Graduation Celebrations

Spring brings one of the most important occasions in our children’s lives — graduation time. Graduation is a celebration of both the past and the future. When someone you love is graduating — whether it’s from high school or college, even grade school or preschool — it’s fun to mark the milestone with a gathering of family and friends. Take pride in the accomplishment of someone who’s “made the grade” with these food and party ideas.

Graduation Menu
Homestyle Fried Chicken
3 to 6-Foot Grinders
Hand Tossed Pizza
World Classics Premium Platter
Assorted Desserts
from Big Y Patisserie
Great Grad Cupcakes

School’s out and it’s time to PARTY !
Celebrate! Big Y can help you create the perfect party.
Does planning a party make you feel like you’re taking a final exam? Let Big Y smooth the way. Once you have decided on the dish you would like to make, we can help you round out the rest of the party menu.

Whether it’s a good old-fashioned New England grinder, a parlor-style hand tossed pizza, or a World Class Premium party platter, Big Y has you covered. Our made-to-order 3 to 6-foot grinders carry a pound of premium meat in every foot, not to mention all those extra toppings and cheeses. Our hand tossed pizza is made daily with the freshest ingredients, just the way you want it. And the inviting party platters supply enough meat and cheese to satisfy even the heartiest appetites! Our homestyle fried chicken makes an excellent addition to any buffet table. Serve it hot or cold — just the way your guests like it. Let our party planning experts walk you through all the options and help you make the choices that work best for you. That’s right, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. Big Y is here to make sure that your party planning is almost as much fun as the party itself!

Create a Chili Bar
For those teenage appetites or those pride-filled parents, hearty bowls of Big Y chili are at the top of the menu! For a party atmosphere, you can arrange the chili into a chili bar for the guests to use their own design talents to transform their chili into extra hot, super creamy, oh so mild, or — they can mix it all up and make a stack of nachos, using chili as the perfect topping for those crunchy chips!

Set Up Your Chili Bar with these great additions:

Big Y Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Big Y Sour Cream
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Onions
Tortilla Chips
Hot Peppers
Hot Sauce

Great Grad Cupcakes
They’ll never know you had help from Big Y World Class Markets when you serve these beautifully decorated cupcakes at your graduation party! Let Big Y make the cupcakes while you add your own personal flair to make them your own! Try adding a chocolate graduation cap with tassels to honor your graduate! Here’s how:
Other items you’ll need:
• Chocolate covered cookie cakes
• Dark chocolate candy bar, cut into thirds
• Prepared decorating icing in your child’s school colors
• Chocolate coated candies in your child’s school colors

What you do:
• Order cupcakes frosted in your graduate’s school colors from Big Y.
• Place a toothpick halfway through the center of each cookie. Stick the other half of the toothpick into the cupcake.
• Place some icing in the center of each chocolate square, affix to the cookie.
• Create the tassels by running lines of colored icing from center of the chocolate square, down over the edge. Top off with a chocolate coated candy.
• Use some prepared icing to write a special saying on the cupcake.

Tips for Planning an Open House
Graduation party season is a busy time especially when your child is graduating. Often, the parties are spread out over the same few weekends, making party-hopping a necessity. That is why deciding to host an open house is an easy way to go. You can invite more people than if you were planning a formal, sit-down dinner, because not everyone will be coming and going at the same time. Here are a few helpful ideas to keep in mind as you’re planning your grad’s party:
• Usually, an open house party occurs on a weekend afternoon and will last for several hours. State clearly on your invit-ation the hours of your party. If you’re inviting a large number of people, consider
staggering the times on the invitations to ensure a steady flow of people throughout the day.
• Since you’ll have people coming and going at various times, it makes the most sense to set up the food buffet-style. Guests can help themselves and you won’t have to worry about finding a time to serve everyone.
• Not every guest will sample every item, so you don’t have to prepare everything in as large a quantity as you might think. For example, if you’re serving a crowd of 30 and you are offering two salads, you
don’t need to make 30 helpings of each salad! (Unless you want plenty of leftovers, of course.)
• Offer food that is easy to prepare, serve and eat. Fried chicken, cold cuts and pizza are all good choices. And remember, the most important thing is to mingle and enjoy the party!

Desserts that make the grade.
A Selection of Sweets
You’ll go to the head of the class when you serve this great selection of sweets from our Patisserie. Big Y has something for the chocoholic, the pastry addict, and the cookie-lover in our sweets lineup. The Gourmet Brownie platter includes a complete variety of rich, chocolatey favorites. The Sweet Tooth platter offers an enticing assortment of brownies, mini éclairs, and regular or mini cupcakes. And the Gourmet Cookie platter includes a collection of freshly baked cookies, beautifully arranged on a platter and ready to eat. Any of these Big Y platters will make an incredible addition to your graduation celebration.

Don’t forget to stock up on:
Thank You Notes
Tissues
(For all the joyful tears!)