Wedding reception - cooking ahead and freezing questions

[tmsouth1]

Hi-- everyone. I'm new here. I should have thought about having a place like this to answer questions sooner. I am trying to make most of the food for my daughter's wedding reception. It is May 17 so I have about 8 wks left. I have been preparing some of the appetizers to test, my son loves this.

I need to do as much ahead as possible. I have a number of health problems. But I really thing hopefully I can pull this off with help with my family and friends from church. I am really excited about it.

Anyway I'm making these cheesecake bites that say they can be frozen for 1 month. It is a basic recipe, crm cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar. baked then frozen . Do you think I can push it and start freezing 5 wks ahead of time?

I also have the same question for some ham, cheese quiche tarts. i think the recipe say freezes well. i don't know if they gave a length of time.

I would really, really appreciate any information you can give me about rules of freezing and if you have had any experience making for making these types of foods for large amts of people. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. hope this is not too long.

looking forward to being part of this group and getting to know ya'll better.

Toni

 

[Michael in FtW]

Hi Toni - welcome to DC!

Prolonged freezing will cause changes in texture, flavor and nutritional values. Often 4-weeks or 1-month are suggested in cookbooks or recipes to keep the food as close to "fresh cooked" as possible. I sincerly doubt that you, or your guests, would notice any difference between 4 and 5 weeks - probably not even if extended to 8 weeks.

You might want to read the section How do I ... Freeze foods on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.

I hope one of our members with catering experience will chime in with their experiences and suggestions, too.

Good luck!

 

[Mama]

Hi Toni and welcome!

How exciting to get to cater your daughters wedding!

I agree with Michael, I really don't think 1 week is going to make any difference whatsoever. And, if something says that it freezes well, I would think they would be talking about a lot longer than one month.

 

[Bilby]

Welcome to DC!! I have had frozen quiche that I have kept for a good couple of months with no obvious deterioration and as a commercial cheesecake and quiche will keep very well in the freezer for much greater lengths of time I would imagine you would be fine. Good luck!

 

[tmsouth1]

Thanks all for your help!! I'm glad i found this forum. I'm sure I will have other questions along the way.

 

[LPBeier]

I agree with Bilby about quiche. I did two weddings in two weeks a couple of years ago and so I really had to do stuff ahead. I made quiche Lorraine, shrimp and veggie quiche which would be used for both and did them about 6 weeks before the first wedding, so 2 months before the second. They were excellent. I just heated them in the ovens before and they were a hit at both weddings (thankfully the two guests for both were totally different!). Other things don't do so well. I wouldn't push the cheesecake if you can help it.

 

[mrochester95]

If it's a matter of just a few weeks, you should be fine. Freezing really starts to affect flavor after months, not weeks. Just don't keep thawing it and re freezing.