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take us and welcome to the department
pastor's wife you can probably tell I am
NOT in my kitchen I am in the church's
kitchen and so I'm cooking for our
fellowship meal we call it feast with
friends we do it once a month we have a
meal and people pay $3 to make it here
and it's a home-cooked meal and so I'm
gonna do it so I thought today instead
of like doing those I'm not gonna give
you our what I'm cooking or my recipe
but I'm just gonna give you some tips on
how to cook for a crowd and then at the
end of the video show you how to make
tea for a crowd because you always want
you know you never know how much tea
you're gonna go through if you're in the
south we drink sweet tea so it's gonna
show you how to make tea first crowd
that you don't doesn't take up much room
but you're prepared in case you need to
put some more in the urn real fast so
I'm just watching these potatoes and I'm
going to come back and I'm gonna start
giving you some tips on how to cook for
a crowd
[Music]
okay guys I'm just gonna keep working
while I talk to you so tip number one
you need to approximate number of how
many you're going to cook for and then
cook for more I would much rather have
too much food than to run out so we kind
of take an average like what we've been
ravaging and I kind of go from there I
take into consideration any holidays
that may be around but I always cook for
more it is of my opinion that a sign-up
sheet does not work because you'll have
people sign up or not sign up and
they'll call it the last minute and say
oh I forgot to sign up but I want to
come or you'll have people sign up and
sign ten family members up and then call
you in the last minute say oh they're
not coming so then you've cooked for
them and now if you were doing prepay
tickets that would be one thing but as a
rule sign-up sheets don't work again
prepaid tickets would work because
they're committed for it and if you cook
and they don't show up it's their loss
but so I'm expecting about sixty to
seventy folks
so cooking Brady if that makes sense
because you do not want to run out how
much rather send food home with people
or let them come back for seconds then
to run out of food and people not to
have had anything so tip number one know
about how many you're gonna have show up
and they cook for more I don't have a
percentage of what to increase it by you
know you just be the judge of that
but that is my tip number one so tip
number two pick a meal that you know is
gonna be easy that you're not going to
stress over pick something that you
could do one pot or very little prep I
love your Fried Chicken at home but that
would stress me out if I was frying
chicken prison a crowd unless I had a
lot of help fried chicken is not
something I would choose I would pick
something as easy as possible I would
pick something that I wouldn't stress at
all over that I can just whip together
something I'm very familiar with and
make it work adapt it for a crown like
right now I'm cutting potatoes at home
if I was going to do potatoes
I would peel them I would use the Yukon
Gold I would peel them and so forth I
don't have time to peel 50 pounds of
potatoes so instead of the Yukon Gold
I've gone and got there the thin skin
red potatoes I've washed and good and
now I'm just cutting them up and I'm not
taking the time to peel them all so you
need to do your research
like if you're cooking something that
you normally cook at home but since
you're cooking it bird crowd it's gonna
change the cook time like I'm doing
meatloaf and I'm doing bigger meatloaf
than I would at home so it's changed my
cook time I needed to research and find
out first of all how what the meat
needed to be as far as temperature how
long it was gonna take it to cook to
reach that so once you plant your meal
do your research so you know your
timeline you know when to get things in
the oven and when to get things cooking
so you plan your meal plan something
that is not stressful okay tip number
three not everything has to be your
homemade your wonderful food stuff y'all
know I pride myself on my biscuits and
whether I make them from the formula L
mix or whether I make them from scratch
what self-rising flour and Crisco and so
forth but when I'm cooking for this
crowd I'm not gonna want to make
biscuits I mean I want to but I'm not
gonna have time cuz I'm cooking
everything by myself and so I opted for
just ready-made rolls that you can go
behind both get like Sam's Club or
Costco or even Walmart for that matter I
don't have to show off my from scratch
cooking skills
at these meals I just don't I mean you
want it to be good
I know that but
you gotta think wise and do things the
wise way and so so that's what I'm doing
right now I'm just slicing up these
potatoes but I didn't peel because I
don't have time to peel them and I'm
making a meatloaf I know how to make a
meatloaf at home I know what the
ingredients are I know the feeling the
