Cooking for an Army

When HB and I get together and cook a month's worth of food for two families, we have been cooking and chopping solo in our respective kitchens for several days prior.  I've attempted to document in pictures the vast proportions of food used in this herculean effort.

Cooking insane amounts of food causes one's mind to wander and I've wondered about the sanity of chopping 23 cups of onions!!  Yes, I used my food processor for some of the onions.  However, it is not alway consistent with chopping the onion.  I need to hide from my texture sensitive son so I chopped some of the onions in tiny pieces.  And it makes me cry.  You should smell my house.

Other odiferous offerings: this is what 24 chopped cloves of garlic looks like.  All of it went into the curry.

We used fresh and roasted garlic.  Food photographer I am not.  Let me reassure you, those 8 heads of roasted garlic were incredible. My husband, who eats girl food, said it looked so good he wanted to eat it for breakfast.

Not everything is stinky.  Some of it is kind of sweet - like 8 cups of coconut milk.

Here's what four pounds of garbanzo beans look like after they've been soaked and cooked.  That's almost two gallons of beans!

yummy hummus here we come!

The Cruise Director told me to roast 22 sweet potatoes but I think I roasted a few extra...and we used every single one.

I used a roaster for the first time this week.  It's really just a huge crock pot.

Long story short: last week I let the water boil out of my broth leaving a dry crock pot.  In an early morning stupor, I poured cold water into a very hot (and dry) crock pot.  Do not do that.  It will crack.  You will be sad.  And feel very stupid.

Every cloud has its lining.  I borrowed this roaster from my friend who has TWELVE children.  (Yes they are all biological!  I suppose she feels like she cooks for an army every night.)  This roaster is awesome.  I cooked 3 chickens at the same time.

The next day I cooked three more (total of six) because the Cruise Director told me we needed more chicken.

Another reason this roaster is incredible: BROTH!!  I'm talking GALLONS of broth at one time.  Those are chicken feet in there, people.  Go get you some.

This is just a small glimpse of what it is like to cook for an army.  To read the menu and recipes for our cooking day, go here.

Not pictured: 3 gallons of broth, 60 cups of cooked and chopped chicken, 4 quarts of heavy cream, 5 pounds of butter, 7 pounds of cheese and a lot of soap to wash all the dishes!

-Julie