Frugal Kitchens 101 - Entertaining for Large Groups

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we celebrate our Canadian Thanksgiving.  There will be between twenty-five and thirty of us, hosted in our new home.  Yes we recently moved and because we were on our fall vacation for two an a half weeks the house is not perfect but we felt it is more personal than renting a hall as was suggested.  We are used to hosting larger groups with one monthly event of fifteen to thirty as well as larger family gatherings. Here's a few tips for entertaining for large groups on the frugal side.

• KISS (keep it simple silly) - The KISS hypothesis really works when entertaining for large groups.  Less is more in the sense of dishes offered.  I have place settings for 30 but sometimes going to paper plates is a good idea depending on the venue. 
• don't refuse help - Trust me I am the queen of my kitchen but for larger events a bit of help is always appreciated.  If someone offers to help, graciously accept even if you need to slightly modify the help offered,
• use disposable - I don't like disposable anything and have service for thirty but even at that there are sometimes disposable is better than anything else.  
• enlist help - I have no problem hosting for thirty but I am not above asking for help.  It is not impolite to say, I need help for this event.
• everyone brings something - Ok, this is not my idea and in fact when hosting an event there are very few times I would want a guest to bring anything because that is not our style.  But sometimes like our Thanksgiving feast each couple was responsible for bringing one dish.  It works and it does take a bit of the burden off of the host.