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Food on Fridays Participants
Food on Fridays with Ann
My in-laws are here for ten days, but for three days we also hosted my sister-in-law and her family. When they were all here, I housed and fed six extra people. With our family of six, that makes twelve.
Then we invited some family friends over for an impromptu dinner party one night, which added four more for the evening. Total guests: sixteen.
I decided not to experiment with new recipes; I chose some tried and true meals that were easy to prepare.
You’ve seen some of them here before:
Breakfast Sausage Casserole (for a birthday brunch for my nephew): served with fruit salad, juice, coffee, tea and doughnuts that my sister-in-law bought at Dunkin’ Donuts for an all-American experience (they’re from France).
Hoosier Comfort Chicken (for the big dinner with 16 guests): served over egg noodles alongside a salad that my friend brought. We baked French baguettes, and for the vegetable I meant to cook peas—I thought I had some in the freezer—but I didn’t have any on hand. So we cooked corn. The meal wasn’t all that colorful, but it was tasty and well received.
Chili (for dinner the next day with just twelve people): I’ve not written about chili before, but here’s my recipe, if you can call it that:
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 3 or 4 cans of chili beans (one hot; the rest mild)
- 3 or 4 cans of chili-ready tomatoes
Brown and drain ground beef in a big chili-sized pot (if you’re going to cook it on the stove) or skillet (if you’re going to transfer to crock pot). Open all the cans. Dump them in. Warm it all up and eat when ready.
I served the chili with coleslaw (used the pre-shredded coleslaw mix and added mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and celery seed) and homemade cornbread using this recipe (I think I got it from someone participating in Food on Fridays, but I can’t locate the source):
Corn Muffins/Cornbread (adapted from Martha Stewart)
- 1/2 C butter (substitute applesauce for 1/2 butter or even pumpkin)
- 1 1/2 C milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 C yellow cornmeal
- 1 C flour
- 1/3 C sugar
- 1 T powder
- 1 t salt
Melt butter. Combine milk, butter and eggs. Sift the dry ingredients. Add to moist. Don’t overmix. Pour into 9×9″ pan or muffin tin. Bake in preheated 400° oven until done (about 15 minutes for muffins). Use the toothpick method.
The sister-in-law from France left, so it’s just our family with two extra laid back in-laws.
And we’re eating up the leftovers.
But tomorrow, I’m thinking I’ll make another crock pot dish:
Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes
How do you cook for a crowd?
Any tips? I’m all ears, because I’m hosting another gathering on Sunday!
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Some good filling food recipes.
I loved your crockpot chicken curry w/ sweet potato recipe! Hmmm, for a crowd? I always do a pasta dish of some sort… affordable and usually well-liked. Anything from spaghetti to lasagne. Toss a big caesar salad, add fizzy drinks, and you have a happy group. Good luck! :~D
Your menu plan looks great, and those are some yummy sounding recipes. One of the things I do when serving a crowd at lunchtime is to do a buffet style meal so everyone can make their own sandwiches etc. So I’ll get several different types of cold meat and bread and then make salads (usually a green one, coleslaw and a jellied salad) and sometimes some devilled eggs. Then I’ll just serve plates of cookies or squares for dessert. I can do everything ahead of time and there is very little work involved at lunchtime except putting everything out so people can help themselves. Have fun on Sunday!
Hi Anne! Happy friday! Boy you have been a busy bee with all that company! I know it can be hard work, but there really is nothing better than a house full of loving family! Enjoy it and relax when everyone leaves! Your recipes have been wonderful! How creative! Take care and thanks as always for sharing your wonderful space with us!
Whenever I cook for a big crowd I like to make soft tacos. I offer chicken, beef and beans along with the fixings. I put the tortillas in a crock pot set on the lowest setting to keep warm. Yummy!
Thanks for these great ideas, my Food on Fridays friends!!
Ann,
I love your recipe ideas for feeding a crowd! That breakfast sausage casserole looks especially WONDERFUL! As does your cornbread (I sometimes throw in a can of creamed corn in mine…we like it!)
So nice to “meet” you! May your day be blessed!
Kristen