Thanksgiving for 40. HELP!

When we did thanksgiving at my place it was one make the meat, one make the potatoes, have a few do salads and tell each other, then deserts I always tell my sister. If you want you can do the meat and potatoes but definitely ask for help and clean out the fridge before thanksgiving!!!!

I think it's a great plan. You did not mention how formal your gathering would be...but I've done Thanksgiving for the past 3 years for about this many guests. Mine was informal and we had seating inside and out and actually upstairs and down (men wanted to watch TV while eating...older folk and ladies in formal dining room and kitchen. I had other tables both large and small set out and about. It's generallly still warm here but I had enough seating inside for everyone in addition to the optional outside seating.

I like to have veggies/dip, several cheeses and even grapes out as appetizers in addition to the more elaborate pre-meal offerings. It seems that children will snack on these when they are too excited/busy to eat dinner. That helps keep hungry meltdowns at bay and makes for a more relaxing day.

This is probably a given, but I pull out all serving dishes in advance and label them with what they will be used for. This allows my family/friends to come in and help get the food out without having to ask me every little thing. It helps include everyone.

I like to gently suggest a couple of people act as photographers! :-)

If you're OK with disposable dishes, don't forget to purchase or assign plates, cups, napkins, forks, spoons, knives, coffee cups....do you need bowls? It seems to work well when I have plenty of time to wrap a spoon, fork and knife in a napkin and tie it so everyone just picks up one thing...makes it easier to transport to table (we serve our own plates from the kitchen island/counters. The only issue is the little bits of raffia that were used to tie the flatware is one more thing to clean! :-)

Be sure to have a plan for your staging area! I like appetizers in a room other than the kitchen....spreads everyone out. I have drinks in one area, desserts in another and meat/veggie/salad options on large island...just think about traffic flow and have a place for everything so everyone can see where to put stuff as it arrives....you're going to need things as orderly as possible - maybe have "signs" that tell the first guests and then as people get the setup, you can move signs and have others help direct.

Since you can't really do the meat ahead of time, it might be a good idea to assign the potatoes - they aren't very easy to do ahead either! You should plan to ask for volunteers or only do the make ahead stuff.

Don't forget ice!....and be sure you have enough refrigerator space to keep everything cold that you pre make! All those turkeys have to stay cold! :-) Have fun!

Ok, I'm rolling up my sleeves to help you. My family routinely hosts Thanksgiving for 25 - 30 and I have some advise for you.

Delegate, delegate, delegate. Really, the only things you should be doing are the turkey and making sure everyone has a place to sit and stuff to eat on.

1) Cook only 1 huge turkey in the oven. In addition to this turkey, buy enough turkey BREAST that you can prepare in a roasting pan. We usually do one turkey and one large breast (yes, you can buy just large breast meat) so you may need to do two additional breasts for your large group. You should cook the meat at your home. Your dad it right, your plan does not have enough turkey. We all over indulge on Thanksgiving so I'd plan 2 lbs per person. If you have some left over - great for you - freeze it for easy dinners. But wouldn't it be horrible if you didn't have enough for everyone!

2) Have someone else do the mashed potatos and you will need at least 2 crockpots full. This will be something someone else can cook the day before and warm up in the crock pots - p.s. it takes longer than you think to rewarm it.

3) Have someone else do the stuffing. Doing a good stuffing from scratch is extremely time consuming with all the chopping and cooking of the liver etc (if you do that), getting the bread stale. Someone can do this in advance too. We found great recipes on foodnetwork.com.

4) Maybe the folks who don't eat turkey can bring the ham. Seems fair to me.

5) I'd not do appetizers at all, frankly. You are going to have so much dinner to eat, don't let your guests fill up on muchies. Make sure they are hungry for dinner! :) Instead, have those people use their time preparing some of the actual meal, like a veggie. Some veggies we have are green beans (my aunt does something to them, I don't know what, but it's yummy), sweet potatos (wedges, not mashed), good 'ol corn, carrots.

6) I'd also skip the salad - but this is just my family preference. With all the veggies we have for sides, salad is usually not eaten.

