I learned something this past week.
It takes A LOT of food to feed 55 people 3 meals a day for 5 days!
We filled 3 flat beds and 3 carts at Costco one evening and that was only HALF the food!!
We were the only family that lived locally so a lot of the planning and executing for the reunion fell on us which we were very happy to do.
As you know, I had a pretty wild June. Ten days in Europe, a week at Girl’s Camp and a big 80th birthday luncheon for my mother left me a little short on time. Fortunately for me my darling niece Emily (she is more like a sister to me than a niece) really came through and helped me out! Everyone needs an Emily in their life!!
Our group was divided between three houses. We stocked each house with breakfast and lunch food so they could eat when they wanted.
Breakfast foods included lots of cold cereal for all those kids, eggs, sausage, pancakes, bacon and bread for french toast.
Lunch foods included lunch meat, cheese and condiments, top ramen, mac & cheese and hotdogs.
There was lots of snack food too – chips, fruit, Goldfish crackers, licorice, fruit snacks, granola bars, trail mix, animal crackers, juice boxes, etc. No one went hungry!
Dinner menus were pre-selected and then assigned to various family members. We all ate dinner together each night. The house that was cooking that night hosted dinner at their house.
Friday night was our arrival day. Since we couldn’t check into the houses until 4 p.m. we needed to make sure dinner was quick and easy. We made a stop at Costco on our way out of town and picked up lasagna, salad and garlic bread for dinner. Brownie bites and pineapple upside down cake was for dessert – all bought at Costco. We love Costco!!
Saturday night was our cookout. We had hoped to do it on the beach but it was a little windy so we opted for the backyard. The kids had a great time roasting their hot dogs over the fire pit and we put the burgers on the grill. Thanks to my niece Brendy for making the great JDawg sauce for the hot dogs. It was yummy and I even ate a hot dog! I’ll be sharing the recipe soon.
My two handsome boys were home!
For dessert of course there were s’mores. What would a cookout be without s’mores.
They were enjoyed by all!
Isn’t little Carter Man adorable!
And cousin Matthew too!
I found the huge marshmallows at Winco!
On Sunday we had a special celebration for my in law’s 60th wedding anniversary. We rented the Community Hall in Manzanita and had a lovely program and dinner of roast, potatoes and carrots, salad, watermelon and rolls. Dessert was brownie sundaes with fresh berries.
Look at all these handsome boys lined up waiting so patiently to eat! Letting the girl cousins go first.
Monday’s menu was Hawaiian Haystack. One of the great things about this meal is people can personalize it to their own taste. We had a table full of lots of fun different toppings.
Cheese, celery, pineapple, peanuts, chow mein noodles, sunflower seeds, bananas, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and I’m sure I have forgotten something!
Tuesday was our final day and that was Cafe Rio night! Yum!!
We had sweet pork, lime cilantro rice and black beans. There was also a yummy cilantro dressing for the salad. I think there was watermelon at every meal! Dessert was banana pudding.
On Tuesday morning we headed down to Tillamook to hike Cape Lookout. No trip to Tillamook is complete without a stop at the cheese factory for lunch! Cheeseburgers!!
and of course ice cream!!
Pre-planning the meals really worked out great and people appreciated not having to decide what they were going to make. Between Emily and I we did all the shopping and then just divided all the food up between the three houses.
Most of the dinners could be made ahead of time and just kept warm in the oven or crock pot. I took my two crock pots and rice cooker from home which helped a lot as well as a couple of additional bigger roasting pans.
The great thing about Hawaiian Haystack and Cafe Rio is that people can tailor it to their own taste. Adding on or leaving off whatever they want.
We ate well and no one had to spend every day slaving away in the kitchen.
Would love to hear what you have done for food at your family gatherings or reunions! Leave a comment and let me know.
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THANKS again and agan for all your work on the reunion. The food was fantastic! Now just wish all of you were here to help us load boxes. With all those strong, Wilkes muscles it wouldn’t take long at all. We love you!
I am amazed as I read your blog every day at how much you are able to do. Do you have more than 24 hours in your day? Our family reunions are usually mexican food. My sister-in-law makes her famous nacho cheese sauce with velveeta, cream cheese and green chilis. It’s the only time I ever eat velveeta. I love your reunion picture, too. What an amazing family. We love families!
Wow! So much planning for this and it looks like it paid off! When we gather as a family, it’s the same, everyone pitches in and no one EVER goes hungry!
Your food ideas for the reunion were fabulous! Would you be willing to share the recipe for the J-Dawgs’ Sauce?
Thanks for such a great website!
We are hoping to plan a similar family renunion on the coast for next year. Can I ask how you found the 3 houses to rent? Were they all near each other? We have about 35 people and will need more than one house, too, and I am in charge of finding the location and would appreciate any tips! Thanks!
Traci,
One of the houses belonged to us (www.manzanitavacationretreat.com) and we also rented another house from a friend and then the third house was just around the corner from my friend’s house and we got it through a rental agency. So two of the houses were very close and our house was about 1/2 mile away from the others. A nice walk or bike ride.
Wow that’s a lot of food. How in the world did you manage to plan it all?
You’re an amazing party planner, for sure! Your key to success is your organization!! When we go to my family’s beach house (and everyone is there at the same time) we assign each family a night. It usually consists of spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, fried chicken, BBQ, lemon chicken, and always shepherd’s pie.
I have given you a Beautiful Blogger Award – http://simplytaunya.blogspot.com/2010/07/beautiful-blogger-award.html – I love your pictures. That is a TON of food! I remember a couple of years ago buying for 5 families for a reunion and thinking man this is a ton of food…that was nothing!
I love reading about your family get togethers!! God bless you and your beautiful family!!!
You are simply amazing! I often think that I should move to rain country just so I could be a member of your ward and somehow soak up some of your awesomeness. The reunion food sounds fabulous – what a great idea to split the responsibility among the three houses. Love the different t-shirts for each family for the picture! Thanks so much for sharing yourself with all of us!
Fantastic report and pictures. Good Ideas for our first Family Reunion!
What a great peek into your (huge!) family reunion… How terriffuic to be able to get together with that many kin, and just enjoy the summer – and each other’s company!! they are especially lucky to have you organizing everything! Fantastic post and lovely pictures!
You are too sweet! This was one of our favorite trips (notice it was not a vacation!) yet!!!
Everyone knows the truth though, everyone needs a Leigh Anne in their lives, and I feel blessed that I have you.
We just got back from our 5 night family reunion and the night we were in charge of dinner for the group we did a baked potato bar. It was a big hit. We had tons of toppings and it was really easy to put together and super inexpensive as well.
Just found this website. I need to figure out how much food and the cost for a family reunion I’m planning. 40 people for 6 days. Do you by chance have a list of the types and amounts of food? Thanks