Cooking Group cookout suggestions?

[schuh]

I hope nobody minds -- I also posted this on the Supper Club exchange, but this board has a lot more traffic.

I'm in the Rochester, NY, Cooking Light club. We've had two meetings to date -- one at a Starbucks to discuss the group, and a second was an appetizer/dessert selection. For our third, I had the idea to host a family cookout (thus saving me the hassle of "getting rid" of my husband and two kids). As of today, we have 12 adults and 7 kids (ages 7 months to 8) coming.

I'm now trying to figure out the logistics of doing this. I'm particularly stumped about:
- The main dish -- we were thinking about kebobs, but does anyone have any other suggestions? Also, given the large number of people, should I have two people contribute to the main dish?
- What do I do about food for the kids? Just have parents provide something for picky eaters? Or have someone bring a kid-friendly dish?
- How do coordinate who brings what.

I've entertained before, but not in this kind of group. I'd appreciate any suggestions/experiences you may have.

[Anne]

Kabobs would probably work great - there were some really good recipies in the current website. Kabobs can work for every course of the meal if you want to go that far and can be easily customized to individual tastes or eating styles - spicey, vegetarian, etc.

[This message has been edited by Anne (edited 05-18-2001).]

[LaraW]

What works for our group is for the host to send an e-mail around to tell the others in the group what the main dish is. Then ask for others to bring the drinks, sides/appetizers, and dessert. It has worked for us to have the host keep track of what others are bringing, so there are no holes in the menu.

For so many people, kebabs is a good idea. I think that you could be pretty kid-friendly if you included both beef and chicken. Maybe if you marinate the meat and/or veggies you could leave some plain. I have done kebabs for a large group before, and have found that it works well to have all of the meat cut up and in bowls, have the vegetables ready to go and then let people assemble the kebabs themselves.

I would think that with such a large group that you would not need an additional main dish if you have people who are bringing sides and dessert. If you have kids, you might get something extra that they may eat anyway (hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, etc) in case you have picky eaters who come. If you don't use them then your kids can still eat it and you have not wasted any food.

[lindrusso]

The Steak and Chicken Fajitas from CL are wonderful! And they would appeal to many people. If you have any vegetarians in the group, you could roast some veggies for them to make veggie fajitas. I really recommend these!

Also, CL has a marinade recipe - Zesty Dijon - that is fantastic. You could use this for chicken, shrimp and even on kabobs. I like that you can really taste the marinade on the chicken - some marinades taste wonderful, but leave the chicken or meat without any flavor!

As for the kids - I always have hot dogs on hand to throw on the grill. Cheap, easy and most kids will eat them. I also put out munchies like Goldfish and fruit - also big with the kids. If that doesn't work, a crockpot with some mac & cheese would be great too. Some kids would be happy with kabob fixings, but if you have some really young ones, meat would not be a good option.

Anyway, if any of these sound good, I'd be happy to help!

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 05-18-2001).]

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 05-18-2001).]