Portions: Lox, bagels and cream cheese

[Mezzaluna]

I need a little help figuring out how much of each of these to buy for an informal buffet on October 2. Here is some information that might figure in:

1. 75% of the diners will be adults. I include about 15 ravenous teenagers in this percentage.
2. The meal will be served after a 24-hour-long fast from food and water (it's at the end of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur), for which about 2/3 of the diners will have fasted.
3. We've had as much as three pounds of lox, but ran out when serving 100 people. This year we have a donation that should cover whatever amound we should have to satisfy everyone with at least one portion of lox.
4. How much cream cheese should we figure per person? Most of it will be plain or chive/onion, but some of it will be sweet (I know my crowd that well).
5. Not everyone takes a whole bagel. I'd guess that 2/3 of them do. (I think I can do the math on this one!)
6. No matter how much lox we buy, it will all be eaten. It's a form of Murphy's Law for temple buffets.
7. We'll have to buy the lox and bagels ahead, and plan to freeze the lox. The bagels will be ordered and picked up earlier in the day.

I await your sage advice! Thanks,
Mezzaluna

[AprilB]

My 14yo daughter can eat 4 oz + in one sitting. What are you serving in addition to the bagels, etc? Yeah, I know it's pareve or dairy. (I used to date a Jewish gentleman and my bro in law is Jewish) I don't know about caviar as far as kosher (haven't really checked into it), but avocado is great with lox and all the above as well..., <as is caviar>. Capers...onion, tomato, balsamic vinegar...hmmm...<getting hungry> Crushed hard boiled eggs...

Would you really need to freeze the lox? I thought by definition the 'smoking' or curing would make it keep for quite some time. Of course I have no idea how long ahead you're planning to purchase it.

I'd say that 2 oz of cream cheese would be a very conservative estimate per person. Especially after a fast. I guess that depends on the size of the schmere...I love a LOT of cream cheese on my bagels. If the fast was any longer I'd revise for stomach shrinkage. <didn't know about the fluid thing...>

If there's a lot of fluid consumption then it would probably alter the numbers as well...

Teens?...pffft....you might as well call Philly and buy stock.
(1 lb of lasagne plus a half gallon of milk per sitting...)<each>

April

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

I need a little help figuring out how much of each of these to buy for an informal buffet on October 2. Here is some information that might figure in:

1. 75% of the diners will be adults. I include about 15 ravenous teenagers in this percentage.
2. The meal will be served after a 24-hour-long fast from food and water (it's at the end of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur), for which about 2/3 of the diners will have fasted.
3. We've had as much as three pounds of lox, but ran out when serving 100 people. This year we have a donation that should cover whatever amound we should have to satisfy everyone with at least one portion of lox.
4. How much cream cheese should we figure per person? Most of it will be plain or chive/onion, but some of it will be sweet (I know my crowd that well).
5. Not everyone takes a whole bagel. I'd guess that 2/3 of them do. (I think I can do the math on this one!)
6. No matter how much lox we buy, it will all be eaten. It's a form of Murphy's Law for temple buffets.
7. We'll have to buy the lox and bagels ahead, and plan to freeze the lox. The bagels will be ordered and picked up earlier in the day.

I await your sage advice! Thanks,
Mezzaluna

[Mezzaluna]

I have since learned that we have been told to order 15 pounds of lox! We're getting 72 bagels; there'll be other breads to choose from, and we usually have leftovers if we buy more than that.

A committee member is asking the bagel shop about how much cream cheese to buy. We'll see how that squares with your calculations, April. Thanks!

I fully agree that teenagers will eat whatever you put out! We usually out out measured amounts of lox so we can replenish it during the meal, or it'll all vanish in the first rush of diners.

[nowIamone]

Just a suggestion, but have you looked at the individual portion sized cream cheese to see how many ounces they are? It will give you something else to guage your estimates by.

[Mezzaluna]

Good idea, NowIamone! Kraft's comes in .75 ounce "tubs" or 1 oz. squeezable packets. I'll keep that in mind when we have the discussion.