First of all, 20 really isn't many....if they ae couples that's only 10 couples. Secondly, if you ae "having a party" why ask people to bring a dish?
I would make something that could stand, like a casserole you could keep warm and a salad...a broccoli salad is nice and can stand for a while without wilting and that corn and black bean thing I call "cowboy caviar" and add a pasta salad of the no mayo type with a marinade, and then have an assort ment of slider sized sandwiches....ham and sliced turkey, corned beef. Some finger veggies, and a couple of chunks of cheese for munchies during cocktail time....a platter of cookie bars and you are there.
Or you could do a crock pot of pulled pork....or pulled turkey, buns to put it with, a hot casserole of baked beans and a bowl of slaw....and the usual veggies pickles etc.
I went to a party for easily 100 a couple of weeks ago, and they had a roaster of maid-rites, baked beans, all sorts of chips and celery and carrot sticks, a few big serve-your-self pieces of cheese, crackers and platters of different dessert bars. There was a cooler with wine and plastic stemmed glasses and other coolers with beer, water and sodas, and another thermos with iced tea....which went dry way too quickly!
I think people prefer just going without having to worry about fixing something to take>
I used to host the cast party for the community theater, and would ask people to bring things like a bag of chips, or sandwich buns and a carton of dip or sodas and I would cook a whole ham and make a big vat of slaw and another of pasta salad.....but then others would come with a bowl of something that needed to be heated or a frozen pizza that needed to be cooked or a plastic bag of shrimp that needed a bowl....and my table was running over and I had no place for plates and napkins.

Don't know how long the party will be or how far away your kitchen is, but you could put the food in smaller pans and then keep warm in the kitchen and just bring out a fresh pan after one gets used up. You could do that easily with baked penne. I might add something like a salad with marinated grilled vegetables that I made ahead of time. Ratatouille is great at room temp. This is peak fruit and veggie time, I would definitely want to take advantage of that with lots of fresh stuff, like some kind of veggie salad, perhaps crudites, and maybe some sangria. I like the white kind with lots of fruit in it, I make peach sangria with peach schnapps, berries, etc.

If you are going to make Mac & Cheese, try out Modernist Cuisine's recipe. Very easy, very nice.

dcarch

How about a crock pot of 'Italian Beef'?

If you can afford it and have a good deli around, some of the best dinner parties are when I get mostly deli-made stuff (salads, entrees, desserts, etc.) and compliment that with some easy peasy unique things I make myself. Like Linda said, bar cookies are a great "make ahead" thing, or some kind of marinated salad, etc. I make my Sangria with "natural" 7-UP, which is basically what you would get with a recipe that called for making simple syrup, adding soda water and lemon and lime juice, and then the white wine, schnapps (or liqueur) and the special part that I add is the fresh in-season fruit. That's the kind of thing that makes entertaining fun, the way you put it together, not how fancy it necessarily is. Pasta, antipasta spread (everyone can pick what they like to eat) and dessert, you can't go wrong with that. If you want to impress everyone, throw in something like a shrimp or crab and avocado salad . . . Here's a recipe from Smitten Kitchen which would pair beautifully with some crab or shrimp, Obsessively-good-avocado-cucumber-salad

How about pulled pork sandwiches and cole slaw on buns. Maybe corn on the cob and a tossed salad or pasta salad to go along with that. Maybe a fruit tray or a cheese tray. keep it simple and enjoy your guests. maybe a choice of pies or homemade ice cream with toppings. Iced tea and lemonade for drinks.

Thank you all for so many excellent suggestions. And such a wide variety. I'd never even heard of Italian beef before but it sounds really easy. I really appreciate it all. I'm going to wait until I get more RSVPs before I decide what specifically I want to do, but you all have certainly got my brain cells firing and inspired! This is just great.

Annie, I got the recipe for Italian Beef from this cooking forum several years ago... I still haven't found it while searching. It's (from memory) a large hunk of beef (or pork) in the crockpot, a jar of pepperoncini peppers w/ the juice/brine, some sliced onion, and a beef bouillon cube. Cook til tender and shred the meat before serving on rolls. Cheese toppings optional. Everyone loves it and it's SO SIMPLE!

Party, is this it?

Italian beef

CindyMac, I found the original recipe that I've used for years... it was actually from a different cooking forum. lol!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

3-5 lbs. roast.....beef or beef & pork
Sliced onion to taste...optional
2-3 beef bouillon cubes
1 10 oz. jar mild pepperoncini peppers/juice+peppers

Cut roast into several chunks. Put in crock pot or slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients.

Cook
for 6-8 hours on low. Take meat out of crock pot and shred/chop. Peppers can also be chopped smaller if desired (i.e., if using whole pepperonchini, remove stems and chop). Put meat and peppers back into crock
pot. Some of the juice maybe taken off at this time also, if too
sloppy.

Serve on small buns or sour dough French bread with melted cheese, if desired.

Oh my goodness, NO to that Italian beef recipe!!!!! No offense intended, party music, I'm sure yours is good, just not... authentic? Definitely serve the peperoncini, and also mild and hot giardiniera (both jarred), but on the side, and make the beef this way:

Chuck roast, 3-5 lbs, boneless

Head of garlic separated into cloves and peeled

Yellow onions, 2, sliced

Salt and pepper...lots and lots of both!