7) Everyone should bring their favorite drink, pop or whatever. It should be BYOB or wine. You can provide coffee. Make sure you have enough glasses for everyone - we started using plastic cups a long time ago and we put our names on them because we got tired of wondering if a cup was ours or not. You may want to have a marker, just sayin' :)

8) Don't forget all your plates, silverware and napkins. Do you have enough "real" plates for everyone? Do you even want to use real? That will be a lot of dishes (probably for you). Again, we started using plastic plates a long time ago b/c we got tired of spending our holiday hunched over the sink - there are just too many of us. You'll need enough forks, spoons and knives not only for dinner but also dessert. You may want separate festive plates/napkins for dessert.

9) Don't overdo on dessert. Everyone will be so stuffed! We like to do a couple pies (you'll need a few), and a couple sweeter things like cookies. We also all sort of pick up a box of chocolates to pass.

10) How are you going to seat all those people? In our family, each household has a folding table with 8 chairs that we all borrow and pass around to whoever is hosting. We like to make sure everyone has a seat at a table and not eating on the floor or in the living room or something. You may want decorative disposable table covers for those.

11) Entertainment. What happens after you eat? We like to visit (of course) and play games. Most of the guys watch football. Also, everyone brings their holiday shopping mailers and we browse through those planning strategy :)

Sending you all my best! Good luck and remember to rally the troops! You need to enjoy your holiday too. Your guests should be happy to help considering all that goes into hosting!

C A T E R. that's all I got to say about that.
Seriously, look in to the cost. For a group that big, you may find the price reasonable.

Get specific with your guests about what you want them to bring. Like something like this, "Cousin Sally would bring either a big dish of white or yellow rice, Cousin Joe I need you to bring about 5 liter bottles of sodas, and Aunt Ann would your bring your signature chocolate cake?"

This way you know specifically or as specifically as possible who is bringing what and just how much of it is coming.

You may find some guests willing to bring some additional items. But don't count on them arriving on time or their warm dishes to be warm either. Be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best.

Don't get stressed but be Thankful for having 40 willing people to come and spend time with you and yours for the holidays.

I'll be praying for you.

I think you have enough meat. If you figure 1/4 - 1/2 lb. per person, you are good.

As for the potatoes, I usually figure one decent sized potatoe person and then a couple of extras.

Don't really know how you'll figure out the stuffing! Just make a lot!

There are other sides that you should consider asking people to bring like:
dinner rolls
yams
vegetable
cranberry sauce

I assume you'll make the gravy.

Have fun!

I can tell by looking that unless that crock pot holds at least 20 lbs. of potatoes that's not going to be enough. I think that they recommend at least one medium to large potato per person, about the same size as a baked potato per person.

When I planned/cooked meals at church as the activities director I used The Taste of Home's magazine for everything for large groups. They don't have that section anymore though and I can't find it online.

It was called food for a crowd or something like that. It was on the same page every month and always had the best recipes.

They often had charts and stuff that had how many lbs of this or that and if you're having this many side dishes then reduce the amount of that to XX or if you're having that side dish make it with this many lbs of XX. It was always the best help ever.

If your local library has the first few years of ToH I suggest you take a notebook or a roll of coins for the copy machine and go through each of the magazines for at least the first few years, they were every other month so that's not too many, and write down every idea that will be helpful.

Definitely delegate more than you've mentioned. If you're buying the meat, that should be enough of your responsibility both cost-wise and in preparation. Ask maybe five or six people to bring large batches of mashed potatoes (maybe some could even do sweet potatoes/yams), stuffing and vegetables (and I agree with someone's comment about having some plain/not creamy choices) so you're covered with such a large group. You'll also get a nice variety of options there for people. Get help with the big items first before delegating the smaller items, like drinks and appetizers. You're going to have your hands full with such a huge group as it is, so ask for help where you'll need it most.

Do the turkey, have others bring the stuffing. If you have more than one volunteer, you can have someone bring a cornbread or rice stuffing in addition to the traditional bread stuffing.

Have someone else make and bring the mashed potatoes. You and your kitchen will be busy enough just getting ready for that many guests.

I agree with Heidi, get a second ham rather than more turkey parts. So a spiral sliced ham that is ready to heat and serve.

In my experience, there always seems to be too many desserts and they hardly get eaten.

And never enough vegetables. Plain, not covered in cream sauce and fried onions. The little dish of plain corn or beans is usually gone before half the guests have been served.

With a large crowd, I like using paper plates. Otherwise you spend too much time cleaning up instead of enjoying your company.

