Happy Birthday to Me! (Or, "Cooking Lots of Food for Lots of People")

This past weekend, I was honored to celebrate my birthday with my favorite people, with a big dinner for sixteen people.

That's my dining room, to the right. So much more fun with friends!

All night, guests remarked that they couldn't believe how I was able to calmly orchestrate such an endeavor. Now, I'm an old hand at cooking for a crowd, so it's sort of easy for me. I do also understand how it can be intimidating. With the right planning, and the right dishes, it's really not that hard. And, with the holidays coming up, I know some of you are nervous about cooking for a crowd. Let me help!

First, pick three dishes that you like to cook, are good, and easy to multiply. I simply multiplied one of my favorite meals by four so I could serve sixteen:

* Barbecued Tri-Tip with Horseradish Sour Cream
* Shallot-Sage Smashed Potatoes
* Caesar's Goat Salad

Have your friends help by bringing the more annoying dishes to make: appetizers and dessert. My good friends Rachel and Andy brought a creation called "Beef Wellington Bites", which I'm hoping they'll share here soon. And, Jen saved the day with decadent "Heart Pounder" chocolate cupcakes. I'll ask her to post that recipe, as it's the perfect end to a big meal.

I'll post the steak and potato recipes soon (Caesar's Goat is way down below), but I just wanted to make a quick note on how you can make a big dinner party or holiday gathering special and fancy without tearing your hair out.

* Use candles or twinkle lights. It's easy, cheap, flattering, and doesn't highlight your lack of dusting/vacuuming.

* Forgo the china and bring out the nice paper plates. There's no reason you should have to cook and do dishes. And, you know how your friends/family members get up at the end of the meal and say they'll take care of the dishes because you cooked? It's nice of them to say that, but they don't want to scrub plates any more than you do, especially after gorging themselves on fine food.

* Add yummy touches to the table like a small plate of specialty bleu cheese to crumble onto the steak, or a bowl of sauteed onions, bacon and mushrooms as a topper.

* I cannot stress the importance of place cards enough: it keeps mouthy/argumentative/always think they're right/funny/cute people away from each other, and splits up any hen parties or dude fests. I also like to split up the couples, because it gets people to have more interesting conversations.

More recipes to follow! I still need to vacuum up the wayward confetti!