A Gathering of the Family
Jul. 31st, 2003 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mishalakTo prepare a party in honor of Gormenghast by Outer Fandom
If anyone doesn't get the strange wording, just accept that I'm drawing this from the books Titus Groan and Gormengahst. If you would be bored by party planning, just skip the rest of this.
As some of my readers know Outer Fandom has an room party each year at MileHiCon. Last year I went with a Farscape theme and I thought it would be fun to have a Gormenghast theme. Though I am certainly open to other suggestions. After my experience last year this year I plan on doing a lot less fiddly preparation things right before the party.
Instead of doing things like cutting up fruit instead I'll leave out a giant cleaver on a chopping block from people to chop their own apples (or maybe pears) in half if they want. That works with the theme as well since Swelter's cleaver features pronominally in the story.
For the rest I am planning on lots of already prepared food, particularly from Costco since there is one over at I-70 and Wadsworth. I estimate that to be about a 15-minute drive. If the list is ready it is viable to plan on going there and returning to the hotel within an hour. Thus I wouldn't need to find a place to store things like a cheesecake.
Here are some of the things I priced. This is not yet a final list for the party, just some preliminary ideas. Comments about appropriateness for the theme and what you like are a good idea at this point. Right now I'm planning on a food budget of $100, not including alcohol, on my part.
Boulder Kettle Chips, Salt & Vinegar
$3.55 - 19.5oz bag
Regular Cape Cod Kettle Chips
$3.85 - 18oz bag
Fresh Cheesecake (large)
$12.00
Cocktail Croissants
$5.50 - 32ct
Pita Bread
$4.00 - 20ct
Smoked Salmon
$5.75 - 10oz
Krab Meat (the polock that looks like crab)
$4.75 - 20oz
Seafood Spread (krab, mayo, celery, and so on)
$5.50 - 32oz
Sour Cream Herring Fillets
$4.55 - 39oz
Humus, Artichoke or Roasted Red Pepper
$3.90 - 20oz
Jalapeno Artichoke Dip
$5.00 - 20oz
Smoked Salmon Spread
$6.90 - 24oz
The Seafood Spread and the Smoked Salmon Spread might both be viable to prepare before the convention since I will be bringing a cooler for the alcohol. I don't think I would save much on money, but I could have more for those two items and better quality than we would otherwise. Are there any other suggestions for things that could be prepared before the convention and kept in a cooler for 2-3 days without ill effect? I only want to make one trip during the convention for food, so everything that is not already bought for the party must be located at just one store. I can get huge blocks of cheese at Costco and maybe let people chop off what they want to go with crackers.
The other items I'm planning on buying before the convention are:
Apples and/or pears. 12 good ones, not red delicious apples.
Pomegranates, 4-5 because I like them
Cucumbers that I will slice up far ahead of the party, I think they will keep on ice. I do a Russian pickle sort of thing that's good.
That's what I've got so far.
If anyone doesn't get the strange wording, just accept that I'm drawing this from the books Titus Groan and Gormengahst. If you would be bored by party planning, just skip the rest of this.
As some of my readers know Outer Fandom has an room party each year at MileHiCon. Last year I went with a Farscape theme and I thought it would be fun to have a Gormenghast theme. Though I am certainly open to other suggestions. After my experience last year this year I plan on doing a lot less fiddly preparation things right before the party.
Instead of doing things like cutting up fruit instead I'll leave out a giant cleaver on a chopping block from people to chop their own apples (or maybe pears) in half if they want. That works with the theme as well since Swelter's cleaver features pronominally in the story.
For the rest I am planning on lots of already prepared food, particularly from Costco since there is one over at I-70 and Wadsworth. I estimate that to be about a 15-minute drive. If the list is ready it is viable to plan on going there and returning to the hotel within an hour. Thus I wouldn't need to find a place to store things like a cheesecake.
Here are some of the things I priced. This is not yet a final list for the party, just some preliminary ideas. Comments about appropriateness for the theme and what you like are a good idea at this point. Right now I'm planning on a food budget of $100, not including alcohol, on my part.
Boulder Kettle Chips, Salt & Vinegar
$3.55 - 19.5oz bag
Regular Cape Cod Kettle Chips
$3.85 - 18oz bag
Fresh Cheesecake (large)
$12.00
Cocktail Croissants
$5.50 - 32ct
Pita Bread
$4.00 - 20ct
Smoked Salmon
$5.75 - 10oz
Krab Meat (the polock that looks like crab)
$4.75 - 20oz
Seafood Spread (krab, mayo, celery, and so on)
$5.50 - 32oz
Sour Cream Herring Fillets
$4.55 - 39oz
Humus, Artichoke or Roasted Red Pepper
$3.90 - 20oz
Jalapeno Artichoke Dip
$5.00 - 20oz
Smoked Salmon Spread
$6.90 - 24oz
The Seafood Spread and the Smoked Salmon Spread might both be viable to prepare before the convention since I will be bringing a cooler for the alcohol. I don't think I would save much on money, but I could have more for those two items and better quality than we would otherwise. Are there any other suggestions for things that could be prepared before the convention and kept in a cooler for 2-3 days without ill effect? I only want to make one trip during the convention for food, so everything that is not already bought for the party must be located at just one store. I can get huge blocks of cheese at Costco and maybe let people chop off what they want to go with crackers.
The other items I'm planning on buying before the convention are:
Apples and/or pears. 12 good ones, not red delicious apples.
Pomegranates, 4-5 because I like them
Cucumbers that I will slice up far ahead of the party, I think they will keep on ice. I do a Russian pickle sort of thing that's good.
That's what I've got so far.