Camping and Feeding a Crowd

Ok before we begin, we need to live in a world where I am a totally put together woman.

• Everything out of my mouth is golden, perfectly eloquent.
• I am an amazing event planner. I can anticipate how many people will attend an event even if they do not all RSVP or they respond at the last minute.
• I am an amazing time planner. I can anticipate how long it will take to cook food for 100 people, even when the wind cooling the charcoal briquettes faster than normal.
• And throughout it all, I remain completely gracious: calm, cool, and serene.

Got it? That's me. Totally. TO-TALL-LY.

In my control-freakness, I volunteered to coordinate a Dutch oven dinner last week for about 100 people. We ended up feeding over 100 people. I volunteered because I had goals I wanted to achieve: A variety of recipes to choose from, including a variety of meats to hopefully address any potential dietary issues. Recipes which we had not made before at other such events. Providing enough food to feed everyone. And, lastly, accomplishing all of this while keeping to a budget.

For the record, my shopping partner and I purchased all of the necessary food to feed over 100 people for $175. We used no coupons but we shopped at one warehouse store and one ethnic market. (We may have stopped at the food court for carne asada tacos and a carnitas burrito, but I'll never tell. And if we did, we did not submit those receipts for reimbursement. We are upstanding women.)

Perfect? No. Mission accomplished? Yes.

Cooking looked like this:

Photo by Perky Mommy

After a group of parents, siblings and scouts assembled the main dishes, Daddy Doc and Mr. Very Good Friend manned the coals. The giant Dutch oven is a 16" Dutch oven. The rest are 12" Dutch ovens. The 16" is twice the capacity of the 12" Dutch oven. Now you know. This set up is designed to approximate about a 350°F oven.

These Dutch ovens only contain dinner. We had three more set aside to cook dessert during our evening program, to serve after the program. Most of the ovens came from Scout families. Each time we go camping, more and more families decide to acquire a Dutch oven.

And by families I mean this:

Dad sees the Dutch oven cooking. Thinks it's really cool. It's like using a barbecue but there's other gadgets. And it means going shopping at Bass Pro Shop.

Dad says to Mom: "Honey, I think we need to get a Dutch oven." And so it goes.

Full Disclosure: Sometimes it happens that a Cute and Perky Mommy encourages and/or enables the aforementioned process. But you didn't hear that from me.

(See how happy Dutch ovens make Dads?) Photo by Daddy Doc

Shortly after this picture was taken, Mr. Very Good Friend cut up this pot roast to make serving the crowd easier.

Photo by Daddy Doc

And then we served over 100 people, from the bottom of the picture to the top:

Pot Roast with Sweet Potatoes, Carrots and Onions
Cheesy Potatoes a la Perky Mommy
Bratwurst Bake (with Apples, Onions and Potatoes)*
Teriyaki Chicken
Enchilada Casserole

For dessert, later that evening, we had:

Bread Pudding
Apple Crisp
"Almost" Pumpkin Pie

* The Bratwurst Bake is the one that made me happiest. I totally worried that this would be the least popular recipe. Parents later confided that they did not expect to like it nearly as much as they did. It was the sleeper hit of the evening.

Very Good Friend offered to let me get out of line to eat but being the calm, serene and gracious creature that I was, I stayed. I needed to make sure that every person ate and clearly, by staying at the table to serve enchiladas, I controlled the food and could guarantee there would be enough for everyone.

Clearly, I was right because it worked.

You may now marvel at what a totally put together woman I am. (Which is why I plan to spend this weekend recovering from last weekend.)