How to Make Lunch for 100

My son recently graduated from high school. In Iowa, that means a graduation party. I don't remember any of my classmates having a party when we graduated from high school, but that was a hundred years and a thousand miles ago. In Iowa, you throw a party and you invite all your friends and all your graduate's classmates, and it turns into an enormous undertaking.

Now my Zach has been friends with another Zach since they enrolled in the same daycare at the ages of four and six months. They have been neighbors, classmates, baseball teammates (and rivals), and their friendship has stood the test of eighteen years. So we  decided to have a double-Zach party, splitting the food, drinks, and prep between the two families. Since we had the bigger, flatter backyard, we rented a tent and sent out the invitations with our address.

The menu: pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, raw veggies with dip, cut-up fruit, brownies, cake, a hundred different kinds of chips and canned pop. I took the preparation of the pulled pork and hte baked beans. And the cake. The other Zach's mom spent hours of her life cutting up fruit and veggies, and baking brownies (to go with the cake).

My preferred method of cooking a pork tenderloin to pull is on the grill, but when faced with the challenge of making pulled pork for a hundred guests, I resorted to using my crockpot. For each batch, I start with slices of one yellow onion--half goes on the bottom. Then I put in approximately five pounds of pork tenderloin, and add the other half of the onions on top. Add a cup of any broth you like--I use the fat free mushroom or vegetable out of the paper carton--and layer the rest of the onions on top.Put the lid on the top of the crock pot, turn it on high, and leave the pork to cook for six to eight hours. Approximately halfway through the cooking time, turn the meat and onions. 

When the meat is done cooking, you can put the tenderloins on a plate and pull the meat into shreds with two forks. This is the time to discard any fat left sticking to the meat. Add the shredded pork back to the crock pot and mix in approximately a cup of your favorite barbecue sauce. Usually this is when I serve the pork. In this case, for each batch I put the meat into a foil lasagna pan, covered it and put it into the freezer. If you are making lunch for 100 people, you repeat this recipe four more times. The meat freezes beautifully. For the party I thawed the trays overnight in the refrigerator, and heated them the next day in the oven, to be ready to replenish the crockpot.

For the baked beans, go to your local mart and buy the seven and half pound  can of baked beans. Saute a whole diced yellow onion. When it is translucent, add a tablespoon of raw sugar and a few sprinkles of your favorite dry rub which will turn the onions a lovely golden color. Add the onion to the can of baked beans in another crockpot. To feed 100, repeat three more times, keeping the batches of beans hot in the oven in foil lasagna pans. Buy a hundred hamburger buns, and lot of cans of pop, and bags of chips.

Then on the day of the party, put up the tent, put out the food, and enjoy the company!

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