Feeding the Masses: Family Reunion Food

Are you taking some time this summer to have a family reunion? If you are, I'm sure that the subject of food has come up. A family reunion, depending on the number of people, can be like Thanksgiving only supersized. The following links may give you some ideas about what to plan.


Feeding the Crowd at a Family Reunion by Cheryl Fall

Reunion Food from Reunions Magazine



You might also consider older cookbooks, especially church cookbooks. They often provided quantities and recipes for feeding 50 or more.

From Evansville's Favorite Recipes (Evansville, Minnesota). From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega
I will say I'm a little confused if you need to serve all of this for 50 people or if each quantity is what you need for 50 people. We typically serve a 25 lb turkey for Thanksgiving and I don't think that is enough to serve 50 people and the 2 gallons of ice cream probably wouldn't go far.

Now with all of that food in mind there's also the problem of not giving anybody a reason to visit the hospital. Consider these food safety tips from Foodsafety.gov.




Comments

  1. I should think that this menu assumes that not everyone will eat some of everything but will pick and choose. It looks heavy on the meat and potatoes. All total, it looks like it should feed 50 people - except the ice cream.

    I wonder if the 2 gallons bulk cream was listed as the main ingredient with the idea that all the other ingredients (eggs, milk, sugar, etc.) would be added and the result would be more than two gallons ice cream. Some of the other items in the list seem to indicate quantity of the main ingredient, such as "Chicken Stew - 4 hens, weighing 5 lbs. or more" to which they would have added other ingredients. That's just my guess.

    I'm wondering if, in your food research, Gena, you've come across any information about feeding 250 people at an anniversary party/picnic in the late 1800s. My great-great-grandparents were celebrated on their 50th anniversary: 250 people attended and participated in the "feast." I wish I could learn more about the food aspect of the celebration - menu, organization, preparation, serving, clean-up, etc. I just can't imagine....

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  2. Thanks for your comment Nancy.

    I haven't seen anything on feeding that many people in a cookbook. The menus I've seen are for 50 people. You may want to contact the library at the Culinary Institute of America . They may have some resource suggestions.

    Thanks again for stopping by.

    Gena

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  3. I never know how much to buy when serving large groups! I always end up with at least twice what I need. The quantities in the recipe are interesting. Let's see . . . just counting up the pounds of potatoes . . .

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