Thursday, June 15, 2006
The Ghetto, Part 1: 2 lbs of taco seasoning?
This is something that I just have to share. I was asked to share it too, so all the more reason. I have a friend, let's call her Bobo. Bobo's friend from childhood, Dee for this tale, is getting married this Saturday. Bobo is going to be Dee's matron of honor. I was asked to help with the cooking for the reception and getting all of the food out and everything. No problem. I'm there.
Well, this is turning into quite a funny little adventure. The wedding is now officially "Ghetto", at least as "Ghetto" as the VFW in Princeton with multiple missing ceiling tiles that have pink insulation falling out, can possibly be.
I've seen the fabric of the bride's gown, and it's amazing. Beautiful. Really stunning. I'm sure that she'll be a gorgeous bride. The flowers are rumored to be just as grand.
But there is a limited budget here. Very, very, very limited. There are going to be around 75 guests. Not too shabby of a number. It's an adult only reception, so it should be lots of fun. Quite the party. Even if it in the VFW. You can drink bad surroundings away. Or at least think that you did.
This brings us to the food for the reception. What would you feed 75 guests at a wedding reception? This reception is going to have tacos. Yep, you got it, tacos. Hard shell only. No tortillas. So, last night, Bobo and I went shopping to get our list of groceries. Here's the list... straight from the bride....
Here are the items that we will need for the reception and the receipe for the Mexican Rice.
4 to 5 lbs of Ground Turkey
10 Lbs of Ground Hamburger (80% or more lean is fine)
1 or 2 large Black bean and corn Salsa, should find in refrigerator section in large plastic tub? If not at sams then at regular grocery store. Use your discretion on the size, if they are smaller containers then get 2.
2 - 3 Large depending on the size bag or bags - Tortilla Chips, yellow corn if possible.
3 Mild & 3 Hot Salsa (this should be the refrigerated type may not find at Sam's club), Salsa Lisa brand in mild and Hot are good and they sell them in larger bottles in most rainbow foods, including the Rainbow Foods in Maple Grove.
2 regular sized jars or cans of Jalepenos
2 - 3 large tubs of sour cream
1 or 2 tubs of Guacamole
Lettuce (pre-shredded would be easiest) we need enough for 150 taco's
Shredded Cheddar Cheese ( 60oz or 15 cups worth should do it)
10 - 12 medium sized tomatoes
1 bundle of green onion (not much needed of this)
150 hard shell tacos, I decided against the soft shell taco idea.
15 packets of taco seasoning or a very large packet that would make enough for 15 lbs of meat, LOL!
Will need coffee to serve but not a huge thing from sams, let me talk to mom about this one.
1 large watermellon
4 or 5 lb bag of Rice - need 19 cups of white long grain rice
1 large not giant bottle of veg oil for rice
19 8oz cans or as close to 152oz as you can get of Tomato Sauce
9.5 or 10 lb bag of FROZEN veggies, must be the bag with mix of only "corn, peas, green beans & carrots" not the mix with Lima beans, YUCKY! If you don't find one with green beans but it has the others then that's ok.
My hope is you can find a giant bag at sams to get the amount we need.
Spices.........
These you can pick up at Rainbow foods or cub.... generic brand is good.
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Cumin
Reg Salt
If you would pick up a small thing of decaf coffee and a larger thing of regular french roast coffee. Also a small container of sugar cubs and some sort of creamer for their coffee.
So, as you have read, she's planning on 150 tacos for about 75 guests. That's just 2 tacos per person. Hmm... last time I checked, the average adult male could eat 3-7 tacos in one sitting. Or maybe that's just me. Hmm... interesting. So, Bobo and I got everything on this list, and a little extra ground beef.
Shopping was interesting, educational, and fun. I didn't know that you could get a 2 lbs container of taco seasoning and have it work for 20 lbs of meat. I also didn't know that they sold tomato sauce in 105oz cans. Did you know that you can buy 1/2 lb jars of sliced jalapenos? Did you know that Salsa Lisa might be the hardest brand of salsa to find in any store? Did you know that Taco Bell brand taco shells are the only ones stocked in quantities of 10 or more? (We had to get 13 boxes of shells) So, three stores later, we are done shopping and ready to get taco meat making.
Is there possibly any good way of making 20 lbs of taco meat, using only 3 pots, all at one time? Not in a normal kitchen. But we did our best. Our very best. Can't use the same utensils for the ground turkey as the ground beef. Be very careful. Don't die laughing when Bobo keeps reminding you that the ground turkey looks like Alpo. Don't die when the puff of taco seasoning is so overwhelming that you almost gag. Try to find some way to convert quarts to cups at 8:30 at night. Then do lots of math to figure out the best water to seasoning to meat ratio. Simmer. And simmer some more. And then just let it simmer a little longer. Find a way to get all that taco-y meat into some ice cream buckets and ready for the freezer.