look of it
and I did my research I know how long I
need to cook it I mean I know what
temperature it needs to be I only have
one oven here in the church so but we do
have a warmer so I'm gonna cook too I'm
six pans total then I cook to stick
those two in the warmer but the other
four in the oven and then have those
ready to serve
when people arrive and the two that are
in there just extra I don't know what
tip that is is that two three four I
don't know I've lost count but I'll come
back with another one okay so next tip
not sure what number it is
but prep ahead of time now this is one
area you probably should do as I say and
not as I do
last night I should have chopped my
onions and peppers ahead of time
I didn't I'm one who I just think come
to the church stay here all day get it
all done
be here all day like I'm here in the
morning and I'll be here so late tonight
I understand that does not work for most
people
so prep ahead if you can do things at
home if you can there again I don't like
to do that my kitchen is so small when I
cooking it for just our family it makes
such a huge mess let alone cooking in at
Fir crowd so that's my next tip do isn't
saying not as I do in front my head get
things done that you can just throw it
together once you get to the church or
once you get ready to put it together
prep ahead okay so next year
[Music]
you need to pick this kind of goes back
to picking your meal you want to pick a
meal that seasonably acceptable like
you're not going to want to do a pot of
chili in the dead of summer in the heat
of summer and you're probably you're not
going to want to cook out in winter so
pick a meal that is seasonally
acceptable and we're pleasing okay so
one of my tips is making tea ahead of
time and having it ready to go so I'm
going to show you real quick I'm gonna
take a break from giving you tips and
I'm going to show you how to make tea
for a crowd and to have it ahead of time
so I've got two pots like this and I'm
gonna fill it within you know a couple
inches to the top with water so that's
what I'm gonna do now we'll fill these
two pots up to about right right here
with water okay so in each of those pots
I'm gonna put eight family size tea bags
eight in each one okay I'm going to take
the little tabs off and just drop them
down in there because I don't want to
worry about my strings catching on fire
while I'm here at church so I'm just
gonna take the little tabs off drop
strings and all down in there each pot
gets eight tea bags okay you don't want
to bring your tea up to a boil you just
want it to be good and foamy looking on
top I'm gonna let it go just a little
bit longer than where it's at now I'm
just going to let it get kind of white
with foam up here on top but not a bowl
and I'm going to cut it off the reason
you don't want to boil it is you don't
want to bust your tea bags
you don't want grounds in there so I'm
gonna bring it up and then I'm going to
cut it off and just let it steep for a
while okay see how it's white and foamy
right here
I am just gonna cut this off and let it
sit if I need that burner
I'll set it off of the burner and and
have a burner ready to use if I need it
so I'm just going to let
sit let all that tea goodness I don't
have time to fix the tea right now
anyway so we're just gonna let it sit
for a while the other one is coming up
to temperature re-ups turn that burner
on but anyway that's what we're working
on now
okay so I'm gonna skip away from the tea
for just a little bit and give you
another tip so stay tuned for the rest
of the tea
this is a tip that is hard for me but
ask for help ask for help y'all
they're probably retired ladies or
gentlemen who would love to come and
offer their assistance and let me tell
you why it's hard for me it's not
because I think I'm the only one that
can do you think it's because I'm afraid
if I tell them something it is I'm
afraid they're gonna think I'm bossy and
I don't anybody think I'm bossy so
leadership is not a good area for me so
now I usually will recruit my family for
help
cuz I don't mind telling them what to do
I don't mind
Bobson them I just do wanna be something
anybody you know just want to be bossy
to my family but that's a good Italian
accent but
yeah I struggle with that one but like
today I could really use some help I
won't even have my green beans going yet
and steel slicing potatoes just think if
I had to peel these suckers good night
in the morning so that is my next tip is
I for not you have help coming it's
going to help me serve this up I think
we've been serving we've been fixing the
plates serving them out the window we
have a big white window thing here but I
think I'm gonna let this be family style
as far as not sitting at the table
family-style
but let it be buffet style tonight I
just think it it's gonna work better the
lady who set up the fellowship hall
beautifully she set me up some serving
tables so I think I'm definitely gonna
use them but I do want to go ahead and
