Help with Dinner Party menu...?

May I suggest a different main dish to go with the beef like a seafood or chicken you can serve a basic shrimp scampi and or whole roasted chicken for 30 people 4 to 5 each to save time you can get it from Costco they are about 5 or 6 bucks each and it would help you out a lot you can get it the day before and just reheat in the oven. Or cook your own with garlic and herbs like Rosemary or sage salt and pepper and bush it with olive oil as it cooks. Keep it simple to much is overkill Fingerling potatoes or great but they along with the other sides you have seam vary much like a restaurants menu. You can try a roasted red potato Cut red potatoes in half or peel just around small ones add cooked whole roasted garlic cloves and olive oil salt and pepper and onion powder roast together roast until potatoes or tender and start to turn golden brown garnish with chopped chives. A good vegetable side yellow squash and zucchini with red onion just cut half moons out of the two squash and quickly cook in butter fresh thyme add the onion first then squash salt and pepper to taste it can hold well as long as you do not over cook it. as for salads again go with simple green salad is always a winner not Iceberg but field greens mixed with romaine and toppers like grape tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots, walnuts,or pecans, dried cranberries, golden raisins, blue cheese crumbles are other items you can think of have at least three dressings. use your best small bowls for the toppers and place it around your large salad bowl. use fresh herbs as your acsent around food and serve hot apple cider have it simmer on the stove apple juice cinnamon slicks whole cloves one orange and some sugar offer it to your guest as they walk in also offer hot coco with whiped cream you can get the best coco your store hase to offer and the can whiped cream or make your own. elegant can have a touch of home to it as well.

A really elegant and different appetizer is prosciutto wrapped prunes. Just wrap a prune w/a sliver of prosciutto (you can use bacon too). Use a toothpick to hold everything together and lay them on a pan. Put in the oven, enough to crisp the prosciutto or bacon. Then you can stick each toothpick on a melon or pineapple. It's a very nice presentation and really tasty.

I'm making this for Thanksgiving: Fresh mixed baby salad greens, with thinly sliced onions, 1 can drained mandarin oranges, carmelized sliced almonds and Balsamic vignarette dressing.... You can also use a Raspberry-Walnut or Raspberry-Pecan Vignarette and substitute carmelized walnuts/pecans and fresh raspberries. .... You don't need risotto AND potatoes. Why not substitute a tropical or fresh fruit salad instead? ..... Cheesecake (or 2 varieties) is always a great dessert, with raspberry or chocolate sauce drizzled around it.....

Wow about field greens or spinach with dried cranberries, walnuts, and blue cheese crumbles, served with a simple vinagrette. It will be light and fresh which is a nice balance since the other foods are pretty rich.