Expert: Tina Addair - 5/20/2003

Question
I will be going to Juarez, Mexico next month with a group from my church and will be cooking for our group and the orphans we will be working with-about 60 total. Any suggestions for recipes? I am unsure of the availability of specific foods, but am pretty good at modifying as the need arises. I have never cooked for this many except for spaghetti dinners, and need to provide three meals/day for a week. Thanks for any suggestions!

Answer
Hello Pam!  This is a pretty broad question, as many dishes can be fairly easily prepared for large groups.  I assume one of the meals will be breakfast.  Pancakes, of course, are simple to prepare in large quantities.  You can mix up the batter in large quantities and they cook quickly.  Also, if you want to make them more than once, you can go ahead and mix up all the batter you need and then store what you don't use from the first day in the refrigerator.  Breakfast casseroles are also simple and easy to prepare for large groups.  I'd stick with simple stuff for lunch...sandwiches, soups and salads.  You're on the right track with spaghetti, as pasta dishes are great to fix for large groups.  You don't have to limit yourself to spaghetti, though; lasagna, baked ziti, or fettucine alfredo are all good options. Tacos or fajitas would be easy (and you wouldn't have to worry about finding ingredients!). Hot dogs are really easy, and you can even fix burger patties in the oven if you desire to have them.  I think I'd try to sqeeze in hot dogs or hamburgers one night.  A lot of the kids probably have never even had one before.  Your guess is as good as mine as far as the availability of ingredients, but I'm sure you'll figure something out.  Have a great trip, and God bless you!

Tina K. Addair