Author Topic: Spaghetti Dinner for About 150 People (Read 7577 times)

Don K · « **Reply #20 on:** April 14, 2013, 01:38:48 PM »

Quote from: TXCraig1 on April 14, 2013, 08:35:14 AM

How funny. We have the same thing Monday night for our boy scout troop. We're expecting about 600 guests. we'll have 5 Cajun burners set up with big pots of water and just rotate through them coking dry pasta.

Wow, 600 is a lot of people!

I just found out this morning that we have already sold 150 tickets. We will be selling them at the door as well. Not only that, but our church houses the local hunger center, and we gave them 50 free tickets to give to needy families in the area. So now we're looking at probably at least 250. We are making more sauce as I type.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 14, 2013, 01:42:40 PM »

We're buying sauce and meatballs. Cooking will be kept to a bare minimum.

Almost everyone who comes buys tickets ahead of time. Most of our crowd is drive through.

Don K · « **Reply #22 on:** April 14, 2013, 01:53:41 PM »

We bought the meatballs but my wife's sauce is legendary at our church.

We usually bring a big Nesco roaster full of rigatoni to pot luck dinners at church and it is always gone by the time it's over. I think that the reason that we have already sold more tickets than expected is that word got out that it was going to be her sauce.

We have a bunch of bought sauce as a backup in case we run out.

Trinity · « **Reply #23 on:** April 14, 2013, 02:03:08 PM »

Try to get a few pics of your work for us to see.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 14, 2013, 04:00:14 PM »

Quote from: Trinity on April 14, 2013, 02:03:08 PM

Try to get a few pics of your work for us to see.

I don't know about Don, but I'm a little more proud of my pizza than my charity pasta though the latter is for a better cause. Thinking about it that way, perhaps I have it backwards...

Don K · « **Reply #25 on:** April 14, 2013, 04:05:08 PM »

Quote from: TXCraig1 on April 14, 2013, 04:00:14 PM

I don't know about Don, but I'm a little more proud of my pizza than my charity pasta though the latter is for a better cause. Thinking about it that way, perhaps I have it backwards...

I'd be more proud of Craig's pizza too. $:-\$

As for pride in the spaghetti dinner...It's all in His service.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 14, 2013, 04:09:45 PM »

Quote from: Don K on April 14, 2013, 04:05:08 PM

As for pride in the spaghetti dinner...It's all in His service.

My point exactly.

JConk007 · « **Reply #27 on:** April 14, 2013, 04:40:12 PM »

Hope your all serving Valentino Pasta to those 750 people !!

John

FeCheF · « **Reply #28 on:** April 14, 2013, 05:05:26 PM »

Quote from: Trinity on April 14, 2013, 02:03:08 PM

Try to get a few pics of your work for us to see.

Yeah pics or it didnt happen.

Don K · « **Reply #29 on:** April 14, 2013, 10:24:38 PM »

We didn't end up doing it buffet style. The kids in the youth group were the servers. It was a huge success!

We ended up with about 225 people. We had just enough sauce. We ran out of the spaghetti that was cooked ahead of time and had to cook another 10 pounds.

I was way too busy to take pictures, but I managed to shoot a few. I spent most of my time in the kitchen which was downstairs. The main dining room was upstairs. We also had some people eating downstairs. My wife took the camera upstairs but she took mostly pictures of kids and the basket raffle, and not of people eating.

Trinity · « **Reply #30 on:** April 15, 2013, 01:22:59 AM »

Nice pictures.

How many pounds of pasta did you cook at a time in that largest pot? I think the most I ever made at once was 2 pounds.

Don K · « **Reply #31 on:** April 15, 2013, 08:51:49 AM »

Most of the pasta was cooked Saturday night and refrigerated in gallon-size Ziploc bags. We just dumped them in boiling water for about a minute and drained. We eventually realized that it was easier to do them one bag at a time because we had the perfect-sized strainer basket that fit into a large stockpot. This system worked very well. About 75% of the people showed up in the first half-hour and we were able to keep up, no problem.

