Shopping and Cooking for the HordeCooking for a gaming group isn't like cooking for yourself or your family, unless your family is quite large. Your goals are to make it easy, make it tasty, make it cheap, and make a whole lot of it. These are some of the techniques I've learned about shopping for gamers.
Use the FreezerI usually know what I'm serving at the next game a week early. This is because, when I go food shopping for the week, I look at the circular and ask, "What meat is on sale?" Usually, some sort of beef is fairly cheap, but sometimes I'm lucky and easy-to-prepare cuts of chicken or pork are half off. In general, I look for things that are under $2.50 a pound, although it's not a hard limit. If nothing looks good, hamburger is usually in the right price range.I go and buy my five pounds' worth, or two pounds if it's hamburger for a "hamburger helper" sort of dish. I take it home and put it straight into the freezer, and then start thinking about how I'm going to cook it and what side dishes will go well with it. Next week, I'll pick up the ingredients for the side dishes and the meat for the week after that. Balance Convenience and CostPart of the reason we're cooking at home is to save money. But there is a certain level of convenience that's worth it, especially when you're cooking for many. Take broccoli. It might be cheaper fresh than frozen, and maybe tastier, too. But the bag of frozen stuff is already washed and cut up for you, and you're not paying for stems.Not convinced? I've decided instant mashed potatoes are a Food of the Gods. Scrubbing, peeling (and peeling and peeling), boiling and mashing enough potatoes to feed my crowd would take at least forty minutes, maybe longer. I can have the same amount of instant mashed ready in about 5-10 minutes. My time is worth the extra cash. Another convenience I'm fond of is stew meat. My grocery store carries this pre-cubed meat and I love the hassle it saves me. (That, and I've never been sure what meat to buy to cut up into stew meat). It's still cheap enough that I don't begrudge the extra pennies per pound. If it makes the difference between a half hour in the kitchen and an hour or more, consider going for it if the budget will bear it. Getting to the Table on TimeFirst, put the gamers on notice: Dinner will be served at this time. Show up late, get cold food (or no food if the other gamers ate it).Getting all the food on the table at the same time is a bit of an art, and it gets easier with practice. When it doesn't magically all come together, though, you can cheat. Dense carbohydrates like boiled or mashed potatoes and rice hold their heat very well. Leave them in whatever you cooked them in and put the cover on and they'll stay warm for a good long while. This means you can start things like rice early, so if it takes a little longer than expected, you're still covered. Meats hold their heat moderately well. Pile the meat together and cover with some foil to hold in the heat better. Vegetables seem to get coldest the fastest. But the good news is that frozen vegetables don't take long to prepare, so you can put off heating them almost until the last minute. Some dishes don't have to be served hot - salads, say, or the cornbread recipe on this site is a fine example. You could even bake it the night before the game, cover it with some plastic wrap, and it would be fine for the next day. Making things ahead can be a big help. All-in-one dishes like stews and chili make timing a moot point. When the pot is done, it's all done! Nothing to coordinate. Filling BelliesGamers tend to be a carnivorous bunch, but proteins are expensive. This is why most of the recipes here call for starches and vegetables to go with them. Carbohydrates - either dinner rolls, bread, potatoes, or rice - are filling as well as comforting foods. If you don't smother them with butter, they're moderately healthy. Most gamers will eat these familiar foods without too much fuss or argument, which is a plus.Do serve some veggies! Most gamers don't get enough fruits or vegetables in their diets, anyway. Corn and carrots are usually fairly sweet and are well-liked by most people. Steak fans seem to often like broccoli, don't ask me why. Green beans, peas, and cauliflower are familiar vegetables but some people just don't like them. Brussel sprouts and lima beans are asking for trouble. Speaking of foods no one seems to like, avoid fish. For one thing, some people are very dangerously allergic to it. More of them just won't eat it. Unless you know you have a bunch of seafood lovers, just don't bother. Special Needs EatersSome are vegetarians, lactose-intolerant, on special diets, or allergic. Others are just picky.If you can, try to make sure that everyone can eat something. This is another reason to include an assortment of kinds of food - the high-protein diet guy can have just steak, and the vegetarian can have his share of the potatoes and corn. Your special needs eaters might also be comfortable with providing their own special food - most people will not expect you to prepare an additional dish just for them.
For the just plain fussy folks who don't like the evening's menu, I give you my family's food mantra: "There's always peanut butter!" Keep some peanut butter, a jar or two of jelly (grape and strawberry will please probably 95% of the population) and bread on hand. Or hand them the phone and the number for the pizza guy.
|