So I am hosting Tuesday dinner next week - need to feed about 20 pp or so. It my buddy's b-day and he wants a PB and J cake, which I posted about on the cake side...

But that got me thinking about the rest of the menu and I was kicking around the idea of making "kid" food with an adult flair. Maybe a really great mac and cheese, and some sort of homemade chicken fingers with an ethnic flair to them.

Any ideas? KathyB this has your name written all over it? You've gotta have something up your sleeve!

Okay not to reply to my own post... but I remembered that years ago someone served spaghetti o's and boiled hot dogs for Tuesday dinner thinking it would be funny but everyone thought it was gross and still complains about it to this day. Or laughs... depends on who you are talking to.

So I am thinking about making home made spaghetti o's. I am sure I can find round pasta and then make a homemade sauce and then maybe grilled keilbasa with a spicy mustard dipping sauce and a great crusty bread.

I checked topsecretrecipes to see if they had a spaghetti o's recipe and they don't. Anyone else have resources?

Maybe you should just go with hot dogs or corn dogs and macaroni and cheese. I have seen the mini corn dogs that are almost the size of chicken nuggets. It would be easier for a crowd, and you could put more emphasis on a really good mac n cheese. I have the Mueller's recipe. You can PM me if you want that; it is really good! The Pb&j cake sounds really good, and I like Info's suggestion of doing cupcakes. One other suggestion would be for the paper products. There are animal and sport shaped paper plates available in grocery stores that are definately kid-themed. They are really cute, and there are cups to match. Make sure to serve Kool-Aid, too. I could really get into doing a kid-themed party, but that is pretty much my life every day!! Have fun!
Diane

Oh, yeah. (Now why did everyone start thinking of me, I wonder.....) Mac n cheese YES. I am sure everyone has a bunch of recipes. The most sophisticated one I know uses a blend of cheeses, including some bleu, but it is all basically a white sauce with lots of cheese and whatever add ins. I usually use beer for the liquid plus mustard (dry) and worcestershire sauce for seasoning. I usually add in scallions and whatever else veg or meat (or nothing) that I have around. Instead of hot dogs, how about some of the gourmet sausages - we had a chicken with apple and asiago cheese one recently, but I have also seen seafood sausage, etc. Let your dipping sauce fit the ingredients. Chicken strips or nuggets: I would do a more sophisticated breading like maybe crushed tortilla chips, chili seasoning, and minced dried papaya or mango and then do a dipping sauce with lime, cilantro and chili in it (I'm thinking mayo, sour cream or yogurt based, but you could also do a really neat salsa - mango and black bean comes to mind). I like the speghetti o's, and there are little pasta rings you can get (I think they are basically cross cut elbow mac). How about a puttanesca or vodka sauce with that? Of course, no kid dinner is complete without jello. I'd do boozy jigglers. Sounds like you are going to have some fun!
KathyB

I love all of the ideas! I think the puttanesca sauce sounds good - maybe do that AND the mac and cheese. Diane - I am sending you a PM. The mini corn dogs are a good idea too - I happen to know this crowd loves them. And THANKS for the paper plate idea. I always pride myself on using real china for these dinners but then have to contend with the mess afterwards. This is a perfect excuse to use paper. And the boozy jigglers is great too - I want to deplete my bar before the big move.

I KNEW I could count on you guys!

I did a dinner along those lines one time, and my favorite was the green chile macaroni & cheese. So if you and your friends enjoy spicy food, this could be a fun option. It's green chile season too, which means you might have a better time finding them in the grocery store. Here's the link to the recipe I used.

Green Chile Macaroni

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OK did my final shopping yesterday. Here's the menu:

Diane's mac and cheese
Mini corn dogs
Grilled Keilbasa with mustard sauce
Homemade spaghetti o's. I found little O's. I am going to make the sauce from DD- Saturday night fever pasta. It's easier than a puttanesca from scratch and I have to work all day.
I made jello shots yesterday. Island pineapple jello with malibu coconut rum! Yum!

I bought kiddie paper plates, etc. And lots of kiddie snacks like goldfish, etc.

Didn't realize it's going to be 92 here tomorrow. So I just emailed my neighbor to see if I can use his oven for the mac and cheese. My apt + oven on + 20 people = not good. It's HIS birthday so I think he will say yes!

Going to make the cakes tonight. One white cake to look like a sandwich with peanut butter frosting and grape jelly. And then the peanut butter cake recipe from CMD2 made into cupcakes and filled with strawberry jam. Haven't decided if I will leave them like that or frost them as well.

Sounds wonderful. You did a lot of work - hope it is roundly appreciated. Have fun!
KathyB

I. Made. Way. Too. Much. Food.

Ugh. Well part of the problem is people are really bad about rsvp'ing. We have this weekly dinner and you could have anywhere from 12 to 30 people! To be fair, a lot of people did tell me it was a bad night, but I always get nervous. The first time I hosted, I had 27 people....

Anyway. Everything came out great. Diane - that mac and cheese recipe was AWESOME. I made extra sauce since you said it really sucked it up and I am glad I did, it was perfect. I also used a mix of chedder, colby, and jack. I topped with panko and cheese. YUM! Which is a good thing since I have a whole extra 13x9 pan full of it! I put it in the freezer. I sent every single guest home with leftovers as well and I still have a ton of the spaghetti os left.

Did the Saturday Night Fever from DD from the spaghetti Os. It was a hit.

Both the cake and the cupcakes came out really good. The PB&J cake really did look like a sandwich. Lugnut even called his girlfriend to bring a camera!

Jello shots were awesome - pineapple jello and malibu! But I *really* don't know what to do with those leftovers.

I am pleased with the way everything came out, but was really disappointed in the attendance. Then DBF got stuck with a work emergency and didn't get there until 11 PM But he gets total points for showing up anyway! People didn't leave until midnight and I had to get up at 5 AM. Tonight I am going to get take out and watch movies at his place and pretend that my apartment is not in shambles. If I can't see it then it's not there, right?

And I found a gray hair last night!

I'm 32. It's my 4th one.

Glad your dinner was a hit. I know what you mean about LOs; happens to me all the time. I have just learned to make only things I really love Soooo sorry about the gray hair. [I found my first when I was 36, the day of the microbiology final in med school, and then it was a whole patch! (See what micro did to me?!?) It was all downhill after that; I think I'm putting my hair dressers kids thru college.]
KathyB

I'm sorry about the attendance; people are very bad about RSVPing. I'm really pleased that the food came out well. I was worried that the macaroni and cheese recipe wouldn't be what you were looking for; I sure am glad you liked it!
Diane

But wondering if i could get the recipe for the mac and cheese? i am looking for something that will knock the socks off my DH, and i think this may be it!
And i know the feeling about the gray hair, i found my first one this week, and i just turned 30! [/u]

Looch,
I just sent you a private message with the macaroni and cheese recipe. I can't post it, since it is copyrighted. I hope you enjoy it!
Diane