Bratt… Party of 30- Lunch Edition

Last week, I threw at you the easiest recipe for how to feed a crowd.  Boil, dice, grill, pour, mix, love.  

This week, we get a little more involved, but I had a lot of kitchen helpers for this one, so divide and conquer.

First of all, while we were picking up last minute supplies, I saw this sticker...

in-laws are people, too

Then, I reeeeeeeeally wanted to make cupcakes for some reason (even though it was a balmy 95 degrees in that damn kitchen), so I scooted over to the cafeteria one evening to get some alone time (#metime #familyreunion #austinburgopen #hashtaghashtag) and whip up treats for the next day.

Note: alone time does not happen when you are at a family reunion for a family of 12 kids.  

Note: it was more fun (and faster) baking with two of my sister-in-laws.  Plus, I made them take pictures of me being overly excited about the gigantic mixer I was using.  Plus, somehow my father-in-law ended up bringing me a cup of coffee and that was neat.  

it's huge!… 

it was unnecessary and awesome

We made a double batch of the Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting.  The recipe was supposed to make about 30 cupcakes, but much to my appreciation, it made about 50.  Woop!  Extras for the grown-ups!

commercial kitchen love

I didn't really care how the actual meal came out, as long as these bad boys were delish.  

i am not a professional froster

I hear the nieces all got hosed off after eating them, so I'm guessing they were well-liked all around.  (I had 3, shhhhh... because I had to... TEST them...  Yeah.)

Anyhow, the main course was SUPER NACHOS!, one of The G's favorite meals.  

Lunch for 30 people- feat. SUPER NACHOS! and accoutrements

Super Nachos ingredients:

- 5 lbs. ground beef

- your taco seasoning of choice (I threw together the one from Mel's Kitchen Cafe from the plethora of industrial-sized spice containers)

- 1 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded

- 6 large tomatoes, diced

- 2 bottles of salsa (one hot and one mild)

- 2 containers of sour cream

- 2 lbs. of cheddar cheese, shredded

- cilantro, olives, black beans, corn or any favorite topping

- 6 bags of tortilla chips

Brown the hamburger and toss with the taco seasoning (drain beef of grease if needed).  Put each ingredient in its own bowl for a colorful and easy-to-customize meal.  Layer chips, beef, and all your preferred toppings and CHOW DOWN!

Accoutrements:

- 30 half ears of corn (with melted butter and salt, duh)

- 2 watermelons, chilled and cut in triangles for quintessential summer eating

where there's food, there's children

meat. and other stuff.

All in all, cooking for a crowd wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  

Advice for cooking for a large number?

• Make something you've made a million times before.  
• Cook something that you like.
• Use fresh ingredients whenever possible.  
• Simple = awesome.  5 course meal?  Boo.  Chili?  Yay!
• Think ahead.  Instead of hauling the 5 lb. bags of flour and sugar and the can of baking powder and the box of baking soda and the cocoa powder container (I was already packing 5 people for a week, plus our ballroom competition stuff), I mixed the dry goods in gallon bags beforehand.  I threw the sugars in one bag, and put it inside another gallon bag (just to be sure nothing leaked) with a note telling me what to add.  I did the same thing with the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Bonus?  One (or seven) less things to do once I got there.

Next up?  A delicious wedding shower menu!  My eldest SIL served up some brunchy goodness while us ladies admired the grapes at the winery.

surprising amount of wine in OH

 Amerigo Vespucci, people.  And Happy Fourth of July.

he's good looking, in that 1700s kind of way

One year ago: LLLL.