Delegate. If someone else can do it or bring it, let them or ask them. There will be so many last minute things for you to do. Leave extra time and space for the unexpected.

I do a bit of catering. I think your plan sounds fine. Sit down and figure out your exact menu, then you can easily assign specific things to specific people. You may also need to determine how much of everything. This website is FANTASTIC for this. http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/plan/wedding.html I have used it to plan several wedding and big meal events. Her numbers are almost always spot on. I usually have plenty of food without have tons of left overs.

As far as keeping things warm. Chaffer dishes are wonderful for this. If you can't beg, borrow and steal them from friends and family, you can rent them from party supply places. If you go this route, don't forget the sterno. Crock pots can also be used as warmers, even if you don't cook the food in there. And don't underestimate using your oven as a warmer. I often heat mine up and then shut it off to avoid overcooking or drying out the food. Putting a pan on the bottom of the oven filled with water will also keep the food from being too dry.

See if someone can also bring an extra roaster oven. This can be used to heat up items, when people inevitably arrive with something that needs to be cooked "real quick". I like the idea of roaster ovens, because you can also plug them in outside (assuming it's dry out) and avoid heating up the house more.

Remember that some things can be done far in advanced and frozen. You could make dinner rolls tomorrow. Bake them for 10 min (don't let them brown). Let them cool and then store in the freezer. The day of or the day before you pull them out and bake. Pies, pie crusts, and pasta dishes (we freeze a fancy mac and cheese dish we make for the kids) will all freeze well and can be made in advance.

Don't forget things like ice for drinks and condiments. Make sure your fridge is cleared out, so items can be easily stored in there. I would encourage disposables as much as possible. But if someone must use their dishes, ask them to write their first and last name on it (it's a family event, the last name may not help much), so it can be returned.

Plan as best you can. Remember that things will go wrong, but you will recover. Just be willing to "go with it" and be flexible. It will be a wonderful celebration.

With that many personally I would get more than one ham. Because some that will eat the turkey will eat ham as well. But other than that I think you are heading in the right direction!

That's about our normal thanksgiving (40-60). But we have 2-3 times as much food as you're planning on. For 40 people exactly double (two 35 pound turkeys). There's always leftovers, but never a lot of leftovers. (Like enough for 5 people to have sammies for a couple days).

I would jump up to three 22 pound turkeys, and a big spiral ham.
Also count on at least 25 pounds of mashed potatoes.

I think you need more potatoes than one crock pot full. I am thinking a large party sized tray of mashed potatoes.

Get 2 hams or a much larger ham. If I was there I would eat both ham and turkey.

I bring a giant pan of green bean casserole to our family's Thanksgiving. There are usually 20 people there and it's always completely gone. I get the disposable giant lasagna sized aluminum pan from the grocery store and fill the entire thing.

It is not an awful plan. Your dad is right your not going to have enough meat with 3 small turkeys. I do thanksgiving for about 20 people and we do a 25 lb turkey plus a ham plus a big turkey breast. As well as a big dish of baked spaghetti of some sort in addition to all the sides. you need to make a specific menu and then ask specific people to bring specific things. the whole just bring an appetizer doesn't really work as you will get random things. but if you make the menu and then assign things to people it works better. for that many people you will need about 20 lbs of mashed pot. and at least 2 big pans of stuffing. you can make the stuffing ahead of time and freeze it. then just pull out and warm on up the day. mashed potatoes can be made the day before also. put in the crockpot on warm early in the day and they will warm through by dinner also.

Get the pepperage farm stuffing mix. (I use the cornbread and the herb stuffing mix) it has the recipe on the back for stuffing. I use one of the cubed and one of the crumbs. it gives the way to do it stuffing the turkey or just in pans.

I have a got a great stuffing recipe - please send me your email as I cannot post if here - copyright issues.

thanks - M.

One way to get an idea for amount of food is to call your local grocer who does deli trays and things llike that. They can tell you how much meat, salads , etc per person. I always plan meat being a generous one helping of 3/4lb - lb per person. If you have children , they will eat less. But if i have 40 adults plus 10 kids, I would just plan .75 x 50 and the extra would go for seconds.

If you are using disposable dish/flatwear, I suggest you use nice linen tablecoths if you have them. It doesnt take that much to throw 3 tablecloths in the laundry after everyone is gone, and it makes a huge difference on the warm homey feel of the evening. I personally hate plastic tablecloths, but they do have a place for children's parties!

