can I make wedding food for 25 in a beach cottage kitchen overnight?

[grasswire]

Oboy. This is a potential nightmare.

A relative has asked me to prepare a post-wedding meal for a beach wedding in early August. About 25 people. I'll be staying in a beach cottage and won't arrive until the evening before the day of the wedding. The kitchen does have a stove, fridge, and the usual bare essentials.

The meal will be served on the lawn of the beach home of the bride's grandmother. A BBQ will be available.

Thoughts, anyone? Oh, and they have a modest budget.

My first thought is to go to the fishing dock when the boats are coming in and buy a fat salmon, and build a menu around that.

My second thought is to beg off. I'm actually related to the GROOM, and resent a little bit the fact that the bride's family doesn't want to assume this traditional task, especially considering that the Groom's father is hosting a full dinner in a nice restaurant the evening before the wedding. But I'll do whatever is necessary to make it a special day.

[The empressof all]

1. Yes it can be done....Of course

I think though before you think of a menu you'll need to know how much money they have to spend. Will there be help in serving, setting up and clearing? You'll be best to think of buffet foods and I would probably steer clear of barbecuing unless you have help. You just can't be in the kitchen and at the grill at the same time. If you feel you must grill just do some kabobs.

Most of all KEEP IT SIMPLE. You can do a nice pasta salad (I do a terrific tortellini and Tuna), a green salad, a fruit salad, good breads, and maybe even some good quality cold cuts. You could even do a cold poached salmon too. I assume she's ordered a wedding cake for dessert.

Consider it a complement that you were asked to participate in this way. They have confidence in your culinary skills. But you need to ask the Bride what she has in mind and what the budget is.

[The empressof all]

2. PS......Add a Spiral Sliced Ham to the buffet table

They are easy to reheat, they serve a crowd, have a nice presentation and most folks who eat meat just love them.

[Warpy]

16. I agree that buffet style is best

and that paying for food and establishing just who will be supplying plates and glassware and doing cleanup duty needs to be done, otherwise you'll be working your ass off for 3 days while everybody else just has a party, then paying your credit card off for the next 6 months.

This is kinda ridiculous, if they expect you to do a full catered event for next to nothing.

I'd check out what that budget is very carefully. If it doesn't cover food, serving items, serving help, and cleanup help, BEG OFF. Being a relative isn't the same thing as being a slave.

If they end up with party platters from Albertson's and a tub of ice and soda, so be it.

[wildeyed]

3. If you don't want to do it, don't.

This is a huge task. It will be an imposition if you don't feel you can embrace it joyfully. An alternative, you can offer to do only the starters, something like that. I am assuming there are others who will help serve and clean up?

If you do decided to do the meal, I think the salmon idea is wonderful. I would keep it simple. Do something like cold salmon baked in foil (easy clean up, too) and a tabbouleh salad. You can dress them up with fancy garnishes and gourmet ingredients. Then some nice bread, a few veggies from the farmer's market and you have a fabulous meal with not too much effort.

[bearfan454]

4. I would get all the prep work done ahead of time

Then you just have last minute stuff to put together.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Oh Lucky You!

First off, if this is to be just you, all by your lonesome, I would suggest two bottles of your favorite wine and one glass. I am sure you can figure out what to do with those two items.

Assuming you will *not* be on your own ......

I would advise a hard limit on hot items. One or, at most, two. Everything else should be servable cold and should need little prep beyond unwrapping and plating. Believe me, even that seemingly small amount of work is a lot when the number is 25 persons.

It is a beach cottage. I'd go with beach-theme foods. Burgers and dogs, with high end toppings, are hardly inappropriate. Good rolls, fresh tomatoes, sliced slabs of onion, nice sauerkraut for the dogs, high end mustards, maybe even some brown gravy and sauteed mushrooms and/or onions. For the burgers, use frozen patties. Get the best dogs you can find. You might even use sausages instead of dogs - Italian sweet, brats, knockers, etc. Assign one person to man the grill so you don't need to worry about it.

A spiral ham was suggested. That's a great idea, but it can also be served cold, so that's what I'd do. Just plate it and add some garnish and a kinfe and fork and you're done with it. Buy (do not make) some hearty salads (potato, macaroni, etc.); try to avoid mayo based salads.

If you can get good corn, you might also grill or otherwise cook that.

Wrap the hot items and hold them in a cooler. Corn, sausages, and even burgers, will hold for a reasonable amount of time in an ordinary cooler.

[SoCalDem]

12. I second that emotion

Beach wedding...beach food...

