Gina, Grandpa, my dad, Vinnie, me, my mom
I'm pretty sure my mom and I, along with my aunt, have been talking about my Grandpa's 80th birthday party since Christmas time. Our first priority was to decide on a menu. We went from a bunch of finger foods and appetizers, where I claimed I would be able to make all kinds of different bite-sized morsels (even though I've never really done it before), which we nixed because we realized it wasn't very practical since I've never really made appetizers and our kitchen space isn't really suited to make a bunch of different small dishes. The party was basically going to consist of 40 mostly older Italians, so we decided finger foods wouldn't be the best way to go (I can't imagine the crowd would have been too impressed by fancy looking bite sized dishes). So we had to come up with a menu that would be pleasing to the crowd and would actually be conceivable for a first time caterer with a lot more confidence than experience in this sort of thing. We decided on dishes that I've made before and I knew I would be able to make in bulk, the menu was going to consist of Penne:
which only left me to have to fry the chicken the day of the party which I knew wouldn't be bad, just time consuming. So for me I really wasn't too worried about the food turning out right for the party.
meatballs:
eggplant parmesan:
chicken francais:
a potato dish, sausage with peppers and onions:
and salad:
I didn't really think it was going to be that hard, whenever I make spaghetti and meatballs it's in bulk anyway because I freeze the extras for the following weeks, so that wasn't going to be a problem. I've made my chicken francais enough that I didn't think it was going to be that difficult to multiply the recipe to have enough for 40 people, and all I really needed to worry about for the eggplant was if the eggplants I bought were going to be good, because there's nothing worse than a bad eggplant and you can't ever really tell if you have one. I actually fried it a few days ahead of time (a good idea because then I was able to sample it and see if it was good eggplant, and sure enough it was)
As an aside, I do think it is pretty cool to say that I catered a party for 40 people but I certainly didn't and couldn't have done it all by myself. My aunt made the potatoes, sausage and a salad (which were great Aunt Jojo), and my mom and dad were my sous-chefs on the frying of the eggplant and chicken francais.
Alright back to the story, so for at least the last month my mom was completely stressed about how I was going to make enough food for 40 people, how much I was actually going to make, how we were going to have enough room for everyone and how we were going to keep my grandpa in the dark to all of it. Within the last week alone, , she was on the verge of meltdown, and had a few mini meltdowns leading up to the event, but she gets a free pass because she stresses way to much about everything, and more importantly she's my mom, but also because my Grandpa, at the breakfast I made a week ago said that if we have any kind of party for him he wouldn't come, he said he would go to a movie or something, and he sure seemed serious about it. After that comment we decided it would be best to have him come early so he wouldn't see a bunch of cars at our house and just turn around and not come. It was definitely best to do it this way because not only were we having a bunch of people over for the party that he had no idea about (surprise #1), but my sister came home just for the party (surprise #2), who only comes home a couple times a year and my dad was home and he normally works on Mondays (surprise #3). He walked into our house and was already surprised and really happy to see them, it was funny because he made the comment that it was so nice to celebrate his birthday with his immediate family, and not with a bunch of strangers, then we lead him outside (after a bunch of pictures),
Left to right: me, my sister Gina, the birthday boy, my brother Vinnie, my cousin Lisa, pre-surprise (he has no clue what he's in for)
and most everyone for the party was there. He couldn't have been more surprised, and he ended up being really happy about the party. So, of course, it all worked out in the end, because as I always say (and tried to get it through to my mom) about anything I do, if you know you worked hard and tried your best at whatever it is your doing and believe that the result will be what you want, 9.9 times out of 10 it will work out in the end (that belief is why there isn't much I can think of that stresses me out).
The surprise as it happened
Happy to see you (he didn't run away yet)
Having a great time!
Enjoying the party, getting ready for cake (my aunt in the background cutting it)
Back to the food, if you were at the party you would have thought I was a seasoned veteran of catering, no mix ups, no spills and there was plenty for people to eat. The best part was that most everyone at the party were raving about the food, asking me for the recipes and how I did it all. My moms aunt, who runs our family reunion, actually asked if I would be able to cater that (it would be for at least 100 people), of course I said I could and would love to do it, but I'm not so sure my mom would be able to handle that, but we shall see. It was cool for me to see the reaction to the food from everyone at the party because I really only cook for myself, and my immediate family. While I know my food tastes good (hey, I do), and I always get rave reviews from my family, I can never be 100% positive they're not just giving me compliments because they're my family, so it was great to get such a positive reaction from people who've never eaten my cooking. After months of planning its all over, it ended up better than expected and my Grandpa enjoyed it all (definitely the best part of it all), now I have a 40 person party on my cooking resume, anyone need a caterer!...
Eat well, Live well
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