Now- if you are not having sit down but are having people stand and eat, then you must make sure to buy extra-heavy duty forks, plates and cups.
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Ham in the crockpot is a great idea. Be careful that you dont leave it on high for too many hours- it will change the teqture of the meat. Almost all hams now adays are prebaked and ready to eat. Really- all those need is to be heated. Put it on high an hour or two before dinner, then as soon as it is hot, reduce it to low. As soon as everyone is done, turn it off.

12 lb turkeys have smaller breasts. Can you do a 25 lb oven turkey and a few breasts?

One lady said don't assign what to bring. I think this is a mistake. On the years that i did that, I ended up buying tons of food just in case no one else covered it. It was way expensive for me, not to mention stressful and full of worry. Assign!If you have a lot of very small kids, ask one of the moms to bring some P Band J sandwiches cut into small squares.

I like to put 3 long tables into a u shape in my square dining room- that is where my food is served. (one of the tables is my actual dining table). I setup eating tables in my formal living room. (took out some furniture)... I have all my serving spoons and platters out the day before, my tables setup, cloths on, decorations in place, ice chest washed and setout- ect. Get as much done ahead of time as possible. To keep my stuffing hot, I have a warming tray. Make sure you have a power bar set up at the buffet table to handle all those crock pots. For my gravy I have a thermal gravy jug. (you can probably find one online) . A thermos can hold gravy in a pinch in the kitchen, ready to come out and be poured into a gravy boat when needed. Have hot water in your thermos before the gravy to heat it up.

Stuffing : chop up - small- equal amounts of onion and celery, about 2-3 cups each.Melt 2 cubes of REAL butter in a large frypan. Add in a tablespoon of bacon drippings. throw in the chopped onion and celery. Put on high until the pan is hot then reduce to low immediately, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, You want the onion translucent, but if you are not careful you can burn it. Add a can of Swanson's chicken broth. I save drippings from baked chicken in my fridge, and I use that too. Now, in a large bowl, beat up 4 or so eggs. add some sage, maybe 3 or 4 T, a little pepper, and some cajun seasoning and salt. Into this, pour the cooled onion/celery mixture. mix it up. now dump in your box of stove top stuffing mix, and some mrs cubbins stuffing mix. mix it all up. It should be moist. Not too dry and certainly not 'soggy' wet. I like to sprinkle the top with cajun seasoning. Sometimes I put sausage in it. Taste it. i usually end up adding a lot more sage.

Gravy: homemade gravy requires you to let the grease separate out from the drippings (juices). To do this, pour all the liquid from the turkey pan into a tall container ( i have a gravy separator). The fat rises to the top. To make gravy, you have to have equal amounts of fat (only) and flour. I usually do a half cup of fat, and a half cup of flour (be exact on measuring). Put them into a cold fry pan, and slowly heat it, stirring contantly until the flour just starts to brown. This is called making the roux. The browning of the flour gives it flavor, but it can burn quickly so as soon as it browns slightly, pour in a cup of drippings (the stuff at the bottom of the separator cup).and keep mixing vigourously. it will continue to thicken as you heat it. You can add swansons chicken stock as you go, until it is the right (thinness). If its not enough, make a second batch. or if you must, do some Knoors gravy packages (never canned gravy my dear) use low sodium swansons broth in the place of the called for water.

Oh my...bless you. I would never be able to handle that many people! Good Luck!

What we do in my neck of the woods is:
Things like this, with that many people, are pot-luck gatherings.
Everyone brings something. Nothing is really "assigned."
And it is good.
And fun.
And, some will even print up a few recipes of their dish they brought and put it next to their dish on the buffet table to people can take it, and it is something people really look forward to, because so MANY fabulous dishes turns up at pot-luck feasts like this. Plus you get the recipe for it!

Martha Stewart's website... has Holiday MENUS... and the recipes for it... the main and side dishes & shopping lists etc. And her recipes are great. I have made it, and it has always been a big hit.

*The "small ham" you plan on having will not be enough for 40 people. Because, the people who eat Turkey... will ALSO EAT THE ham, too.
A small ham is not enough.

And don't forget the Cranberry Sauce! Make several different types of recipes.
AND stuffing, make different kinds.
Again, look on the Martha Stewart website.