My daughter graduates from high school this Sunday and I need to shop for the party. We are serving individual sandwiches, tossed green salad, potato salad, vegetables and dip, a fruit tray, relish tray, assorted chips and cake. Should we include anything else in the menu? And how do I determine how many dollar-roll sandwiches we need for 40 guests?
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Hi MissouriMom, Congratulations on your daughter's graduation, it sounds like you have things under control pretty well- my suggestion to you would be to include some sort of hot dish in your menu such as a baked bean or a mac and cheese. As far as meat portions go, 1/4 lb. per person maybe? I'm not familiar with the term "dollar roll" but if that is like what we up here in Wis. call a hard roll you should plan on 2 per person to be safe.
Figuring How Much Food to Buy for Parties
I read this on Thrifty Fun. Hope this helps.
By Ronsan from Southwest Missouri 4-06 (thriftyfun.com)
It will soon be time for graduation parties, family reunions,
etc., and it can be difficult to know how much food to fix for a large crowd. Here are several serving guides I have come to rely on:
Cold cuts: generally 2 to 3 ounces of deli meat per serving (25 servings of deli meat would be 3 to 5 pounds of meat). This is based on what is called a "sandwich slice" rather than shaved. Sandwich slices will go further than shaved as people often overload on shaved.
Cheese: allow 1 to 1.5 ounces of cheese slices per serving. (25 servings would be 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of cheese). Sliced cheese is more economical than cubes as people will generally only take one slice of cheese, but several cubes of cheese.
Vegetables: Plan on 4 to 6 pieces of raw vegetables per person in a relish tray. (How much dip to have is anyone's guess!)
Salad: One gallon of potato or pasta salad or chicken or tuna salad will feed approximately 25 people. Don't bother counting the kids in this because most of them won't eat this type of food.
Fruit: Plan on allowing 1/2 cup per serving of fruit per person. Generally, 1 pint of strawberries, blueberries or raspberries equals about 2 cups; 1 pound of green grapes equals 2 cups.
It sounds like a great menu, and I also think the meatball sandwiches are a good idea.
I am an entertainer and therefore attend a lot of parties & receptions. I have NEVER been to a party where there was enough dip, so I suggest buying twice as much veggie dip and fruit dip as you think you need.
May you have a wonderful party!
When I got married, I just asked the person working at the deli how much they suggest for sandwiches, they were very helpful and we had enough left over to take on our car trip to save money on our honeymoon. Congradulations on your daughter's graduation, and good luck!
Last weekend, I had a birthday party for my daughter with 25 of our family members. We did sandwiches as well (and actually had everything else you mentioned!). One thing that was a surprise hit--cold meatloaf slices for the sandwiches. My dad suggested it, as I was looking for ways to cut costs.
Im in the same boat, mines on saturday for our daughter, I got on food network.com and checked out Paula Deen's recipes, santa fe wraps, Taco salad, Im not fixing sandwiches,I went to GFS store(a bulk food store) and picked up already made pulled pork bbq. heat and serve,woo hoo.tortilla chips and 3 kinds of dip,veggie tray and fruit salad,pasta salad, I premade and froze some banana & Zuccinni breads.Graduation cake and soda, Iced tea,Im going to attempt to make it all friday for saturday.
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