I assume the have given you a budget... you could buy some smallish galvanized tubs to fill with ice...for the soda pops, bowls of cold munchies....you can just dump out the ice at the end, fill one with the DISPOSABLE paper/plastic trash, and have whoever's there help carry them away at the end..

the food:

ham/cold roast beef
cold cuts
different breads & rolls
store-bought cole slaw/potato salad/macaroni salad


If there are only 25 people coming and you have until august, you could make a cute dessert with those mini-angelfood cake pans...make up a bunch of them in white cake, frost em and freeze em... Stack em up in the silhouette of a wedding cake....voila...dessert

A beach wedding signifies SIMPLE... this way YOU could be a guest too..

when the food's gone...the reception is O V E R :)

[mike_c]

6. sure-- I've done the equivalent...

...but it had better be a labor of love for you, otherwise it will be a thankless chore no matter how appreciative the guests are. Planning is EVERYTHING in situations like this, including backup plans B-Z. A good helper or two will make it more fun, too.

[livetohike]

7. First of all, the nerve of some people amazes me

because I believe all relatives should be able to enjoy the wedding. I am with you on begging off. It should be the responsibility of the bride's family, imo.

If you decide to do this, I think the salmon idea is great and also have the spiral ham for those who don't like salmon. Purchase some good rolls and make a tray of lettuce, tomatoes, pickles in case someone wants to make a sandwich with the ham/salmon. A selection of salads would round out the meal and provide an alternative for any veggies who are attending. I would make this as easy on yourself as possible.

Also, I would get the money up front to pay for everything :-). Especially, if you are expected to buy liquor, too.

[TygrBright]

8. Caterers are our FRIENDS!!!!

Do one thing (your specialty, something you really enjoy, something tasty, pretty, and/or fun) yourself and have everything else catered. Have the caterer worry about utensils, dishes, condiments, etc.

Catering doesn't have to be that expensive. Heck, some of the grocery stores in our old home town could do a very nice job for simple, casual meals with meat & cheese trays, salads, and a few extras like a tray of wings or devilled eggs. They'd supply utensils, heavy-duty disposable plates, salt & pepper and condiment trays, the whole nine yards. Add that in with your platter/bowl of Something Special and your worries are minimized. You get to enjoy cooking something you like for company without worrying about all the fiddly bits.

helpfully,
Bright

[grasswire]

9. goodness!

Now they want me to hand-letter the casual invitations this week (I studied calligraphy some years ago). I am a little hesitant about taking on these tasks that the bride's family should be doing. The groom tells me they are scatter-brained and can't come to decisions, and are high-maintenance. Swell.

However, this is not an etiquette forum, but a cooking forum.

All the suggestions offered are good. Thanks. Catering is not an option; it's a small town with little resources in that regard.

The obvious meal theme to me was South Seas, because the groom collects tiki items and the bride loves tropical flowers. But the theme was ruled out by the bride and her sisters. Apparently the family eats teriyaki style food often, and doesn't think any Pacific Rim type food would be too much of a treat.

I might go for a very Pacific Northwest farmers market style. The salmon, a smoked turkey if I can find one this time of year, loads of berries and nectarines and figs, perhaps some sliced local salamis paired with wonderful breads, and local artisanal cheeses.

Thanks for getting the inspiration going! I've done so many events in the past for charitable events as well as personal entertaining, but never in a cottage with no real cooking supplies.

[The empressof all]

10. Are you very close to the Groom?

They seem to be requesting a great deal from you....I would find it hard not to be helpful to them if they are so disorganized but make sure you ask for help with the set up and make it understood now that you will not be cleaning up the tables or the kitchen for that matter.

[grasswire]

11. yes

The groom is my nephew, and we are very close. I believe he's looking to me to rescue him in the areas where the bride's family isn't making any decisions or progress. They are apparently happy to let someone else do things. I realize this is beginning to sound like a page from Dear Abby, and I don't want it to be that way. Good idea to let it be known that cleanup is not the responsibility of the cook OR the GROOM! Thanks.

[SoCalDem]

13. Sounds like the bride's family are cheapskates

I am no fan of extravaganza weddings, but shame on them for not doing anything:(

[eleny]

17. Can you just send the couple a few plane tickets to Las Vegas?

You sure have a heart of gold, grasswire. Best of luck with all this.

[wildeyed]

14. I addressed my own invitations.

Someone said, "Isn't it cute that they let the children address the wedding invites." :rofl:

[NMDemDist2]

15. ouch!

