Ot: Help me with my dinner party
My fellow Mgobloggers, hope everyone is doing well! Super bowl was a ton of fun, and basketball team looks to be on the up.
I am planning on hosting a dinner party for my friends a week from Friday, and I know Mgoblog is filled with some incredible Mgocooks. Because I will be serving roughly 9 people, I was hoping to be able to feed them al delicious food, but with a reasonable. I am doing BYOB because the bar cart is mine.
I really doubt that my leftover BBQ chips and Queso will be enough to feed people. In addition, I only have about three packs of maruchan left (although family style could be neat).
Any ideas to spice this up?
February 21st, 2023 at 5:12 PM ^
Nate Oats.
February 21st, 2023 at 8:48 PM ^
Kool-aid and Beans should keep the budget under control.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:14 PM ^
Milk Steak
Raw Jellybeans
Delaware River Runoff Crabs
Rum Ham
Fight Milk
February 21st, 2023 at 8:15 PM ^
Crabs is sewage proof and depression proof!
We’re crab people now.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:15 PM ^
You want to feed people al delicious food with a reasonable? I'm afraid that can't be done.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:16 PM ^
Give this a go. It's sure to be a crowd pleaser:
February 21st, 2023 at 5:40 PM ^
You could also go with a street taco theme like this:
February 21st, 2023 at 5:51 PM ^
FIBER
February 21st, 2023 at 6:26 PM ^
Laugh all you want but my wife and daughter prefer vegetarian re-fried beans over filet mignon and we have gone the can of refried beans route to celebrate many events. I tend to grill meat for lunch when no one else is home.
February 21st, 2023 at 7:26 PM ^
Better if you step on it a few times, but yeah.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:17 PM ^
Whole milk. Steak. Avoid the chicken, it's a nervous bird.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:18 PM ^
Are we watching the same basketball team?
February 21st, 2023 at 6:34 PM ^
Hey if you have a really short memory...things certainly are looking up!
February 21st, 2023 at 5:18 PM ^
What's your budget? What the age range of the group? Is it couples, or all single friends, or a mix? What the male/female split? Are there dietary restrictions?
February 21st, 2023 at 5:19 PM ^
Food is expensive these days. But when I have a big group and am responsible for food, I love to do a shrimp and/or crab and/or crawfish boil. Compared to prices of beef and pork these days, it’s very affordable. It’s also very easy in that you really only need (in addition to the seafood) some kielbasas, small potatoes and old bay seasoning. Takes about 30 mins in total to prep and cook (and a lot less if you use just shrimp).
Seafood boils are also fun since you don’t really need plates, you just dump the seafood on the table in front of everyone and people take what they want.
The one major hurdle is people do have shellfish allergies, and some deeply religious people won’t eat it.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:44 PM ^
I second this. I learned it on vaca in Charleston, where it's called a "Low Country Boil." Besides a lot of Old Bay, get those crab boil seasoning packets at the grocery store and throw them in too. They come in those mesh bags so you just remove the bags when done cooking.
Start by boiling potatoes for 10 minutes (recommended: mix of white, gold and purple potatoes, get the smaller ones). Then add any combination of veggies that hold up while boiling: corn on the cob; mushrooms; carrots; shallots; cauliflower. (Peppers tend not to be so good for this meal.) Also add the sausage (diced ahead of time, ends up making little mushy balls) at the same time as these veggies. (Recommended: both one hot/spicy type of sausage, e.g. hot Italian, and also one mild/sweet type, e.g. summer sausage.) Boil until all cooked, probably another 10 minutes. Throw in shrimp or scallops for the last 90 seconds.
Serve with both a cocktail sauce AND some other favorite sauce (kids will like ranch dressing, you could go with a remoulade, or BBQ, etc. etc.) on the side as dips.
The dude who taught us this did tours in the low country. He said, midwestern kids invariably start with the sausages, and southern kids start tend to go first for the corn. But by the end, everyone eats everything, it's so good.
You will need a huge pot for this, btw.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:55 PM ^
Good point about the pot. You would need a big one for 9 people, but I maybe 2 medium size ones would suffice. I’ve never split the boil into different pots, but I reckon if you are using 2 different seafoods, then 2 different pots could work.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:50 PM ^
It's a good reason to have a turkey fryer. Works great for boils.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:39 PM ^
Interesting, crab affordable? I did surf and turf for Valentines Day and paid $39 / lb of king crab. Only $13/lb for high quality NY strip steak.
And pork tends to be far more affordable than beef.
Yes, king crab is an expensive crab but I wouldn't put any crab in the affordable category.
I'd put the cost tiers of those items like so:
1st Tier: Crab
2nd Tier: Shrimp and Beef
3rd Tier: Pork and Crawfish
February 21st, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
Yea, I wouldn't buy kind crab for a boil, but rather snow crab. Its a very affordable these days.
