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[jdmessner]

I mentioned in a previous post that there is a veteran's group that recently purchased an old elementary school. They are turning it into a multi use building for veteran support. This includes renovating classrooms into short term apartments, counseling, and recreational opportunities. The group is called 22-2-none. The goal is to reduce the number of veteran suicides from 22 a day to none. They have been in the building just shy of a year.

I  asked if I could do something for them for Christmas. They are having their Christmas party during the Army - Navy game on December 11. I will be doing the food for the party.

My plan is to do a beef, pork, and chicken dish. People will be grazing, rather than a sit down meal. After talking with the program director I think we hit on a great football/party menu.

For the beef I offered brisket or Italian beef. They wanted the Italian Beef, which was my preference. I am going to smoke a whole top sirloin roast to be used for Italian Beef or Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches.

For the pork I offered pulled pork or brats. Once again they went with my first choice, the brats. This will be very versatile. They can have a brat on its own or tucked in with the Italian Beef. I'll also have peppers and onions that can go on brats or the Cheesesteak.

For the chicken I think I will just go with drumsticks. Can't afford wings these days. I'll have a variety of sauces to go with them.

They are taking care of sides and desserts. However I may need to sneak in a few just for fun!

Let me know what you think, any ideas or suggestions are appreciated!

[02ebz06]

Kudos to you!!!   
Very nice of you to offer to do that.
As for the menu, that sounds spot on to me.

[urnmor]

Thank you

[Kristin Meredith]

Your menu sounds spot on to me JD, except maybe a few fish sticks since it is the Army-NAVY game!

[Bentley]

I will give you a tip that (former Member here from Milwaukee, Phrett RIP) & his wife Jeri passed on to me at the American Royal regarding cooking brats.  Steam tray, filled with beer, a 1/2lb of butter & lots of whole sliced onions.  It is left at a simmer till onions are soft and translucent and brats are added.  You then pull them out and cook on flattop, grill, skillet till casing snaps and then add your brat and onions to bun!

[jdmessner]

Shopping is mostly done for Saturday:
21 lbs. Top Round of beef
56 Beer Brats
70 Chicken Drumsticks
6 lbs. Yellow Onions
8 Green Pepper
4 lbs. Butter (May not need that much, but you can never have too much butter)!
Forgot the fish sticks!

As I mentioned before, people will be grazing most of the afternoon and into the evening, rather than sitting down for a meal. So I think I should be covered.

Using FMT's Italian beef recipe. I have made it several times before and it has not disappointed.
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=1718.msg19598#msg19598

I like the simplicity of ScottE's "Hot Wing" Drumsticks. I have a Buffalo, Hot Buffalo, and Garlic Parmesan seasonings. I may wrap bacon around the Hot Buffalo Wings to help tell them apart. I also have a variety of BBQ sauces to be used for dipping.
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=324.0

I will follow Bentley's advice for the most part on the brats.

The plan is to keep the sliced beef in the gravy in a chafing dish. Someone else is picking up the buns, so I will need to talk with them soon to make sure we are on the same page. I figure people can mix and match as they see fit with a fairly traditional Italian beef sandwich, with or without sausage, onions, green peppers, cheese, or giardiniera. Or, if they wish, there is always just a plain brat. 

The countdown begins. Looking forward to Saturday!

If you are interested in the organization, here is a link to the 22-2-None website: https://www.222none.org/

[jdmessner]

Almost game time and I think we are almost set. Smoked the beef last night and sliced it this morning. Brought the Chimp with and smoked the drumsticks on site. Hope it is a good game!

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[02ebz06]

As Alton Brown would say: That's some "Good Eats"
Nicely done !!!

[Bar-B-Lew]

I had logged on here with the intent of asking where the food pics were for the gameday event you had planned.  You beat me to it.  Looks great.  Have a great time.  Curious to get your thoughts on the Italian Beef.

[Kristin Meredith]

It all looks wonderful!  Hope everyone enjoys the day.

[SmokinHandyman]

Very nice. I am sure it will be greatly appreciated! 

[Bar-B-Lew]

great game

[jdmessner]

great game

Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of the game. Ended up on the cleanup crew! Santa came in at halftime, so they paused the game. By the time they restarted the game, I was ready to head out. Here are a couple more pictures.

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[jdmessner]

Curious to get your thoughts on the Italian Beef.

Here is a bit of a recap for the day. It was kind of a strange day all the way around. In the morning I found myself shoveling snow in a thick fog with thunder and lightning. It was alternating snow and rain all day. I guess that means I live in Michigan.

The beef itself turned out very good. However, I must have miscalculated with the gravy spices. I probably increased the recipe more than I should have. I thought it tasted kind of bitter, but I wasn't sure of what kind of corrective action to take. I don't know what I did wrong. Others seemed to like it.

The buns were purchased by someone else and out of my control. They were mini sub buns. I was hoping they would hold a brat or a beef sandwich. The buns were very small and would not hold a brat. They also tended to dissolve when dipped.
 
It is hard to use someone else’s kitchen for the first time. They had a nice older steam table and set it all up for me. However, I did not realize cold water was used instead of hot to begin with and it never got to the point where it created steam. The brats were on the table for a while before serving and were cold.

So, I guess the bottom line was that people enjoyed the food and overall things turned out OK. However, they could have been better. I was disappointed, but I know what to do differently if I get the chance in the future.   

[Kristin Meredith]

Using a new kitchen always comes with a learning curve, but it does not seem that things went wrong, just a few little mistakes which will be easy to correct next time.  The pictures show folks having a good time and that is the best!