Bratt… Party of 30

For reals this time, I was going to be feeding 30 of my in-laws two meals.  

I was a little concerned: I have that whole spicy-food-love that doesn't go over well in all cultures (por ejemplo, Midwesterners), about 92 of them were children under 10 (notoriously picky eaters) and IT WAS MY IN-LAWS.

I was also excited.  Look at this kitchen!

utensils!

meat slicer, saran wrap, 9 different ice cream scoops...

spices!

Can I make my kitchen at home covered in stainless steel, too?

Taking advice from the Barefoot Contessa (check out any of her great books), I decided to do something simple, with fresh ingredients, that I've made a million times.  

Dinner for 30: feat. Chicken & Veggie Pasta and 7-ish Layer Bars

Entreé Ingredients 

- 4 bags of primo pasta (each contained 8 servings)

- 24 roma tomatoes, diced (yes, I did this by hand... = love)

- 6 summer squash, or ZUCCHINI (as any sane person would call it), sliced

- 4 lbs of chicken breasts, grilled to perfection (The G sweated it out over the grill for this one), cubed

- 1 bottle of balsamic vinagrette dressing

Combine in a HUGE bowl.  Toss well.  Do not take any picture of the massive amount of food you just produced, but pick bites out from the fridge periodically throughout the day to "make sure it tastes right".

Dessert Ingredients

- 2 sticks of butter

- a box of graham crackers (3 sleeves), crushed

- a bag of chocolate chips

- a bag of butterscotch chips

- 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

- 2 cups of shredded sweetened coconut

Set oven to 350* (and hey, remember to turn it off when you're done, so the next day, when you're foraging for leftover pasta, you don't wonder why it's so frigging hot in the kitchen, and then later that day, when you're making cupcakes, you go to turn the oven on, and BEHOLD! it IS on, because you never turned it off, you imbecile).  Get a huge jelly roll pan , put the butter in it, and throw it in the oven until the butter melts.  Remove the pan with melted butter from the oven and layer the rest of the ingredients as written.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until coconut is toasted and edges are bubbly.

Next week I'll tell you about the rockin' lunch we made.  Preview?  "Nacho bar".  Boom!

#2 in the MM series

One year ago: a timely Man Picture.