A little water, maybe a half cup or so

Put all in the crock pot a day or two before the party, cook on low until roast falls apart, when cool refrigerate it as is. Before serving, remove most but not all the surface fat accumulated on the top, reheat till warm, remove all the chunks of fat, shred the beef, heat and return it to the crock pot for serving. You will have tons of jus for serving the best, easiest Italian beef you can imagine.

I'm Italian! Trust me on the recipe! My father and his parents made it this way from the 1920s on, except they made it in the oven at 275° overnight to sell in their store in Chicago. And they made a heck of a lot of it, day in, day out, year after year.

Ah! Chicago! From what I've read, that is the home of Italian Beef!

OTOH, in the end, PM's sounds like a variation rather than an imitation. Bouillon cubes are what all the old Italian mamas use in Italy, and are a tremendous source of a lot of salt, the pepper juice does for the water, and the peppers themselves are pungent and a good substitute for garlic. It might be a recipe devised by someone who couldn't tolerate garlic.

It all sounds good. :)

My family is divided on the pepperoncini, half like it and half don't, go figure. They couldn't possibly all agree on one dish, LOL.

So, if Elery's family is coming, I use a recipe much like Party Music's, and the more pepperoncini, the better. If it's my family, I make the beef more like sheesh says, and serve pepperoncini on the side, and no one eats the peppers except Elery, LOL. Dave and Bud promptly douse the beef with catsup while I'm trying to fish the onions out and put them all on MY sandwich.

It's all good....

OK, so the party. I just made this salad when Elery's middle son and DIL were here, and it was very good and can be made a few hours ahead. I found that it held well, but not overnight.

Grilled Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing:

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 ears of fresh sweet corn
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Remove husks from corn and grill over medium heat for 10 minutes. The corn should have some brown spots and be tender and not mushy. Cut the corn off the cob then scrape the cob with the back of your knife to get the juices. Set aside and let cool. Slice the tomatoes in half. Dice the avocado and chop the cilantro.

Honey Lime Dressing:

• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Dash of cayenne pepper

Add all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Combine the sliced tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and grilled corn and honey lime dressing and mix gently so everything is evenly coated. Be careful not to mash the avocados. Let the salad sit for 10-15 minutes to let flavors mingle. Enjoy.

This came from a blog, fortheloveofcooking.net. I think grilling is a huge pain and I don't do it, so I didn't grill the corn, I just stuck it in the microwave. I didn't have cherry tomatoes, only the big slicing ones, so I diced those up. I used local honey and squeezed a couple of limes and it was delicious.

Annie

It all sounds very interesting...never had it...I'll have to try it!

Annie -regarding the grilled corn, avocado and tomato salad -- I had this exact recipe at a pool party this past weekend --- it was fantastic! (I don't even like corn that much).

You can buy frozen "roasted corn kernels" at Trader Joes (which is what the person who made the salad did.

You can also parch frozen corn in a dry skillet....it's an "OK" substitute. I make a salad like that but I add black beans and use olive oil.

Yummy...I'll have to try that Corn-Avocado recipe; I always have TJ's roasted corn in the freezer.

Patio
Party-I rarely have a picnic, cookout, covered dish without Sherry's
Pasta Salad (you remember Sheshebop). Her recipe is for 70 people but I
have cut it to 1/4 of the original recipe.

Sherry's Macaroni Salad
1 lb. macaroni

1/4 bag frozen peas

3 celery stocks

1 can black olives

1/2 large onions

2 cups sundried or roasted tomatoes

3 carrot pennies

2 cups shredded cheddar

Dressing

16 oz mayo

2 oz. French dressing

2 tbs cup vinegar

2 tbs cup sugar

1/2 tsp onion salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1/4 cup half and half

1 tbs celery seed

1 tbs Muril of flavor

If you like the pulled pork sandwiches and slaw idea, I have the best recipes. Many many compliments when I serve Pioneer Woman's version.

I make a grilled chicken that is sadly, what I am known for food wise at my church. They go gaga over it, but it is tasty and easy to make ahead.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts, however many you want.

Open each breast up and place in a large, deep sided pan. 13 x 9 inch pan more or less. I use a large Rubbermaid rectangular container that holds more than the 13 x 9 inch.

On each layer of chicken heavily sprinkle dark brown sugar- use hands- drizzle heavily with oil of choice, I use canola, then pour over each breast Moores or Dales marinade. Marinate for 2 days. For about 12 breasts, I use one bottle of Dales. Low sodium is fine too.

Heat grill to smoking hot ( gas is fine) the day before serving. Grill each breast to a nice darkish color on the outside but very rawish inside A little burnt in places is fine. Refrigerate overnight. Save all juices.

Slice into one inch thick slices. Place all juices and sliced chicken a large pan, I use a large Nesco, heat (about 2 hours) until done then turn to low, stirring occasionally.

May also be heated in a covered pan in oven.

Serve.

