By: Susan Jackson, County Extension Agent, Family & Consumer Science
This time of year there are many celebrations. These celebrations happen once in a lifetime such as graduations from high school or college and you want them special. No pressure intended!
One of the hardest parts of planning a party is trying to decide how much food you need to have. You will want to have enough so you don’t run out of food, but not too much, especially if it is something that doesn’t keep well (like potato salad). A rule of thumb is to have foods that could be easily frozen if you ended up having a lot of leftovers.
Planning a party starts with picking a date that works for you and your family. If it is a popular date then there will probably be several other parties on that date as well. That will impact the amount of food that you will need. If your party is late in the day and there are several earlier parties the guests may not be as hungry when they get to your house.
Here are a few examples of foods and the approximate serving amounts needed per person and per 100 guests.
* Sloppy joes or pulled pork – 1/3 cup meat will fill a hamburger bun (16-17 pounds for 100 people)
* Coleslaw – 1/3 cup serving per person (9 quarts for 100 people)
* Fresh fruit – 1/3 to ½ cup per person (9 to 10 quarts for 100 people)
* Relish tray – 3-4 pieces per person (25 pieces per head of broccoli, 32 – 4” strips of celery from a medium bunch, 36 – 4” strips of carrots in a pound, 30 pieces in small head of cauliflower)
* Potato salad – ½ cup per serving (14 quarts for 100 people)
* Punch – you can get 21 6 ounce glasses from a gallon (5 gallons for 100 people)
* Sheet cake – calculate using a 2 by 2 or 3 by 3 piece of cake and the size of the cake pan you will use.
I wish you success with your celebration.