Then we ran out of the precooked spaghetti so we had to cook another 10 pounds. I wasn't the one who cooked it, so I'm not sure how much was done at a time Trinity.

We were giving out pretty healthy servings and some took extra to go. I think we went through about 35 pounds (dry) of spaghetti, 500 meatballs, and 6 gallons of sauce. I have no idea how much salad stuff or dinner rolls.

All in all it was a great night. I think the kids had a blast and they learned a lot about serving other people.

Serpentelli · « **Reply #32 on:** April 15, 2013, 10:08:53 AM »

Don,

Well done! You must have a profound sense of accomplishment (and relief!) at having had so much success with the event!

Involing the kids is GREAT!!!

A future chef in there, who knows?

John K

Don K · « **Reply #33 on:** April 15, 2013, 11:22:50 AM »

Quote from: Serpentelli on April 15, 2013, 10:08:53 AM

Don,

Well done! You must have a profound sense of accomplishment (and relief!) at having had so much success with the event!

Involing the kids is GREAT!!!

A future chef in there, who knows?

John K

The kids did a great job. This was their event. They were raising money to pay for camp this summer.

Future chef?...lol...I don't think so. I love to cook and I do fine as long as I can focus on one task. Once you get a bunch of things going at once, I don't do so good. Compared to some of the food that I have seen on this forum, I am definitely in the minor league when it comes to cooking.

This dinner was a great event and I was glad to be part of it!

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #34 on:** April 15, 2013, 08:57:11 PM »

A job well done for a very worthy cause Don..love it!

Also, even though you changed your name it is good to see that you still command a solute when you enter a room.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #35 on:** April 16, 2013, 05:18:41 PM »

Our spaghetti dinner went equally well last night. I think we probably served close to 500. About 300 went through the drive through and another 200 give or take sat down. Our sauce recipe consisted of mixing two different Ragu sauces. Pre-made meatballs. Salad with your choice of Italian or ranch, Italian bread, and homemade deserts. The guys did an excellent job of cooking the pasta, and when all that grease that cooked out of the meatballs gets into the sauce as we mixed the two together, it is pretty good eating. As Don noted, it's all in His service. We had 15 folks working the kitchen and another 20 on the floor; the fellowship was inspiring.

Serpentelli · « **Reply #36 on:** April 16, 2013, 07:11:14 PM »

Craig,

Just a suggestion for next year:

Assuming that the number of patrons stays the same, working as a team "we" could provide all 500 of them with one (each) of your delicious 60 second pies over the course of 8.33 hours.

Just sayin.

I'd do it.....

John K

Chicago Bob · « **Reply #37 on:** April 16, 2013, 07:17:20 PM »

Quote from: Serpentelli on April 16, 2013, 07:11:14 PM

Craig,

Just a suggestion for next year:

Assuming that the number of patrons stays the same, working as a team "we" could provide all 500 of them with one (each) of your delicious 60 second pies over the course of 8.33 hours.

Just sayin.

I'd do it.....

John K

That would be a traffic jam worth seeing.

FeCheF · « **Reply #38 on:** April 16, 2013, 07:20:30 PM »

I am confused. Is this some national Spaghetti charity week at churches?

jkb · « **Reply #39 on:** July 15, 2019, 08:59:41 AM »

Quote from: TXCraig1 on April 16, 2013, 05:18:41 PM

Our spaghetti dinner went equally well last night. I think we probably served close to 500. About 300 went through the drive through and another 200 give or take sat down. Our sauce recipe consisted of mixing two different Ragu sauces. Pre-made meatballs. Salad with your choice of Italian or ranch, Italian bread, and homemade deserts. The guys did an excellent job of cooking the pasta, and when all that grease that cooked out of the meatballs gets into the sauce as we mixed the two together, it is pretty good eating. As Don noted, it's all in His service. We had 15 folks working the kitchen and another 20 on the floor; the fellowship was inspiring.

I know this is an ancient thread, but it's a shame most people did takeout. My main reason for attending functions like this is community and meeting new neighbors.