I hadn't thought about brisket. I wonder how that would go over with ladies?
On the other hand, how will they feel about fried chicken? that's kind of a finger food, in my opinion. Very hard to eat with (plastic) silverware, even if we get the really good plastic (which we will)
I would go with the fried chicken. (But I really don't like brisket, so I'm biased.) Something else you can do that's really easy is pork tenderloin sliders. Jeff smoked some tenderloins to 145 and sliced them about 1/2" (again, for Barak's party) Put on rolls and serve with sauce. Pastor T mixes half BBQ sauce and mayonnaise for a great slider sauce. The sliders are still a finger food and would go good with the fried chicken.
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I've been trying to think of traditional southern dishes to have. Bean soup comes to my mind. But do we need soup AND a salad? And if we do bean soup, we definitely will not do baked beans. One or the other maybe.
We want traditional southern foods (like Kentucky/Tennessee type southern foods). But we also want foods that the ladies will enjoy. So I hesitate with things like bean soup for that reason.
Jeff has a great recipe for baked beans. We've used it for years; he got it from a fellow BBQer who gets his newsletter. They're called Dutch's Wicked Baked Beans. I can send it to you if you want it. I think the recipe is in his book, too....
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The other thing I am trying to decide is how to serve these foods. In the past we always had them get up table by table and go into the next room where the food is laid out buffet style. We can do that. But I really don't like doing it that way.
So my other two options are:
1) We can have the men fix their plates for them, then bring them in on serving carts and pass them out. or
2) We can serve the foods "family style". I would get a whole bunch of disposable (but nice) serving platters and bowls. The men could put enough chicken on a platter and enough of the other stuff in the bowls to put at each table. Then the ladies could pass the food family style.
What do you think? What would be your preference?
I really prefer the buffet style.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
I would go with the fried chicken. (But I really don't like brisket, so I'm biased.) Something else you can do that's really easy is pork tenderloin sliders. Jeff smoked some tenderloins to 145 and sliced them about 1/2" (again, for Barak's party) Put on rolls and serve with sauce. Pastor T mixes half BBQ sauce and mayonnaise for a great slider sauce. The sliders are still a finger food and would go good with the fried chicken.
Jeff has a great recipe for baked beans. We've used it for years; he got it from a fellow BBQer who gets his newsletter. They're called Dutch's Wicked Baked Beans. I can send it to you if you want it. I think the recipe is in his book, too....
I really prefer the buffet style.
I'm shocked! You don't like brisket? Isn't your hubby an expert at grilling?
Girl, what's wrong with you?
Tender brisket it great. Touch brisket, don't care for.
BTW...you had some great ideas.
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I'm shocked! You don't like brisket? Isn't your hubby an expert at grilling?
Girl, what's wrong with you?
Tender brisket it great. Touch brisket, don't care for.
BTW...you had some great ideas.
Well, it's not that I don't like the taste of it, but ironically, I am sensitive to smoked meat. Smoking meat puts nitrates into the meat naturally, and some meats seem to absorb more than others (probably because of the extended cooking time). Most smoked meat makes me sick if I eat more than a few bites. (As does other processed/preserved lunchmeat, hot dogs, etc.) I know. It's a tragedy. Smoked poultry and seafood bother me the least--and that's probably because they don't take as long on the smoker.
Brisket is the chief offender--being as I have eaten it and been unable to keep it down multiple times.
It's sad--because Jeff is such a GOOD COOK!!!!!!
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
We are in the beginning stages of planning our Mother-Daughter Banquet for this year (May 10th). They have decided on a Country/Western Theme. We have some people who can come and provide some really good Bluegrass Music. I think maybe we will do that instead of having a speaker. We'll see tho. That decision remains to be seen We are thinking of decorating with red and white gingham. That's as much as we know so far.
I am in charge of getting the meal together. We typically have 100-120 ladies for this, so it is no small task. But we have lots of really good cooks in our church who I know will be glad to help. I'm thinking several directions for this meal........ Tell me what you think.....
