The Secret to Cooking for a Crowd

Having a large family growing up, I learned to cook in a big way. With 5 brothers and 3 sisters plus Mom and Dad, I started out cooking for eleven people by the time I was twelve. Mom needed help and taught her daughters to cook at an early age. I'll never forget the first time I fried chicken all by myself. My brothers ridiculed my over-done chicken mercilessly. I'll never forget the first meal I cooked away from home. My sister and I moved out together, just the two of us, and, after settling in, prepared our first meal for just us. We cooked like we were taught: 5 pounds of potatoes for mashed potatoes, 2 whole chickens for fried chicken, 2 quarts of green beans. To this day, we still laugh about all that food we had left over. So needless to say, cooking for a large gathering is no problem for me. I take on the task of hosting my husband's family for Thanksgiving and while most people worry about having a dry turkey, my biggest dread is cleaning the house. So what is the secret to cooking large? Like cooking any size meal, the secret is in the planning. You will need extra and larger everything. Plan your menu, inventory your serving dishes, pots and pans, plates, forks, knives, spoons, drinking glasses at least a week in advance. Buy everything you need ahead of time, right down to butter for bread and ice for drinks. Once you have your menu and inventory planned, jot down a time schedule. Have the house cleaned and seating arrangements completed the day before so you can focus on the meal, otherwise you'll be pulling your hair out trying to get everything done on time. The easiest thing to cook is a one-dish meal, like pot roast or lasagna with few side dishes.