Blue and Gold Banquet

Blue And Gold

Yep, It's that time again to celebrate the  Cub Scouts of America.  The organization turns 84 this year.  It's just a fun night where the pack and the families get together to celebrate the Packs achivement during the year. This is the Second one I had a hand in planning.  I am counting on 100 people, will we have that many, I don't know but if we have some left over, we can do seconds of pack it up to take to MOHM's Place or the Micah house.

Dinner is Hot dogs in Macaroni and cheese,  tossed salad and Apple slices with carmel dip.

Ever try to  create Macaroni for 100 people?  I really haven't either.  I kinda know how to do it and I know it will take longer to do so so I have accounted for that, I have the proper cheese ratio down. and the Hot dogs will be cut up and cooked the last 5 minutes of cooking time for the noodles since it has to bake for about an hour afterwards.

I am cooking 18 pounds of Macaroni is 3 batches.  Three BIG pots on the stove.
I am cutting up 80 turkey hot dogs in half and each half into fourths.  Those would be added the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
Drain the mac, and put each batch into roaster oven pans.

The Sauce is 8T of butter, 8T of flour, a few pinches of salt, some pepper and 1 1/2 quart of milk. Bring that is a bubble and add 2 pounds of shredded mild Cheddar,  1 pound of Sharp Cheddar and stir until all melty,  (Each batch of sauce will go over each pan of  macaroni)  Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded Tillamook Extra Sharp cheddar and cover with  the lid from roaster and let it sit at 350* for an hour.

The Salad is 20 pounds of premix that will already be portioned into bowls and topped with an olive, a cherry tomato and two thin slices of cucumber.  The Salad Dressings will be Ranch of course and Italian.  Both will be made on site.   1 quart of mayo, 1 quart of buttermilk and 4 packages of Hidden Valley Ranch.  Italian is 1 cup pure olive oil, (EVOO is too strong for my taste) 1 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup white vinagar, and 2t of  Italian Seasoning,  that is it.

The Apple slices are red delicious apples that have been sliced and packaged in 2oz packages. I have ordered 100 of them.

The Carmel sauce is 1 cup butter, melted, 4 cups of brown sugar, 2 cups of light corn syrup, 4T of water, 28 oz if sweeted condensed milk, 2t of vanilla.  Boil without stiring until softball stage. take off heat and add vanilla.  I am going to portion them out into 2oz portion cups.  this will only make 60 portions but I think it's all that we will need.

Wish me luck and off we go.

Chicken Tertrazzini

I have some chicken breasts thawing out for tetrazzini. The recipe is not easy but it's -4*F outside and we are souped out! Oh and this isn't low fat by any means so we don't have it all the time

I start a pot of water on the stove for one Pound of Liguni add salt. I cook until Al dente.

Melt about 1T of butter in a large skillet, and cook 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts until pale golden, about 4 minutes each side. They will just be barely done but the dish is baked for another 45 minutes. Set them in a large bowl to cool for now.

In same skillet, melt 2T olive oil and 2T more butter and when that gets hot, add 1 pound of sliced mushrooms, one large onion thinly sliced and 5 cloves of crushed garlic. saute until golden brown, add salt and pepper to taste. While the mixture is cooking, I cut up the chicken into just small bites. when the mushroom mixture is done cooking, I add that to the bowl with the chicken.

Then a melt 2T more of butter in the same skillet, add 2T flour to make my Roux, add 4 cups of milk, 1 cup chicken stock, (Original recipe called for white wine and I don't drink it nor cook with it) and let that come together for a thick sauce. When it does,
I add one cup of shredded Parmesan cheese, 1/2 a bag of frozen peas, and 1 cup chopped fresh parsley. Pour over the mushrooms and chicken and add the cooked Ligini Toss to coat and add to a 13x9 baking dish. Top with Italian breadcrumbs and bake for 45 minutes. it it looks to be too brown on top, tent with foil.

I serve it with garden salad and garlic bread.

Macaroni, Hamburger and Tomatoes!!!!

How Yummy is that?!?  I do have a confession, I am listening to Michael Blublé while I am write this post. Not that he is a looker, but he has a set of pipes on him. He can read me the phone book over the phone anytime.


Cook one pound of Macaroni noodles per directions on the box.   Or if you are like me, you fill a pot half full of water, add a good amount of salt and let it come to a bubble and add the box of pasta and let it come to a bubble and when it's firm to the tooth, ( can't spell Al dente)  drain and by the time it's cooked, you have the other stuff done

Brown one pound of hamburger with one small onion finely chopped, a few cloves of garlic chopped, and whatever you think makes it taste good.

Drain the fat if any and add a good squirt of tomato paste, a half hearted squirt of anchovy paste, a 14 oz can of petite diced tomatoes with juice. let it simmer for a few minutes to get nice and cozy,  Add to cooked macaroni and you have DINNER!

You can do garlic bread and salad to complete the meal.


My dad hates this meal by the way. Don't know why, He just does.

If you have whole tomatoes just run a table knife through the can a few times to break them up.