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Sound advice from Lazygardens. Risotto for 30 isn't that hard, especially if it's a side rather than a main. The thing is, it's almost impossible to make in a kettle. I mean, it'll be rice, but getting the starch to shed and the right amount of evaporation in a tall, deep vessel, is awfully hard. If she has room to do it in a full sized pan over a couple of burners, it shouldn't be too hard, especially if she has a paddle to stir with. It's much easier than a spoon for that kind of quantity. If there isn't a holding oven or steam table or something, and it can't be kept on the stove, it would be better to cool it completely, when it's just barely done, and refrigerate it. The shallow pan makes cooling easier too. It can be heated up in smaller batches, in a regular skillet, with some additional stock if there isn't enough burner space for the whole pan. If there's an oven it can be reheated in, that would work too, with a little adjustment of the liquid, and a few stirs. Not optimal, but okay for hungry kids. :) If that's not an option, and it won't be held for very long, it can be covered with foil and wrapped in Turkish towels (hot, steamy ones), but that's risky, especially for feeding children who are more susceptible, and heating it completely to pathogen killing temperature would be problematic. It should remain out of the danger zone with the Turkish towels, but the temperature must be checked at various points through the whole pan, and if there's a chance it'll need to be rewarmed, it's better to start with a system where it needs to be rewarmed than doing it on the fly. Theoretically, there isn't much in risotto that would develop bacteria that radically, but it's not worth the risk. For scaling recipes, the important thing to remember is that salt doesn't scale at the same rate as the bulk--you generally need less--and other seasonings also have a different rate. It's also much easier to scale by weight, including liquids, than by volume. Any recipe that calls for adding liquid to cover, or any such thing where there's an interaction between the size of the bulk, the size of the pot, and the amount of liquid, is going to be wrong. Again, using a shallow pan is going to be the most like home cooking, but the amount of liquid, and its consistency are going to be off for making jus or gravy. It could need to be reduced, or added to and reduced. A good strategy is to make a separate liquid for serving, and save tonight's pan juices for tomorrow's meal. Most recipes can be scaled to twice their size without adjustment other than being careful of too much salt. Three times, is trickier and requires some general feeling of knowing how to cook to do on the fly. Two times done thrice (three separate pans) might be enough to feed her 30, though. A good alternative is to start with recipes already designed for volume. If you search the 'net, you can find all kinds of catering recipes as well as restaurant recipes. You might even find analogues of the recipes you do at home, where you can crib quantities by matching ingredients. Be careful, again, of the salt, though. Most catering/restaurant recipes have too much salt, because it's harder to taste complex flavors in un-calm environments. Young people have more acute taste buds and generally hate food that's that salty. A pretzel covered with coarse salt, yum, a piece of chicken with a fraction of that amount of salt? Stank face.

Do a search for kale in the search button and you'll find lots of great ideas. There were a couple of threads about kale in the past couple of months. One recipe that was shared by Teresa_nc7 was her Zuppa Toscana recipe. I've made it a number of times and it's great to keep in the freezer. This is the recipe and her words, and it's the only way that I make it, and I've also used ham. I made this in a Le Creuset oven on top of the stove, browning the onion and garlic in the fat from the sausage. Then I cooked the potatoes and kale in the broth, sausage, onion, and garlic for about 1/2 hr. I then mixed the flour with 1/2 'n 1/2 cream mixed with 2% milk (1/2 cup each) and stirred that into the soup to thicken it for about 15 more cooking time. This was very good! Zuppa Toscana 1 pound Italian Sausage (spicy) - breakfast link sausage works fine too 4 to 6 Russet Potatoes :bite sized cubes 1 Onion :minced 1/4 cup chopped cooked bacon - fine to leave out 2 tablespoons Garlic, minced 32 ounces Chicken Broth 1/2 bunch Kale (or Swiss Chard), destem & cut into bite sized pieces 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream 2 tablespoon Flour Brown sausage links in a sauté pan. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut slices. Place sausage, chicken broth, garlic, potatoes and onion in slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and meat. Cook in crock pot on high 3-4 hours (low 5-6 hours) until potatoes are soft. 30 minutes before serving: Mix flour into cream removing lumps. Add cream and kale to the crock pot, stir. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. source: myrecipes.com

Are we talking about top soil? If so, I'd be offering it for SALE to a contractor. Offering it on Craigslist or Freecycle is also a good idea. When I have extra soil or "dirt," I've used it to augment the grade around my foundation so that it slopes away from the house. That tends to erode and it's so important. I also use it to create mounds on which to plant new trees and shrubs that could use more root run and drainage on my ledge rocky property. It can give them an extra foot or two or three of height, which is equivalent to a few years headstart for a screen. But I think you're looking for more fun, creative ideas, which I hope will be forthcoming. May we offer more fun ways to spend that 7,000?