Premade For Parties

Premade for Parties. The longer version of this title would go something like this: If you are planning a large party, with a large number of people no where near what you are used to feeding on a daily basis, and you are working out of your home kitchen, which likely has limited oven, stove, and fridge space, you do not need to make everything from scratch. Potlucks are always a good option, or even if you just get a few contributed dishes or ask people to bring rolls, vegetable trays or chips. If potluck is not your style of choice, and you prefer to cook yourself, please follow this advice.

Do not try to make every single little thing from scratch yourself. You are likely working with a standard house-sized oven, stove, refrigerator, and freezer. You likely do not have an entire team of sous chefs at your service to help you, and if you did, you probably would not have enough room in your kitchen. You probably have other things to do to prepare for the party as well, such as cleaning, decorating, set-up, etc. You likely want to join the party, not spend the duration of it in your kitchen. And finally, you likely want to serve fresh food, not old stale food made too far in advance because you didn't have enough time to do everything the day of or day before. I am not against preparing in advance here, but you can only do so much early when it comes to food. 

For our party, we are skipping homemade appetizers and focusing on main courses. This allows us to offer a wider variety of foods at the actual meal, and ensures guests will save room for the meal and dessert. We will be serving some chips, crackers, and fruit and vegetables. However, we are not wasting time making homemade crackers, when we need the time and oven space for the meatballs. Likewise, we are purchasing rolls, not making them. Usually I am all for homemade  but you can only do so much yourself, and I admit part of one of the desserts begins with a purchased item. Also, do not bother with fancy silverware and plates - go paper or plastic! Maybe a little environmentally unfriendly, but buy biodegradable plates and napkins and save water by using plastic cutlery. It will save a lot of clean-up, as you'll likely have enough with all of the dishes to wash!