What types of rings should I prepare for a huge June party with over 80 guests?

[dymplz8]

Well, I just got off the phone with a lady who wants to host a party in June. The kicker is, that she lives in one of those retirement communities and is sending out invitations to every single household - Over 80 homes. Each month they have a community breakfast and a friend of mine who is the property manager for the community brought some of our rings with breakfast fillings. Now everyone wants the recipe and they want me to prepare different types of rings at their party. Of course I will prepare quite a few ahead of time, but what different types of rings or wreaths do you suggest I do? I'm thinking I'll need about 4 different types. I want the one with the most products to be the one that I actually prepare in front of the ladies . So, this has the potential to be a big party, my friend did a premier jewelry party with this community 2 months ago and had 44 people show up. :sing: Any suggestions on food and how to keep this many women entertained would be great.

 

[janetupnorth]

My best advice is remember, you ARE NOT a caterer. You are there to demo and sell PC stuff.The recipes are for them to taste not eat. You can suggest your host make some ahead of time or make your show more interactive and have groups make them.

 

[vwpamperedchef]

Keep it simple!! A trifle would be a great sampler....

 

[cwinter474]

I like the Taco Ring and the Pepperoni Braid. I think this is a great idea!! So many seniors don't get enough attention or invites to parties. Remember they most likely are on fixed incomes.

Bravo to you for doing this!!!!!

 

[dannyzmom]

I did a similar thing recently for a similar group. They called it a fundraiser and had me come to their monthy ladies meeting. Over 50 ladies showed up. They were loud and chatty throughout my demo...and only 12 placed orders. Sales barely hit $800. Seniors are on fixed incomes. It sounds more like they are looking for a caterer. Do ONE recipe. The gal in charge can make as much as she wants ahead of time to feed her people.

 

[chefjeanine]

My best advice is remember, you ARE NOT a caterer. You are there to demo and sell PC stuff.

The recipes are for them to taste not eat.

You can suggest your host make some ahead of time or make your show more interactive and have groups make them.

Absolutely! If they want to feed the group, they need to prepare the majority of the food. Perhaps a few (5 or 6) could get a recipe (different fillings) from you and they could prepare ahead and bring.

You can then demonstrate how to make a ring in front of the group so they can see how easy it is to prepare. If you have a large attendance, you probably will not want to do this as an interactive show.

 

[Kitchen2u]

My best advice is remember, you ARE NOT a caterer. You are there to demo and sell PC stuff.

The recipes are for them to taste not eat.

You can suggest your host make some ahead of time or make your show more interactive and have groups make them.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I was reading your post...

 

[pampered.chris]

I might do the potato demo or just show different ways to use the products, maybe not necessarily prepare a recipe. Just get a few things to show the products. Unless of course the hostess provides the ingredients, then I would only do ONE recipe.
I had a hostess ask me to make 3 recipes and 2 of each. She had a $1300 show and only 10 people showed, so there was WAY TOO much food. She wanted to do another one and have me make dinner, I told her that I could give her the recipes and she could make extras but I would only be making one recipe at her show. Ended up her hubby lost his job and she cancelled her show. I was disappointed, but kind of relieved. That was REALLY hard work to make that many in just 2 hours. (and it took 2 hours to do all of the cooking!!)

 

[Nanisu]

Ok, but this could be a great way to get bookings--yes, seniors love to chat and sometimes don't spend much $$, but they can be so darn sweet too! I would do a quick demo--a trifle, and do a quick handout on power/investment cooking--something they can prepare and then freeze in smaller sized portions. Many of them have sons/daughters that like to cook--and many of them are in church groups, etc. I would go for bookings. You could get into a great "relvolving group" this way and it could lead to something big--i have done many shows with seniors that led to church group shows, fundraisers, and many of them "have a daughter that loves Pampered Chef and would love to do a show". Think positive!

 

[dymplz8]

Thanks for all of the ideas, I should probably update everyone a bit. I found out that this is not a "retirement community" so it's not full of seniors on a fixed income. It is one of those well to do condo/Villa communities, so there are families and such there as well. I've already had two ladies from this community call in the past two days who cannot make it to the party and each placed an $80 order.

I do agree with everyone though, that I'm not there to be a caterer for this group, so I think what I will do is have the lady who is hosting the show prepare one of the rings that they want and then I will demonstrate how to put together another type of ring. I thought I would also print out a paper with different fillings that they can use and also stress that the "All the Best" Cookbook has many different fillings to use as well. They seem to be really excited about learning to make the rings and wreaths.
I'm also going to prepare a red, white & Blue Trifle as well.

 

[chefmeg]

Hi dymplz8..where in VA are you? I am in Chesterfield, outside of Richmond! Who is your recruiter....director????? Maybe we know each other & don't know it!

 

[dymplz8]

I'm in Bedford, VA near Lynchburg.