All in all, it was an interesting night. I'm sure that it will get more interesting as the weekend goes on the Ghetto Wedding approach. Maybe Bobo will add some more wonderful Ghetto qualities in the comments here. I know she's reading.
Well, this is turning into quite a funny little adventure. The wedding is now officially "Ghetto", at least as "Ghetto" as the VFW in Princeton with multiple missing ceiling tiles that have pink insulation falling out, can possibly be.
I've seen the fabric of the bride's gown, and it's amazing. Beautiful. Really stunning. I'm sure that she'll be a gorgeous bride. The flowers are rumored to be just as grand.
But there is a limited budget here. Very, very, very limited. There are going to be around 75 guests. Not too shabby of a number. It's an adult only reception, so it should be lots of fun. Quite the party. Even if it in the VFW. You can drink bad surroundings away. Or at least think that you did.
This brings us to the food for the reception. What would you feed 75 guests at a wedding reception? This reception is going to have tacos. Yep, you got it, tacos. Hard shell only. No tortillas. So, last night, Bobo and I went shopping to get our list of groceries. Here's the list... straight from the bride....
Here are the items that we will need for the reception and the receipe for the Mexican Rice.
4 to 5 lbs of Ground Turkey
10 Lbs of Ground Hamburger (80% or more lean is fine)
1 or 2 large Black bean and corn Salsa, should find in refrigerator section in large plastic tub? If not at sams then at regular grocery store. Use your discretion on the size, if they are smaller containers then get 2.
2 - 3 Large depending on the size bag or bags - Tortilla Chips, yellow corn if possible.
3 Mild & 3 Hot Salsa (this should be the refrigerated type may not find at Sam's club), Salsa Lisa brand in mild and Hot are good and they sell them in larger bottles in most rainbow foods, including the Rainbow Foods in Maple Grove.
2 regular sized jars or cans of Jalepenos
2 - 3 large tubs of sour cream
1 or 2 tubs of Guacamole
Lettuce (pre-shredded would be easiest) we need enough for 150 taco's
Shredded Cheddar Cheese ( 60oz or 15 cups worth should do it)
10 - 12 medium sized tomatoes
1 bundle of green onion (not much needed of this)
150 hard shell tacos, I decided against the soft shell taco idea.
15 packets of taco seasoning or a very large packet that would make enough for 15 lbs of meat, LOL!
Will need coffee to serve but not a huge thing from sams, let me talk to mom about this one.
1 large watermellon
4 or 5 lb bag of Rice - need 19 cups of white long grain rice
1 large not giant bottle of veg oil for rice
19 8oz cans or as close to 152oz as you can get of Tomato Sauce
9.5 or 10 lb bag of FROZEN veggies, must be the bag with mix of only "corn, peas, green beans & carrots" not the mix with Lima beans, YUCKY! If you don't find one with green beans but it has the others then that's ok.
My hope is you can find a giant bag at sams to get the amount we need.
Spices.........
These you can pick up at Rainbow foods or cub.... generic brand is good.
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Cumin
Reg Salt
If you would pick up a small thing of decaf coffee and a larger thing of regular french roast coffee. Also a small container of sugar cubs and some sort of creamer for their coffee.
So, as you have read, she's planning on 150 tacos for about 75 guests. That's just 2 tacos per person. Hmm... last time I checked, the average adult male could eat 3-7 tacos in one sitting. Or maybe that's just me. Hmm... interesting. So, Bobo and I got everything on this list, and a little extra ground beef.
Shopping was interesting, educational, and fun. I didn't know that you could get a 2 lbs container of taco seasoning and have it work for 20 lbs of meat. I also didn't know that they sold tomato sauce in 105oz cans. Did you know that you can buy 1/2 lb jars of sliced jalapenos? Did you know that Salsa Lisa might be the hardest brand of salsa to find in any store? Did you know that Taco Bell brand taco shells are the only ones stocked in quantities of 10 or more? (We had to get 13 boxes of shells) So, three stores later, we are done shopping and ready to get taco meat making.
Is there possibly any good way of making 20 lbs of taco meat, using only 3 pots, all at one time? Not in a normal kitchen. But we did our best. Our very best. Can't use the same utensils for the ground turkey as the ground beef. Be very careful. Don't die laughing when Bobo keeps reminding you that the ground turkey looks like Alpo. Don't die when the puff of taco seasoning is so overwhelming that you almost gag. Try to find some way to convert quarts to cups at 8:30 at night. Then do lots of math to figure out the best water to seasoning to meat ratio. Simmer. And simmer some more. And then just let it simmer a little longer. Find a way to get all that taco-y meat into some ice cream buckets and ready for the freezer.
All in all, it was an interesting night. I'm sure that it will get more interesting as the weekend goes on the Ghetto Wedding approach. Maybe Bobo will add some more wonderful Ghetto qualities in the comments here. I know she's reading.
