Branding Menu:

As part of our appreciation for everyone help we prepare a good supper and lots of beer to drink and socialize after the long day of work. I simply cannot handle being in the house cooking all day while everyone else is outside working with the cattle so I prepare nearly everything in advance.We usually have a crew of our 40 friends and neighbors come over to help with our branding.  This year we had a small group help run our cows through to get a breeding shot, weight, and a pour on. So we needed a lunch for the few helpers in the morning and then a big meal to accommodate all of the afternoon help.

Lunch was simple. Hamburgers and brats thrown on the grill right after the last cow had been through the chute. We had a simple macaroni salad, chips, and brownies to go with the burgers and brats.

Our supper consisted of BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Cheesy Potatoes, Corn, a couple of macaroni salads, leftover chips from lunch and a cake for dessert to help celebrate my brother-in-laws birthday.

For the BBQ Beef  I cooked 10 chuck roasts all week long in the crock pots while I was at work.  In my opinion the chuck roast is the best for shredding. Every night we would sit down and shred the roast, pour some BBQ sauce on the meat store it in a big bowl in the fridge. Bonus by cooking the meat ahead of time, I get help from Tyson shredding the meat. J On the day of branding I put all of the meat in a roast and warmed it on low a few hours before we planned on eating.

BBQ Beef

The cheesy potatoes is one of those recipes I just throw things together in a roaster until it looks and tastes good. I used about 6lbs of frozen hash browns (left in the fridge overnight to thaw). I added in sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, onion pepper, shredded cheese, and cream cheese. I put all of the ingredients together in a roast at lunch time and let it cook until we were ready to eat it.

We have lots of sweet corn left over from last summer, so took some out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge then put it in a crockpot at lunch to warm as well.

The macaroni salads my mother-in-law prepared in advance and brought them out for us. My sister-in-law made some deviled eggs and took care of the cake for her hubby.

Our group likes to enjoy a few beers after the branding, so we have a couple of coolers filled with beer. I also have some bottles of water, and some lemonade to go with the meals.

Here is Tyson.. Enjoying his beer while working. 

Honestly the meal is a lot of work, but with a little prep work ahead of time it isn't so bad.What do you feed your branding crew? Do you make it ahead of time or do all the cooking the day of? Or do you have it catered?