Cooking for a Crowd at Christmas

The majority of us avoid having to cook for a crowd at Christmas. We conjure up pictures of stewpots boiling over and cooking for days following up to Christmas as well as the whole day of Christmas. It is no surprise that most of us avoid this commitment altogether.

But there is hope. It doesn't need to be as intimidating as we convince ourselves it is. A key factor in cooking for a crowd on any occasion is careful planning. You've got to take a few things into consideration.
• the number of people you'll be cooking for
• how many food choices you'll want to make available. Will you ask others to bring a dish or prepare everything yourself
• how large are the appetites of some of your guests
• plan to make extra, so you'll be sure to have enough.
• and don't forget about the possibility of your dinner guests bringing someone unannounced. (That teenage niece of yours might just decide to bring her new boyfriend.)

It will be helpful if you know an approximate number to expect and make adjustments to the recipes accordingly. Sometimes people just decide to double or quadruple a recipe for the sake of ease. Do what comes easiest to you. When you're planning your meal, it is imperative to decide everything you'll want to serve and all the ingredients involved.

When cooking in bulk, you should ensure you have the correct amounts of specific ingredients. This is important in making sure the dish is of the right consistency as well as tasteful to the palette. The best route, I've found, when I prepare meals for a lot of people, is to keep the scale of the recipe as close to the original as possible. This is especially important when baking. Pay close attention to measurements. It's easier to correct errors early into the mixing process instead of later.

Some may opt, rather than cooking extra large quantities of food, they prepare them in normal serving size and make more dishes of the item. This is a good, safe option in that if something goes awry in one batch, only that portion is messed up instead of the whole batch of food.

When you cook a meal for a big group of people, remember to stay calm. Take a few moments to organize your thoughts, prepare a menu, make your lists and follow through in a format that works for you. Cooking for a lot of people can be hectic and a lot of hard work, allow yourself to approach the task in the most relaxed, well rested manner possible.

After the meal is on the table and everyone's enjoying it, you will be rewarded with a wonderful feeling of satisfaction, knowing the love and good food you provided for those special in your life!