Feeding A Crowd, Ideas and Oganization

Since I regularly have large crowds of people to our home to eat and hang out, and I have a large one coming for Thanksgiving, I thought I’d take time to tell you what all I do to prepare for a crowd. It is handy to know a few tips and short cuts so that when a group of missionaries or family comes in to town, you don’t feel so panicky when they ask to come to your house.

Someone once asked me how I got accustomed to having large groups over and didn’t it stress me. I don’t get stressed when lots of people are in my home. I just dive right in and ask people over. I don’t try to impress them, I just try to provide something good to eat, some good company and a nice clean space to move around in. No, it doesn’t stress me… unless I think I don’t have enough food made!

Most people don’t come to your house to be impressed or to critique you and your house. And if they do, that’s their problem, you have better things to do than to worry over what someone thinks about your house and cooking.

Here are the basics. You don’t need to use all of them, just choose the ones that will help you….

* Plan a simple, delicious, satisfying meal that consists of a main course, a carbohydrate, a vegetable, a salad and a dessert.
* Don’t be afraid to ask your guests to bring a dish of food to share.
* Provide ice and water in addition to your regular beverage.
* Make tea and other beverages ahead of time and refrigerate so you won’t need so much ice.
* Cook everything possible ahead of time. Utilize that Crockpot!
* Set the table the night before.
* Set a separate table for young adults and older children. Make it as pretty as the main table.
* Make sure your centerpiece is not too tall to hold conversation across the table.
* Use thick paper plates and napkins if you feel you don’t have enough china or glass dishes to go ’round.
* Provide separate, small plates for dessert.
* Make sure you have plenty of seating. We borrow chairs from church.
* Set your kitchen up as a buffet area to keep the dining table free of things.It just makes it nicer when the table is clear.
* Use a large piece of wood, covered with fabric to lay over your sink to give more room for setting up the buffet.
* Count and lay out your serving dishes the day before.
* Use an ice chest for ice and canned drinks.
* Assign one or two persons to fill glasses with ice before the meal.
* Assign one person to prepare the salad, if you choose an older woman you won’t even have to direct her!
* Assign someone to ask a blessing long before the meal so it doesn’t surprise them too much.
* If you have lots of children coming, find something interesting for them to do before and after the meal. I sometimes cover their table with a white paper table cloth and provide crayons and water color markers.