A central point in many parties is the food. Even with simple birthday parties the cake and ice cream is a big event. That is why the party planning menu is so important. Having the right menu can make an average party something that is much more memorable.
Whether you are planning a birthday party or a full dinner party, the party planning menu is going to take some time and thought. If you put this step off until the last minute you will end up scrambling to get it all done, and will become very stressed out in the process.
One of the biggest issues you will need to deal with is making sure you have enough food to feed all of your party guests. You need to find that balance between running out of food, and having a ton of food left over. Running short can be an embarrassment, and planning too much can push the cost of your party through the roof.
While each type of party is different, there are some rules of thumb that can help to guide you.. Chances are your party will fall into one of three food types; appetizers, sit-down meal, or self-serve buffet.
Serving appetizers is the least expensive, and will require less food to feed the crowd. As a rule of thumb you should plan on serving about 6 pieces of appetizer per hour for a 2-hour party. It is also a good idea to over prepare a little, because invariably there will be one guest that insists on overindulging.
Sit down dinners are the easiest to control portion sizes with. Unless you are serving your dinner "family style" the food will be pre-plated before it is served. That way you can control how much is being served. Figure on serving 4-6 ounces of meat and 3-4 ounces for each side dish. If you are serving pasta, plan on about 8 ounces per serving.
The hardest type of party to calculate food for is the buffet. A general rule is to calculate the portion sizes the same as for a sit down dinner, and then add an extra 10%-15%. Some people will decide not to take everything that is offered, but some people will insist on piling up their plates.
One way to help control the portion sizes on a buffet is by gong smaller with your serving utensils and plates. The larger the plate you offer, the more food people are likely to take, by decreasing the size of your plate you can greatly reduce the amount of food your guests will take.
When you decrease the size of the serving utensils it makes it more difficult to for guests to serve themselves heaping spoon-fulls of any of the foods being offered. Most people will be too self-conscious to take multiple servings, and they will not take as much food.
By learning how to plan the correct amount of food with your party planning menu you can make sure your guests enjoy themselves without breaking your budget.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Much-Food-For-a-Party-Planning-Menu&id=3618530
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