Expert: Kay Cole - 12/17/2009

Question
QUESTION: I plan on having some people in & out for the holidays. It will amount to about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. of eating time. Later in the evening around 8 pm. About 200 people. I would like to serve finger sandwiches (pimento cheese, chicken salad, ham & egg salad) not sure whether to use bread cut into quarters or mini rolls? Veggie & dip platters, Cheese spread & party cracker platters and cookies. I am not sure how much of each I will need. Can you help me?

ANSWER: Jeanine, If I were you, I would go with mini dollar type rolls for your little sandwiches - it would be a big time saver in the prep - or do some on rolls (chicken salad) and one or two others cut into traditional finger sandwiches.

With you starting at 8PM, most will assume that you are not serving dinner - plus you probably will have some that stop by late that may have been to another event prior to yours (am I reading the plan correctly?)

I believe you will not need a typical amount for 200 guests...some thoughts - 12 to 15 dozen cookies. A total of 400 sandwiches would be my guess with heavier number of what you believe might be more popular - perhaps the chicken salad. To save on waste and certainly your advance prep time.....you might consider not making up the chicken salad sandwiches...but, have a basket of sliced mini rolls and bowl of the chicken salad - allowing guests to spoon their own on the roll.  The other sandwiches, you could do finger sandwich style in quarters - consider in this case perhaps 150-175 rolls and 200 quarters of each of the two finger sandwiches - which would be 50 each full size sandwiches.

I hope that these thoughts help you decide what to prepare.  let me know if you need additional information or have other questions.  Happy Holidays!  K

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Actually, those numbers are almost exactly what I thought but......The veggie platter and cheese spread platter have me stumped. I thought maybe 3-4 pcs. of veggie per person and 3-4 crackers per person????????? I also cannot decide how many pounds of cheese spread I would need??????I love the fact that your answer matches exactly what I was thinking. The platters are more difficult for me to handle. Thank you.  

Answer
Hi again....I am thinking that you may be high on the amount of veggie pieces per person.  Do you have some history on how many come? If not...I wonder if you will have 200 eaters even if 200 drop by. Of course there will be some skinny minis eating 6 pieces of veggies and nothing else...and some men, probably, that will not come near the veggies. However, you know your crowd better than I - are they the healthier type?

For a standard crowd of standard people....if I were you, I would do two fairly good size veggie trays - I would estimate for one tray...perhaps one bag of carrots (grocery store size) one bag of celery - a package of cherry tomatoes. one head of broccoli, one head of cauliflower (or substitute your choices) to create a good size tray - I might have an extra package of tomatoes to fill in if needed - or another vegetable that doesn't require much prep other than washing for my back up. You might check this web site for comparison with my estimates for another's opinion.... http://www.angelfire.com/bc/incredible/Buffetchart.html

I always have trouble figuring pounds on something such as cheese spread...but, I would imagine that 1-1.5 oz. per person should be gracious plenty.  Your 4 crackers per person might be high...but, just open packages as needed - fill up your presentation bowls or trays to begin with...and replenish as needed by opening packages as needed...to avoid waste.  Will the cheese spread be similar to the pimento cheese on the finger sandwiches?  If a cheesy spread like the type that one might buy in a crock....I might be high on this estimate.

On some of my earlier answers to others...I have listed some tricks to use on a buffet if you get in trouble - ie - more people come than you expected, etc.  You might want to read those suggestions just for the back of your mind.  I know you do not want to spend the entire party replenishing a buffet...but, they might be helpful.

I hope this helps!
Let me know.
Best, K