Also, if I'm doing steaks (and I make a fantastic steak) and trying to entertain friends, I would never use anything under the prime rating category. NY strip prime is still quite expensive these days. Additionally, making a good steak requires some attention and care especially if you have folks who prefer different temperatures. If you assume one steak per person, that is a lot to manage on the grill if you ask me.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:19 PM ^
Why are you the way that you are?
February 21st, 2023 at 5:28 PM ^
my old backup is SPAM covered in melted Velveeta cheese. Salt to taste.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:35 PM ^
Do you fry up the spam? That's really the only way to do it!
February 22nd, 2023 at 1:29 AM ^
You can do a lot with SPAM...
![Tofu 'Spam' Musubi: Hawaiian Sushi [Vegan, Gluten-Free] - One Green Planet](https://i0.wp.com/www.onegreenplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/tofu-spam-musibi.jpg?fit=1200%2C750)
February 21st, 2023 at 5:35 PM ^
This has everything in one can.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:38 PM ^
In deference to the board rules about no political talk I will avoid posting the photo of Trump feeding a huge fast food spread to some team visiting the White House and instead will say:
Big ass pile of $2 Taco Bell burritos.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:01 PM ^
For those curious about the identity of the teams who got the fast-food-franchise special dinners at the White House in 2019, the teams were Clemson and North Dakota State, winners of the previous season's FBS and FCS championships. LINK
February 21st, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^
In deference to your deference, I'm just gonna say Shamrock Shakes are back!
February 21st, 2023 at 7:14 PM ^
That came to mind for me, too. I was going to suggest a big pile of wrapped Chick-fil-A sandwiches. I'd be happy if I showed up to a dinner party and saw those on the table.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:43 PM ^
Some lemons and some crow!
February 21st, 2023 at 5:43 PM ^
better go out back and 'harvest' one of the livestock. skin it, gut it, put it on a spit and keep on cooking until it looks done.
any other questions?
February 21st, 2023 at 6:24 PM ^
Not Mabel. Anybody see Mabel?
February 21st, 2023 at 6:41 PM ^
I miss Mabel. She was a good poster.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:55 PM ^
Another black label?
February 21st, 2023 at 7:31 PM ^
Your beer's here, Miss Mabel. Miss Mabel? Miss Mabel?
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:27 AM ^
She had so much to offer. Too soon.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
Mussels. Very easy to cook a large amount, pretty inexpensive but seem fancy, and most people don't eat them regularly, which makes it feel more like a party and not just dinner at someone else's house. Pair with some really good fresh bread - sourdough or something similarly robust, it's for mopping up the broth - or french fries if you've got a fryer. That and a salad and you've got a delicious meal.
If you have two big pots, you can do them two different ways. Do one pot in white wine and pesto, for example, and the other in spicy tomato sauce. Figure 1-1.5 pounds per person.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:59 PM ^
How high brow you want to go? Or how simple?
Ina Garten coq au vin is easier than it looks/sounds, but still will challenge your culinary skills just enough. Serve with good bread and it's great because it's a one-bowl meal. And have people bring red wine and cognac. Tres bon.
A vat of chili is great for the same reason, and a little easier to pull off. Serve with chips, or hot dogs. Extras make a great morning omelet. Everyone bring a different 6er.
Let us know what you decide to serve!
February 21st, 2023 at 6:44 PM ^
Great suggestions. Slow cooker / dutch oven meals are good for quantity and prep ahead of time and coq au vin is a good way to do something semi-fancy but pretty simple.
February 21st, 2023 at 5:59 PM ^
Lasagna. Easy to make, hard to screw up, always popular. Add a simple salad with Caesar dressing and call it a day.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:04 PM ^
This is the recipe I've been dying to try. There's a longer Youtube video of her making it, where she makes everything from scratch including the lasagna noodles.
https://www.today.com/recipes/samin-nosrat-s-big-lasagna-recipe-t181046
February 21st, 2023 at 8:59 PM ^
That's a fantastic looking lasagna. I would skip making the noodles from scratch, though. Lotta work and if your inexperienced at it, it can go sideways. I like the semi-precooked lasagna sheets, soak them in a little water then layer away. You can also buy the boil-em-up noodles, but they are a little more difficult to handle.
February 21st, 2023 at 8:52 PM ^
Lasagna is always a great option. I personally go the keto lasagna route and make my “noodles” out of cream cheese, egg and mozzarella. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t taste the difference, and it’s far less carbs.
February 21st, 2023 at 9:00 PM ^
you can also make layers out of spaghetti squash or thin slices of eggplant. both are good.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Dude, go to Costco. They have prepared foods out the wazoo.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Have the party catered by your local House of Toast.