I have been meaning to sit down and write about this for some time, and just haven't gotten around to it.  (I was also hoping that my husband would send me some of the pictures he snapped, but oh well.)  Anyway, several weeks ago I cooked a meal for 37 people in the church kitchen.  It was to kick off this new program we are starting called Dinner for 8.  Once a month during the summer, everyone will get together and have dinner together.  For the first dinner, we would be all together with hosts for each table of eight.  For the later ones, hosts would volunteer to have people in their homes. 

My husband had asked me to make dinner for a large group at the church in the spring, but we couldn't coordinate it, so nothing happened.  This time around, I said I would.  But then of course, the dilemma of what to make.  These are mostly older couples used to good food.  My usual standbys for these situations are lasagna or beef enchiladas.  Lasagna doesn't seem very spring like, and while I had made enchiladas for 90 people before, I wasn't sure that would work either, because it involved too many extras and side dishes to worry about.  

Anyone who reads my blog (not that I think anyone does much) might remember that I have been trying out new dishes and recipes since we have been here.  That is part of the reason that I got subscriptions to Everyday Food Magazine and Cooking Light.  I had several ideas about what to make, Soy Glazed Pork with Asian Vegetables, Orange Chicken, Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes...

We decided that the orange chicken might not appeal to everyone, and the baked penne dish was too casserole and not fancy enough.  So that left the pork, which was nice because with the vegetables that cook with it, you really just need a salad and some rice to round out the meal.  The original recipe is here, but now that I have made it several times, last time (one that counted the most) being the best, let me tell you how I made it. 

First, although it is best with pork tenderloin, I have made this with regular pork loin, which is cheaper and just as good.  Be sure you cut it in small enough pieces though.  Secondly, I have never been able to find snow peas at the store here and have used snap peas instead, and might even like them better anyway.  Third, I am cheap, and have a hard time paying the $1 or so a pound more that red or orange bell peppers cost, so I usually mix in half green bell peppers.  Finally, and this is perhaps the most important change, DON'T broil this, I never could get it to work.  The vegetables were burnt, the pork not done yet.  Instead, use 2 different baking/roasting pans, and put the pork on one and the vegetables on the other.  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, and roast the pork for about 10-15 minutes and then add the pan of vegetables and roast together for about 10 minutes more.  

This was great for the dinner because all the prep can be done ahead.  I did take me about 3 hours to prepare the vegetables, but into ziploc bags they went, ready for transporting to the church.  I worried about making rice for a crowd, and ended up bringing 2 pots from home and using one from the church kitchen.  The one from the church had no lid!  (Thanks to Dave Lieberman, I knew to fashion one out of foil.)  I measured out the water and rice for each, and put them on to heat.  Then I made the salads, which were plated on huge platters.  I combined romine and icegerg lettuce mix, and added cucumbers and carrots and grape tomatoes.  Inspired by an extra bag of snap peas, I sliced them in half on the diagonal and added them also.  Really, this was all abou the presentation, a mound of lettuce encircled by perfect cucumber slices with a pile of tomatoes in the middle and carrots and peas sprinkled overall.  It would have been even better with almonds, but I hadn't thought about that when I was at the store.  It was served with Wishbone Asian Sesame and Ginger salad dressing.  So sue me, I didn't make my own dressing.  I did make the honey-soy sauce sauce for the pork and veggies. 

My husband, logical and rational being that he is, helped me figure out the timing of cooking everything.  (If we are going to eat at this time, the food has to be out at this time, and if the meat takes this many minutes and the veggies and rice that many minutes...)  Everything was going well exept the rice.  The water wasn't boiling on time, not even in the smallest pot with the flame turned up.  For just a minute, I started to worry.  Finally one pot boiled, and then the next.  The last pot took forever, but in the end, we had more rice than we needed.  Turns out that making a lot of rice is just like making a small amount. 

One fun thing about the dinner is that each table host had decorated their table and brought special centerpieces and even their own dishes and glasses to use for the meal.  So once everything came together, the three of us stood in the back, slicing pork and dishing up rice and vegetables on plates.  The sauce was passed at the table.  Everything came out perfectly, even the rice in the end.  Many people told me how much they enjoyed the meal, and that was nice.  I even got to eat a little, and then had waaaaaay too much spinach and artichoke dip that was left over from the appetitizers along with a piece of key lime pie.  (Someone else had brought both, so it was good just to eat.)  

So now that I have survived cooking in the church kitchen, I am sure I won't get out of cooking for COW (Church on Wednesday) next time around...but I am lookign forward to the next Dinner for Eight.  Maybe I'll bring a desert this time.