loads of tehillim! It is an awesome time, and the biggest part of the parent's program is to daven and give tzedakah for the zechus of the chosson/kallah on the day of the wedding, so make sure you allot time for that, it's mamash the ikkar.(minhag in chabad is that kallah says the whole tehillim),

I'll know for next time I make a chasunah to keep the photography before the kabbolas ponim to much more of a minimum, (more pictures can usually be taken after the chupah and yichud room), not to distract from the awesome power and kedushah of this day.

Chayalle

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 1:35 pm

We make an angel pasta salad that is very popular, and not very expensive to make. It's in a red sauce, not the purple cabbage kind.

mominlkwd

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 2:06 pm

If you are having kids you can make mini meatballs and franks in blankets - they always go over well with kids AND adults. Gefilte fish?????? I see it all the time at shmorgs. a nice rice dish? goes with the meatballs or alone.

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