Since it's a COUNTRY theme, I think we're going to use pint Ball jars for our beverages. And I guess that the logical drinks to go with the theme would be sweet tea, lemonade or water. Right?
For food, I'm actually considering ordering some fried chicken pieces from Meijers. Theirs is good and lots cheaper than KFC. And I wouldn't have to cook it myself
To go with the chicken, I'm thinking Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Rolls, Salad.
One of our ladies makes cakes every year. She makes a different kind of cake - all very fancy and VERY delicious! - for the centerpiece for every table. Then when it is dessert time, the people love getting up and walking around the room to get the kind of cake that appeals to them the most. So I think we'll go with that for dessert (kind of have to)
Soooo.............. here's my question........... Can you think of anything better for the menu? And do you have any great (but inexpensive) decorating ideas? And how about skits? Do you have any really good Country-themed skits that we could do?
I'd sure appreciate any help - not just from PO and Renda - from EVERYONE!! thanks!
EVERYONE?!?!?
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I like the bandana/bread basket idea. Hannah's 16th b-day party was a country/western theme. We used the ball jars for drinks, and I also used burlap for the tables + quart sized ball jars with sunflowers and baby's breath for simple table centerpieces. Her party was outside, so we did hay bales tucked up to the tables in lieu of chairs. Another cute country look is to use strings of bunting strung from corner to corner at ceiling height and across the fronts of tables. It's really easy to make with twine, a stapler and patterned scrapbooking paper. It's high impact if you use it all the way across the room--with minimal cost
If you want to avoid the cliched country look, go with colors that aren't traditionally country. Hannah's birthday colors were teal and yellow with some brown and pink here and there. Of course, it was for a bunch of kids planning to spend most of their time on football and 4-wheelers, so I didn't go very far with the outdoor decorations; I kept it minimal.
Paula had cute centerpieces for Barak & Robyne's reception--she had a *slice* of a stump in the middle with some moss here and there, a quart-sized ball jar with a strip of burlap + some lace around the middle + flowers. (I don't remember what the flowers were...she could probably email you a picture if you PM her on fb or text her.) You could do the same thing with burlap + gingham ribbon.
You could also make a cute photo-op area with hay bales. Considering that it's a mother-daughter banquet, you could dress them up by throwing antique tablecloths or other linens across them. Something we've done a couple of times is had 2-3 old ornate picture frames spray painted white for people to hold up in front of their faces for pictures.
Menu-wise-- Maybe skip salad and have slaw and deviled eggs instead. You could serve fried chicken in shallow galvanized pails lined with white napkins....
...or gingham:
I'm also a huge fan of these little mini-buntings stuck into desserts:
Thanks. these are also great ideas! I love the idea of the galvanized buckets for the chicken. Wonder if I could find them at a price cheap enough to be affordable. Hmmmm.............
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Thanks, Lacey. I think maybe we might get some bales of hay and some cowboy hats. Then we can let the moms and daughters use the haybales for seating and put the hats on for fun. Altho, frankly, I'm not sure I want to use a hat that everyone else has had on their heads. LOL But that's just me. I have this thing about not getting lice - I think that stems from when we did foster care and got kids often with lice. Ewwwww.
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Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of a battle ! ! ! !
(But I really don't like brisket, so I'm biased.) Something else you can do that's really easy is pork tenderloin sliders. Jeff smoked some tenderloins to 145 and sliced them about 1/2" (again, for Barak's party) Put on rolls and serve with sauce. Pastor T mixes half BBQ sauce and mayonnaise for a great slider sauce. The sliders are still a finger food and would go good with the fried chicken. 
I am sensitive to smoked meat. Smoking meat puts nitrates into the meat naturally, and some meats seem to absorb more than others (probably because of the extended cooking time). Most smoked meat makes me sick if I eat more than a few bites. (As does other processed/preserved lunchmeat, hot dogs, etc.) I know. It's a tragedy. Smoked poultry and seafood bother me the least--and that's probably because they don't take as long on the smoker. 
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