Seriously, hundreds of people love this chicken and it never ever dries out and is just as good at room temperature as hot.

I usually make 30-40 breasts at a time.

Bumblebeez: Would like to try your chicken, but I have several questions.

By saving all the juices, are you meaning the marinade? And I'm assuming you aren't refrigerating the chicken overnight in the marinade, but saving separately?

At what temperature are you baking? Does the chicken taste sweet or is the sugar mostly for browning the outside?

After putting the chicken on the grill and getting a darkish crust but raw interior -the brown sugar helps with the quick browning- place the chicken in a pan. refrigerate overnight. The next day, slice into thick pieces. There will be juices accumulated in the bottom of the pan, add these to the chicken for the final cooking.

This is not the marinade which is discarded.

The chicken is sweet and salty. The flavor of the Dales or Moores penetrates deeply.

Well the patio party went really well. First, the weather was perfect. Lots of conversation, and lots of people mentioning how glad they were they came to catch up with other folks and all. So that was a success.

Some key learnings. Despite how easy it is to RSVP by email or by phone, very few RSVP'd. Major frustration. Of those that did, one RSVP'd yes that day but never showed. Another RSVP'd a day after and said so sorry we couldn't make it...like that helps. And I had people who showed up who I had no idea were coming. Fortunately we had plenty of food...one of the reasons I like having people bring a dish...more people, more food.

Second, people mostly brought appetizers or desserts. I had only made one dessert (brownies which was a big seller), but I did have too many appetizers. Next time, I'll just do one hot one. I made the kielbasa in the crock pot with rye bread on the side which went like hot cakes, esp when the Polish family arrived! There's none left.

The main meal worked out well. I did a big ham in the crockpot, which was so tender it almost was "pulled ham"! But it makes a lot of juice. I sliced it ahead of time and kept it warm in the pot in the juice and that worked well. I made a raisin sauce on the side in case it was dry....it was nice, but I'm not sure necessary. I thought I'd have a lot of leftover, but the majority of it went.

I made a potato casserole served it in my enameled cast iron pot so even after I took it out of the oven, it stayed warm. I could've used it on the induction cooktop, but it wasn't necessary.

I had coleslaw as the vegetable side dish and got compliments on it.

Rolls and butter too in case people preferred to make a sandwich of the ham and they went pretty quickly too.

Sounds like a roaring success!
When I have a party, I always phone to invite....no paper invitations nor "e-vites" which seem to be popular now. When you talk directly with the person, it's easier to get an answer....and I do it even for big parties with like 40 couples. Takes about half an hour....at dinner time maybe for 3 days in a row and I have contacted everyone.
I have done a few co-hosting with others who insisted on mailed invitations....and have spent time on the phone saying "I didn't hear from you and I want to know how much food to plan"...hate it when people don't RSVP.

Great to hear the PP was a success. You made some good choices.

I don't get this RSVP thing; I often wonder if people don't know what répondez s'il vous plaît means anymore...frustrating.

Thanks for the "Lessons Learned"; I guess it's my corporate background, I always do a lessons learned recap after a function.

Annie D., it sounds like a great party! Thanks so much for the report!

I'm with Linda on the invitations. Even if I leave a voice mail, they're more likely to get back to me, and I will keep calling until I get them live if they don't. My family--the most casual guests (though in the dozens)--always respond to e-mail (personal, not group or e-vites) or written invitations, but they're the ones I'd rather phone anyway! The worst are for things like showers, where you don't know a lot of the guests and they don't respond!

I have a file in my church meal menus file...every occasion, I write down what I bought and fixed, how many came and how much was left over or where we short. And I add a line of what we learned. So far the entries are things like "bread is cheap, buy lots!" and " pasta is cheap, cook an extra pound"....and "5 pounds of potatoes serves 30....believe it....really"....and "no matter what you put on it, kids don't like green salad"...and "everyone loves peanutbutter and jelly with the crust cut off, so fi you are making it for the 10 kids who will come, make lots because a lot of adults will eat some too."

And not written down....but in my mind...."2/3 of the people invited won't respond to a written invitation....and that does not mean they will not come!"

The thing I missed on was, the invite said to bring your own beverage...but most people didn't, unless they brought beer or wine. Well we don't have children and don't drink soda ever. So we had plain and flavored seltzer and wine and beer and water. I don't like to buy soda as some people want coke or pepsi or some want diet or not or decaf or not or whatever and then it just goes bad which irritates DH no end...it's not the expense, but he can't stand to see food spoil and tossed.

I had one container of strawberry lemonade which the kids drank up immediately, but then I was stuck. Fortunately, I called my neighbor with kids who hadn't arrived yet and she brought a bunch of ginger beer, which the kids all drank and were happy with. (I don't even know what ginger beer is!) So next time, definitely I know to not count on people bringing beverages so lots more of something soft to drink. Maybe a punch.

My favorite drinks to serve those who don't want wine or beer is a big cooler if iced tea and another of the lemonade from a powder...country time or other types. It's cheap and I don't feel bad about tossing leftovers.

When serving sodas, I get cans, and fill a huge tub with them. It's fun to have bottles too.