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Cooking for Parties/Cooking for 80- outside party

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QUESTION: Hi,
I am doing a birthday party at our house.  There will be 42 adults and 35 kids.  I have bought chicken breast (for chicken sandwiches)and hamburgers for the adults, and hotdogs for the kids.  I also am making pasta salad, coleslaw and we will have chips, pretzels, dip, hummus, cake (full sheet), watermelon, brownies and cookies.  I have bought most of the food, but just realized that I might not have enough.  I have 35 boneless breast patties, 24 hamburgers, and 72 hotdogs.  Can you give me a rough estimate per person for each of the foods.  It would be greatly appreciated.
THANK YOU!

ANSWER: You already have MORE than enough food.  You'll be fine with half of what you have--amateur caterers (no insult intended) always make tons too much food.

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

QUESTION: What about the pasta salad and coleslaw?  I am more concerned with those amounts because I have never had to make those for this many people.  How many cups of each per person?

How many oz of chips and pretzels do you think I'll need?

Answer
You will need about 1/2 cup of slaw/salad per person. You will need 3 oz of chip/pretzels and 2 oz dip per person.  You'll be fine, don't worry!  
You will also need a MINIMUM of 16 oz of non-alcoholic beverage per person and MORE if it's a hot day!
Multiply the ounces times the number of guests and then divide by 16 to give you pounds of food and the beverage by 128 to give you the number of gallons of beverage you will need.
Ice is the only thing people ever run out of in my experience--so buy about 20 pounds or so MORE than you think you will need.

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Teri Davis Newman

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I am a wedding and party planner in St. Louis, Missouri and I do weddings and parties all over the country! My brides are my number one priority as I understand how important their wedding day is to them! Any questions about catering and cooking for large groups. This would include recipes, cooking techniques, what to serve, how to prevent food poisoning, food storage and food integrity. I have thousands of recipes that are scaled for large groups and gatherings and will be happy to share them! If you are in need of professional assistance for helping you to plan your wedding, party or corporate event, please feel free to contact me! I do a limited amount of weddings and parties every year in order to make sure that I have the best service for my clientele. Feel free to visit my business website at this address: WWW.EXQUISITEEVENTSUSA.COM for detailed information on what services I offer. I have price point weddings for every budget--no matter what size and I am very specific about what you get for your hard-earned money.

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Catering and parties are a large part of the restaurant business. I do a lot of catering for local parties and weddings.
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Graduate, Le Cordon Bleu, Tokyo, Japan

Education/Credentials
Graduate, Le Cordon Bleu, Tokyo, Japan

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Allexpert.com expert for 9 years, owner www.yahoogroups.com/reciperequest with 30 thousand original recipes on site.

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