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Cook-ahead simcha dinner ideas
Topic Started: Oct 23 2011, 02:30 PM (429 Views)
npl
Bala Buste
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I'm trying to figure out the menus for dd's bat mitzvah. We are having about 25 girls for a melaveh malkah, and then about 50 adults (maybe more) for a brunch-time at-home.
The melaveh malka will be dairy, but I'd prefer things that don't need to be heated in the oven. DD has requested soup for the first course, which I can cook and freeze easily (she requested a particular recipe) and pasta for the main course, maybe with salmon. Dessert is cake and a cookies from the cookie-decorating activity.
Any suggestions for a pasta dish I can freeze and can be served cold? I know lasagna would be easiest, but I don't want to rely on being able to kasher my oven!

Also, any suggestions for easy cook-ahead brunch ideas that don't require washing for motzi? I'm planning lots of cakes and cookies, but would like some easy savoury foods that will appeal to those who are diet-conscious.

Thanks!
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zuncompany
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What about manicotti or stuffed shells. They freeze great. What about sternos and trays to heat it. Defrost pre-shabbos and just throw it over the sternos to heat. Whallah- no oven. Could do this with lasagna as well. We have.
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npl
Bala Buste
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Love the idea of sternos!
Stuffed shells or manicotti would make serving so much easier, but I'm afraid it will be too fiddly and time-consuming to put together. Also, do you bake them before you freeze them?
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zuncompany
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oy, true... you do. I was just thinking freezing and milchiks. I used to make trays and trays of it and it always came out so yum after defrosting and reheating.
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npl
Bala Buste
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Not totally impractical to use the oven for milchigs ahead of time. I'll just do it midweek, after I kasher the oven for a parev baking session, and then rekasher before I do my shabbos cooking. I'm trying to avoid too many logistics the week of the bat mitzva, what with shabbos cooking and then a party for melaveh malka and another the next day. I might also do the shabbos cooking ahead of time and reheat it on the plata, and then I won't need the oven to be fleishigs that shabbos, at all. That probably makes most sense, anyway, to cook double a few weeks earlier. We've got about 3 hours between tzeis and the girls arriving, so I'm planning to have as little post-shabbos clean-up to do, anyway - foil pans, paper plates, etc. And then my oven can be milchigs for the melaveh malka, and I can have warm food for the Sunday brunch, if I want.
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zuncompany
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sounds so exciting! I would make sure the girls know it will be dairy so they can make sure to not be fleish.
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npl
Bala Buste
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DD already thought of that! With shabbos going out so early, it's unlikely that they will be by the time we get to the main course (soup will be parev). But, dd will spread the word when she hands out the invitations, and it's very common here to have milchigs melaveh malkah (to the extent that when I went to a bat mitzva I had to go to the kitchen and request a special serving without dairy, because everything was milchigs, even the bread put out for washing).
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zuncompany
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oh wow. interesting.
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Estie
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aishes chayil
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Double wrap instead of rekashering the oven. I am sure it will be fine, esp if you use the non stick aluminum foil to cover.
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npl
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Estie - great idea! Good fall-back position in case I don't get things done in advance.
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realeez
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Brain Freeze
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My lasagna recipe's instructions always call for it to be covered anyways :)
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kallah
princess
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What about a pesto pasta? That would be good with salmon or just by itself. Pesto freezes well, and you could make fresh pasta motzei shabbos. It's also good cold or room temperature.
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npl
Bala Buste
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Realeez - don't you brown the cheese on the top at the end?
Kallah - sounds good - do you think it will appeal to bat mitzvah girls? Do you have a recipe to share? (I think I have to make nut-free)

DH has told me he thinks he has to travel twice in December with one week home in between, and he will have to be away up till 10 days before the bat mitzvah. I might have to rethink my whole idea, especially for the at-home for the adults on the Sunday. Maybe I'll start a new thread about that in the Simcha section when I've had a chance to collect my thoughts.
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realeez
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No I don't but mine is creamy on top rather than crispy.
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