:cry:

[BeTheChange]

18. I just did a pre-Wedding beach dinner for 60...

this last weekend in a beach side lodge on the Mendo coast. It went fabulously because I kept the dishes simple and picked fresh produce as the accent. Final cost for 60 with some left overs was 325 including tax. utensils, cups, plates, trashbags, napkins, etc and the following menu:

Salad of Organic spring greens, grape tomatoes & carrots
Rolls & Butter

Veggie entree - Roasted red pepper, grilled asparagus, mushroom and pasta in a white wine butter sauce
Chicken entree - modified chicken puttanesca (tomato sauce, tomatoes, basil, garlic, red wine and kalamata olives)

Chocolate sheet cake

Water
Hansen's sodas


I adore Costco.

You can definately do it.. just make sure that you keep the menu easy.

If it was more of an actual on the beach sand and sun kinda occasion Id do a crab, salmon or shrimp salad filled mini baguettes, red dixie cups filled with fruit soaked in a sugar syrup with a local flavor (like orange in fl, or blackberry in Wa, local) presented with spoon and displayed in a tub of sand, like sand pails, a variety of crostini with pesto and tomato, hummus, etc., a great salad with chicken and a pasta salad with wonderful local fresh veggies.

Whatever you do.. hope you have fun with it. Dont do it if you dont want to.

[grasswire]

19. thanks for the ideas

At this point we have realized that because the bride spent two years in Paris and has a lot of art posters from there and also because another person has a boatload of Paris collectibles -- Eiffel Towers and fleur de lys knick knacks and stuff like that, we might do a Paris farmers market style menu and use those decorations. I just saw the Barefoot Contessa do a cocktail party in that manner, where she only made one dish and bought everything else -- cheeses, meats, etc. That's the latest thought.

[wildeyed]

20. Ina does great parties.

She knows how to keep it simple so she can enjoy the event, too. As opposed to me. I make something complicated that I have never made before, then run around all night like my hair is on fire and end up with a meal that is only partially edible. Sigh.

[BeTheChange]

26. Great theme..

It will be super easy to throw a party themed around that. Here's a menu I used for the same theme this last spring:

Cheese display (several different cheeses on multi tiered cake or cupcake stands.. with small paper flags attached to toothpicks as a label stuck in a large piece of each cheese.. brie, gouda, blue cheese on endive, etc)

Baguettes

Spring Salad of mixed greens with candied walnuts, goat cheese and a lemon vinagrette

Quiches (a florentine, summer vegetable.. and a ham, roasted tomato, cheddar)

Crepe vegetable lasagna a seperate Crab version (both with bechamel)

Phyllo crisps with Balsamic strawberries and cream

Everything is really easy to prepare beforehand. You can make the lasagna and quiches the night prior.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out>

[yellowdogintexas]

21. my 2cents worth: an interesting cheese assortment

French style veggie tray (lightly steamed baby carrots, brocoli buds, etc)
and a raw veg tray (radishes, celery, cukes etc)
the ubiquitous spiral ham (spiral ham store also does smoked turkey breasts spiral sliced)
fruits


Finger foods are the way to go, really.
Maybe some wraps sliced across and plated as pinwheels. Say thin sliced smoked turkey, with some fresh basil, roasted red pepper rolled in a wrap that has been spread with an herbed cream cheese, then rolled and sliced across.

Also a couple of slabs of cream cheese with some Respberry Chipotle Sauce and some Carr's water crackers can make a party.

I catered my sister in law's wedding as a wedding gift to her, and there were maybe 60 people there, in a church hall. Wedding cake came from a bakery.

We had: sausage and cheese balls, cocktail franks in barbecue sauce, fresh made salsa with chips, RoTel dip and more chips, cheese puffs, and I think I may have made one other thing, possible tortilla rollups. One of the aunts took care of all the beverages, and the other one made sure the utensils etc were in order.

I make a hot cheese appetizer that is really rich: mozzerella cheese, shredded combined with mayo and a bit of butter and some chopped scallions. Spread on crusty bread (I use baguette slices) and broil until bubbly. YUM

[grasswire]

22. your cheese appetizer is similar to...

...Sunset Magazine's "Hasty Hots" that have been a hit for decades. Theirs mixes grated parmesan, mayo, and sliced scallions, spread on party rye bread and broiled til browned and bubbly. It's delicious.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. my version came from a cajun restaurant in of all places Cody

Wyoming


My sister makes a similar hot appetizer called "Sin on a Cracker"

[MrsMatt]

24. Easy salad

I doubled the recipe for and it was good for 15 people

I got raves - it's beautiful and yummy.

Blueberry salad

2 cups fresh blueberries
2 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes (I used whole grape tomatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Serve chilled.

[wildeyed]

25. Mmmmm, that sounds yummy.

I have a ton of cherry tomatoes from my garden. Maybe I will give it a whirl!