Pho for Pho-ty

While we haven't had any ice storms this winter (thank goodness), it was still cold enough for our annual Pho Party a few weeks ago.

This year's dinner party was the largest crowd yet! Around 40 people came for dinner, which meant it was a lively fun night. 

Since I knew it was going to be a larger crowd, I did get a few more pounds of extra beef bones and made an extra large pot on the stove to add to the large turkey fryer when I got low on broth. Since I was already at Sam's Club picking up brisket and eye of round, the store had some good looking ox tail so I grabbed a package of that and added it to the broth. 

I added pre-made veggie eggrolls to the apps roster this year. While I know how to make viet eggrolls, timing was an issue so I decided to cheat and get the Saigon Eggrolls. The Saigon Eggrolls are actually pretty legit and are a good option if you're in a hurry but still want quality. 

From left to right: banh pate chaud, veggie eggrolls, turkey meatballs, tofu spring rolls. (Photo Credit: Angi W.)

The other apps were the same: banh pate chaud, tofu spring rolls and turkey meatballs.

I also made 4 gallons of cider (recipe will be up later) and Micah made some tepache (pineapple wine) along with several other brews.

Manning the noodle line.

While it was a BUSY night, we had a great time and people left with full tummies. That's all a hostess can ask for. 

By the end of the night, I only had a few quarts of broth leftover. Success!

Previous Pho Parties

• 2011 in San Antonio
• 2014 
• 2015

Slurp it Up! Annual Pho Party!

10 pounds of fresh pho noodles, 22 pounds of beef bones, five gallons of pho broth, 75 tofu spring rolls, two pounds of turkey meatballs, three dozen banh pate chaud and three dozen guests. That all happened at our annual Pho Party last weekend. 

• Last year's party
• Pho recipe

We host this party every winter and while it's a lot of work, it's always a good time! I started cooking at 8 a.m. and the kitchen was open for service at 6 p.m. 

I always forget to take photos of the food, but a friend did take this picture of me putting meatballs into the broth. Look at all that goodness! Along with the pho, In addition to the usual spring rolls and banh pate chaud, I also made Viet turkey meatballs. I used this recipe but instead of chicken, I used ground turkey.

Last year, I didn't have enough large Asian soup bowls so I had to wash bowls inbetween guests -- I had to avoid that this year. I can always buy more bowls at the Asian market, but the melamine bowls are expensive (usually around $5-$7/bowl depending on the size) and I don't need 40 bowls in the house.

So, I went to Amazon to see what disposable options were available. I came across these biodegradable bowls in various sizes. After a quick hot water test (Micah's my own personal America's Test Kitchen), we decided the 32 oz. bowls would hold up for our pho needs - we did ask guests to double up on the bowls just to make it sturdier. I wish they had a 40 oz. size, but the 32 oz. worked. Unfortunately, they only come in 500 packs so now I have 500 bowls sitting in the pantry!

A special thanks to Suz for helping be my sous chef a few hours before the party! I wouldn't have gotten everything done without her help! And thank you guys for coming up from San Antonio! She's also having twins, so I made sure to feed all three of them very well. 

Since we had so many guests coming, we made Micah's brew room our drink station. 

Guests at the main dining table.

More guests at our secondary table.

My friend, Adrienne, also made this awesome cherry pie! It was muy delicioso.

The next day, I ended up with about six quarts of pho broth. I gifted a couple of quarts and kept the rest for myself. I usually keep a quart in the freezer in case I have a hankering for some pho.

With all the leftovers, I had pho for breakfast the next morning. Breakfast of champions!

RSVP Rant

On a side note, as someone who hosts several large parties throughout the year, I really appreciate it when people RSVP. I need people to RSVP to know how much food to make. I was just thinking the other day that maybe Facebook invites are too casual. That maybe it's too easy to RSVP "yes" but don't actually show up. It's fine if you tell me you won't be able to make it or a last minute issue came up, that I get.

And then there are the "maybe" folks. I would say that most people who say "maybe" don't have any intention of coming anyway, so just say "no." If you have young kiddos, I understand the "maybe" because you never know when something comes up with your kiddo/babysitter/etc.

Do you think a more formal evite would eliminate those issues?
Do you have the same issues with RSVP's? What do you use (paperless post, Facebook, evite)?

Pho For a Crowd: Dinner Party For Two Dozen People

Over the past few months, we've had half-a-dozen winter storms" in Austin. What city am I living in? I only like one ice storm every five years, please. When it's cold, it's only appropriate to warm up with a hot bowl of pho!

I had my annual pho party a few weeks ago and the only proof of said party is this one picture that a friend took of me!

In the midst of prepping noodles for my guests, I completely forgot to take pictures of the appetizers.

I made three dozen banh pate chaud and rolled nearly 60 tofu spring rolls! To give myself some time, I premade the pate chauds the week before, froze them and baked them the night of the party.

Banh pate chaud is basically puff pastry stuffed with a ground meat mixture. I'll post the recipe soon!

I'm still using the same electric fryer to make my broth. For this 5 gallon container, I used 13 pounds of beef bones and another 3 pounds of short rib bone. I got the short ribs from the Korean grocery store and it definitely made the broth richer and sweeter. I started the broth at 10 a.m. and dinner was served around 7 p.m.

My original pho recipe (on a smaller scale) can be found here.

What was my biggest hiccup of the night? Hungry people waiting for their bowl of pho! Even though I had plenty of appetizers and there were plenty of drinks to go around, most of the two dozen guests descended around the same time. I left the invite dinner time open-ended so I was hoping for staggered guests but hungry bellies prevailed.

I started an assembly line to cook the noodles and then the guests chose their cuts of meat and filled their own bowls with the broth. We had two tables set-up with pho accoutrements, chopsticks and soup spoons.

Even though it was a busy night, it all worked out great in the end and Micah and I had a fabulous time chatting, dining and drinking with friends.