Food Ideas for Large Baptism Party

To feed this many people, I would consider a meat of some sort, like a very large ham or several hams(1/2 lb per person), potato salad, macaroni salad, green salad and fruit salad. An assortment of breads, cut veggies, and a few hot pasta dishes like lasagna and a very large sheet cake for dessert would provide the most economical food for the most people.

You might ask some of the family members if they could bring some of the party food as their gift. Anyone make a great dip, awesome spaghetti, or fabulous salads? Let them know how much you LOVE their... and how much it would mean if the could bring enough to offer appetizer amounts of it. Little Cesars $5 pizzas are sometimes my best friend! EASY, kid friendly, and CHEAP! Fruit and Veggie trays. Deli trays and rolls with mayo, mustard, lettuce, and sliced onions. 3-4 kinds of chips. Quick to make and really yummy in my opinion and chicken salad sandwiches on french bread. Ask the bakery to cut a few loafs in half length wise. Prepare the chicken salad the night before (letting it set inhances it's flavor) and when you get home from the baptism, slap some chicken salad mix in one half, top with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and onions if you like, add top bread and cut into single sandwich sizes. (This can be done with tuna and egg salad as well.) Tamales are a LOT of work to prep, but once you set them in the steamer, your work is done, and my MIL always make a TON at a time. If I think of any other ideas, I'll pm you!

El Pollo Loco. The chicken pieces are rather large so you can cut some of the pieces into even smaller pieces. As for the sides, provide them yourself. If you go to Costco to get sides, you'll have plenty for about 85 guests. You can also supplement your meal with tortilla chips and nacho sauce. The food is pretty cheap and more importantly, satisfying.

You can also opt for a build your own sandwich and salad buffet if you don't want to have to worry about reheating food. Buy rolls, deli meat and sides from Costco. Much cheaper than buying 6' subs at Togo's.

Last idea would be Asian cuisine.

We had a large Baptism and got the 5 ft burrito from Old Town Cafe in downtown Yorba Linda. We actually had to get a couple so we had the place deliver the burrito. I provided a salad and chips and dip and it was a hit!

sounds like all the other moms have put in their 2 cents and they all have amazing suggestions I want to let you know I just started a new business called "Spare Hands"

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I had Peppino's cater for me for my children's Baptism parties. Here is their website. http://www.letseatoc.com/info/peppinos_org.htm

They did a great job at a resonable price. Italian is an easy good way to go.

If you want to do it yourself may I suggest stuff like garlic bread, different kinds of pasta or a Costco / Sam's lasagna. With salad.

Hope things go well for you

Christine, Hi I just did my son's First Communion last weekend I went the easy way out and have it catered from Lascari's there Italian and reseaonsible in there price or you can have mexican food like the "taco man". There reseaonsible also. No cooking, no mess that my kind of talking :)
Good luck.

R. Aguilar
Whittier, CA

Believe it or not but supermarkets make great chicken for a great price. Ralphs makes fried, bar b que and rotiserrie for a bargain...much cheaper than Pollo Loco and this way you have a variety. You can also buy the sides from them or better yet, buy the sides from Cosco, Sams, or whereever you have a membership. Chicken goes great with many sides so if you have a variety of chicken and sides...you are sure to have a good spread. You will have delicious food for a very reasonable price. Have a fun party and best wishes to your son.

This works great for a large party that is somewhat casual and very cheaply too. Have a make your own taco/nacho party. You lay out the 1 or 2 kinds of meat, taco shells/chips/and/or tostada shells, lettuce, cheese, tomato - all stuff you can buy pre-made, or pre-shredded. Minimal work on you and fun for the guests an not to mention kids.

There are so many different things you can do. You can go to Smart & FInal in Fullerton and buy hamburger patties and buns, very reasonably priced--the 1/4 pounders are very good--we sprinkle them w/a little onion salt. You could also do some hot dogs and a pkg. of veggie patties for the few who don't want the beef. You could make a huge batch of potato salad, and ask some of your closer friends and relatives to also bring some salads (for you alone to make enough potato salad for 80 people, you'd need at least 20 lbs. of potatoes, which is a lot to make out of your home, and that's assuming you have at least one other salad), and then just put a few salads out at a time, and when they get low, put a few more out. Costco makes a big fruit bowl (not the tray) and you'd need about 5 of those. Chips and dips, of course. Or you can do a taco cart. My personal favorite. Those are phenomenal. If you haven't experienced one yet, they come to your house, set up their grill and cook your meats there. Then when people are ready to eat, they go to the grill and order the tacos they want and it takes them seconds to warm the tortillas, fill them and move on to the next person. I had the taco cart come out, and ordered rice and beans from Blue Agave in Yorba Linda--I paid $20 for the rice and same for the beans, fed 50 people and had enough left to feed my family and friends for an entire week. I also ordered their chips and salsa because they're so delicious. I made a mexican-type salad with romaine lettuce, diced red, yellow and orange bell peppers, red onion, jicama, and corn, then IMMEDIATELY before serving, tossed only one bowlful w/El Torito's green ceasar dressing. I think it's cilantro ceasar or something like that. But it's the only El Torito dressing at the grocery store. The important thing is to do that in batches, or the salad gets limp and gross, especially when you have a crowd like that, everyone doesn't always eat at the same time and it gets really yuck. So, one large bowl at a time. If you're interested in the taco cart and don't know of one, email me and I'll find the card of the one I used. They were very professional and everyone raved about the tacos! Oh--you might want to rent a chafer for the rice and beans---under $20 from a party rental place. Keeps them hot and your buffet table looks nice. You could also do spiral sliced ham from Costco, Honey Baked or Stefano's, then do all the side dishes. (Costco is cheapest.) But if it were me, with the gorgeous weather, I'd go for the barbeque or the taco cart. Good luck, plan ahead, and do everything in advance, so you can enjoy your party!!

I always throw parties.. the cheapest and tates great is
Fajita's made in a large cooker..
boneless chicken leg meat of breast add vegtables
make mexican rice or buy a tray.. make pinto beans or buy..
serve with all the fixings sour cream, guacumole, salsa.
warm tortillas easy and every one eats.. in large glass jugs serve lemoadeor (horchatta) = that you but a smart and final easy.. spend about 200.oo or less.

Christine I have a great cool summer recipe that many of my friends and family really love. You could serve it a side dish, goes great with a summer out door BBQ. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions. This is a Pampered Chef recipe that I teach at my Pampered Chef Shows. It is really easy.

Mandarin Pasta Salad

Dressing
1 teaspoon finely chopped, peeled, fresh ginger root
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/3 cup Rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
2 teaspoons sugar

Salad
8 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta, cooked
½ cucumber, scored, seeded and sliced
½ cup diced red bell pepper
½ cup coarsely chopped red onion
1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach leaves
1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Yield: 12 servings.
Nutrients per serving: Calories 210, Total Fat 9 g. Saturated Fat 1 g. Cholesterol 20 mg. Carbohydrate 21 g. Protein 11 g. Sodium 210 mg. Fiber 2 g.

well baked ziti is alway's good and it dosen't cost that much to make it,you can even make a salad to go with it.hope this was a little helpful.