pre slice the meat loaf I'm having
meatloaf tonight by the way y'all
I want to pre slice those so we're sure
we have enough so I am like feverishly
slicing these potatoes because just
because
and if I see any spot on them at all and
toss them the whole potato charge about
to run out of pot to put them in I have
one more after this one I think or it's
going to be perfect
so I'll come back and give you my next
tip in just a minute
another tip these Roasters are your best
friend if your church does not have
these I suggest and you do the meals I
suggest you purchase some donate them
ask beg plead whatever you gotta be
because they are wonderful and a
commercial candidate that's a great idea
too
well my husband's gonna have to come up
in these for me cuz I can't do it
there we go I just see it do it harden
it all right
one can of green beans going in the
roaster
now I'll doctor look once I get him in
here that was out but y'all got to get a
rest or you can do it kind of chilly you
can do barbecue chicken you can through
your spaghetti sauce in here you can do
a pot of pintos you can do all sorts
these are a must for a church if you're
gonna have fellowship meal so invest in
some of these Roasters
okay so let's finish the tea we have
these urns these tea urns that we put
our T in this is three gallons so in
order to have enough tea but not like
fully make tea what I make is a
concentrate so as you know we've done
the a tea bags in the pot of water so
I've gone through the cabinets found me
a container and I'm gonna put four cups
of sugar in that container okay so I'm
gonna put four cups of sugar
three or I'm going to come over here and
I'm gonna get one with tea bags my tea
pot and we're trying to pour it without
spilling
now you're probably thinking oh my
goodness that's a lot of sugar for that
little amount of tea you're right there
is a lot of sugar but what we're going
to do is this is what's gonna fill up
the tea urn when it comes time and we'll
stick this in the frigerator it's not
taking up any space we'll put it in the
refrigerator then when it comes time
I'll pour this in that three gallon tea
urn finish filling it up with water and
we have sweet tea so this is basically a
concentrate that you're just going to
add water to so I make two of these I
make - sweet cheese and one unsweet and
we have enough for our church so he's
done some goofy out of the teabags he
put a little bit of water on top of the
teabags to get any extra tea that we can
so as soon as we're ready we just poured
this in the urn and then filled the urn
up with water give it a good stir and
you have the most delicious southern
sweet tea and I'm gonna make several
concentrates and stick them in the
frigerator so when we run out I just
can't bring the urn in here pour it in
fill it up with water and we have to we
don't want to cook to you again
so there you have it how to cook tea for
a crowd hey guys I hope you've all
enjoyed this time of me just giving you
some tips on how to cook for a big crowd
the only other tip I can think of I
think we're done pretty much is just to
have fun with it and not to get called
up and cooking for every special diet
out there set your menu and go with it
don't try to cater to every special
dietary need out there I do try to tell
people to bring a sugar free dessert if
they have one I do make unsweet tea but
other than that there's just so many
different dietary needs out there there
is no way you can cater to everyone
you've got vegan there's so many forms
of being a vegan there is low sugar low
sodium keto gluten-free now I do try to
stay as much as I can away from nuts
because so many people have nut
allergies but you know there's just so
many different health needs and dietary
needs and then some people are just
toned diets and there's just no way you
can cater to every single need out there
and don't feel guilty about it tell
everybody you want them here if they
need to bring something that's fun but
this is what you have and this is what
you're going with
so don't stress over those things those
things steal your joy in cooking for
others so you just do the best you can
don't get caught up and trying to
because if you fix for one person then
somebody's gonna say we'll fix this I
need this or I need this and then you're
gonna have so many different things
going that it's just going to be
impossible to keep up with so set your
menu and stick to it
have fun have a great time it's a joy to
cook for people I love to cook for
people I've cooked meat life stewed
potatoes and green beans today I've made
cookies and tea and so I just hope you
enjoy this video and of tips on how to
cook for a crowd and if you have any
questions leave them in the comments
below and I'll be glad to get back with
you or to another updated video so thank
you for joining the farm and pastures
life here at the fellowship hall at our
church and remember if the grease is hot
enough you can fry anything bye y'all
