how to feed a crowd without losing your mind
or spending a fortune!
I spent last weekend with my parents at my brother and sister-in-law’s house in Cleveland (do you live there and need help with your estate planning or your skincare? they’re your people!).
On Sunday, for Mother’s Day, we were joined by my sister-in-law’s family for a get-together. We originally planned to do brunch but had to shift the time later in the day so we kept the same menu plan and just called it BINNER.
In total we were 13 people ranging in ages from 15 months to 80 years old. The group included three teenage boys with big appetites, a few vegetarians, a vegan, and someone who can’t eat gluten or soy.
We had such a nice time and everyone seemed to really enjoy the meal so I thought I’d share details about it here today since I know feeding more than a crowd of a dozen or more stresses a lot of folks out, not to mention a crowd with various dietary restrictions. Plus it can be very expensive to feed a big group and I think this was a very affordable spread and that’s always worth celebrating!!
Here is the only photo I took!!
Our Menu
Mimosas + My Niece’s Mocktails
Fresh Bagels with Various Cream Cheeses
Smoked Salmon, Capers, Lemons, Tomatoes + Onions
Baked Cheesy Egg Thing
“Bloody Mary” Tomato Salad
Scrambled Tofu
Ice Creams + Toppings
Notes on the Drinks + Food
Mimosas + My Niece’s Mocktails: We had bottles of inexpensive sparkling wine (you don’t need anything $$ for mimosas!), OJ, and my niece Remy busied herself for a good hour or so batching mocktails. Those ended up being two pitchers of sparkling water, one with various citrus fruit squeezed in + the other with sliced cucumbers + crushed mint. Encouraging her to pre-mix her special drinks meant we could clean up her “drink station” before everyone arrived <3
Fresh Bagels with Various Cream Cheeses: All purchased day of from Cleveland Bagel Co. (so good!) — we got a mix of flavors and a few different types of their schmears (including a very good vegan one). Right before everyone came over, we cut them all in half so people wouldn’t have to do that themselves (bonus: this helps you clear up all of the seeds that fall off during slicing!!). We also bought a couple of gluten-free bagels at the grocery store and made sure those stayed separate so they wouldn’t get confused in the mix.
Smoked Salmon, Capers, Lemons, Tomatoes + Onions: You could of course skip the smoked salmon if you want to be more budget-conscious. Sliced cucumbers would have also been a nice addition to this platter!! I sliced the tomatoes and onions earlier in the day and just covered them with a damp paper towel so they wouldn’t get dry. Easy peasy.
Baked Cheesy Egg Thing: I made this tried-and-true keeper with a few notes:
I used gluten-free flour.
I forgot to include the 2 tablespoons of sugar and did not miss it so I think fine if you want to skip it.
I didn’t use quite a pound of cheese — probably a total of like 12 ounces. And I used a mix of grated cheeses that were in the fridge (gouda, cheddar, and jack).
I used 14 eggs instead of a dozen because the eggs seemed on the small side and the resulting texture was even lighter than normal which I really liked!
Because no amount of butter or cooking spray on a baking dish seems to keep the eggs from sticking, I thought maybe I would butter/flour the dish this time around since that does such a good job for cakes. But then I had a true lightbulb moment and instead of buttering-and-flouring the dish, I buttered-and-cheesed it with a coating of finely grated Parm. To do this, I just spread about 2 tablespoons of butter over the surface of the baking dish (bottom and sides), added about 1/2 cup of grated cheese and tilted the dish so that the cheese stuck to the entire buttered surface. This meant that the whole casserole got a delicious crust AND, most importantly, the egg did not stick at all!!! Golden brown cheesy crust and even easier clean-up? SIGN ME UP!!
Scrambled Tofu: I diced an enormous yellow onion and sautéed it in a large nonstick skillet in a little olive oil until it was soft and browned on the edges, then I crumbled in two blocks of extra-firm tofu (I didn’t press them before, just patted them dry) and seasoned the whole thing generously with ground cumin, curry powder, salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, and actually a squeeze of ketchup (it adds sweetness and acid!!). I let it all cook for a while, stirring often so it could really get some flavor. That was it! If you want egg flavor in your tofu scramble, try adding some black salt. If you want a formal recipe, this looks like a good one!
Bloody Mary” Tomato Salad: I winged this one and it turned out so well. To make it, I cut about half a dozen small tomatoes into wedges and halved two pints of cherry tomatoes (always remember this trick (2nd slide in post)!!). I sprinkled them with salt and let them sit for an hour or so and then drained off all the liquid they let off. Then I mixed the tomatoes with about 6 large ribs of celery that I thinly sliced on the bias and dressed it all with olive oil and red wine vinegar (I’m going to guess about 3 tablespoons of each) and a heaping spoonful of prepared horseradish. Lots of freshly ground black pepper, too. And just for some flair, I sprinkled a few capers on top, too! It was delicious and leftovers were great Monday morning piled on toasted leftover bagels spread with cream cheese.
Ice Creams + Toppings: Perhaps the greatest and easiest dessert for a crowd — just buy lots of different ice creams (including vegan options if wanted/needed) and toppings and let everyone go to town. Include cones so you have even fewer dishes to think about!
Other Details Worth Mentioning
Serving brunch, anytime of day, is a great way to keep the budget low. Of course you can splurge on smoked fish or even something like caviar, but a dozen bagels and a dozen eggs can really go a long way!!!
My sister-in-law covered her kitchen island with brown craft paper which (a) looks great (b) keeps the countertop itself very clean! (c) means you can pile food like bagels directly on the surface and (d) means you can write what everything is so you don’t have to answer a million questions and everyone knows what’s on offer, which is great for all guests but especially those who can’t eat certain things.
Although my spouse Grace jokes that my favorite pasttime is decanting things, just a reminder that not everything needs to be decanted — it only means doing more dishes at the end of the get-together! Cream cheese, for example, can stay in the container you got it in — it’s fine! A scramble can be served in the pan you cooked it in, same with the baked egg thing, etc. This is what trivets are for!
When serving items in the vessels you cooked them in, be sure to cover hot handles with kitchen towels so no one burns their fingers!
At the same time, remember that nearly everything tastes good at room temperature.
You simply can’t have too much ice. When someone asks what they can bring on their way over, tell them to get an extra bag of ice!
To make cleaning up as easy as possible, allow yourself the ease of paper plates and disposable cups. Splurge on the good compostable stuff if you want/can!
Join me this Sunday (May 18th) for “One Can of Chickpeas, So Many Possibilities!”
This will be my final class before I pause teaching for June - August!
We will be making:
Chickpea + Kale Soup
Chorizo, Chickpeas + Eggs
Chopped Chickpea Salad
Chickpea Curry
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okay friends! talk to you soon! xoxooxoxo
So many good tips. When I saw this email I actually laughed out loud because this was the first iteration of the subject line for my last newsletter. I was like wait, did my email go out again? Just shows how we all love to feed and entertain but we are all also worried about losing our minds in the process haha. Anyway. Love this and you! Wonderful!
So many good things in this email! Will try the Bloody Mary tomato recipe and also the scrambled tofu recipe for sure. I *love* eggs and cottage cheese together. I make mine little personal-size quiches----2 eggs and 1/2 cup cottage cheese per 4 cup Pyrex food prep bowl. Add in anything and everything you want----bell pepper, turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, whatever! Be sure to spray the bowl well w/ cooking spray before pouring the egg mixture in. I bake at 365-370 convention for 25-30 minutes. I like my eggs VERY well cooked. They puff up nicely while cooking but deflate once out of the oven.