Buffet ideas please

? Hi, welcome to Hitched. Lovely to have you!

It's been ages since there's been a good troll!

?

I love how you're named after a contraceptive pill, btw, is that on purpose?

What a great addition you are to the Hitched community. Such a well thought out contribution to the discussion........

<sigh>

id much rather have a vegetable soup for instance (or provide one to guests if I was hosting and couldnt afford much) with a chunk of crusty bread (which for 150 would not cost very much) than iceland bits which are probably filled with unidentifiable meats and other goo. This is a general comment though, people sometimes lose sight of what food represents, especially during celebrations. In Italy for example you'd be disowned for providing frozen party food! its all about providing people you like (presumably) with something they'll enjoy eating.

Why not just say it to my face?

If you tell me what I've said to annoy you then we could at least have a sensible conversation about it rather than just trolling (and then bouncing when it didn't get you enough attention).

I think the issue here was not so much that Iceland food mings per se (although I think it does), but that it would be a real nightmare for Beth to cook anything for that many people, on that budget. Even soup would be a total nightmare.

I'm feeling really sorry for the OP, her head must be royally confused by now. ?

If I'm reading this the right way, I think your best option is the Tesco/Iceland route. A trolley load of sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, vol-au-vents, sandwiches and crisps/nuts. I wouldn't bother with salad and I wouldn't be worrying my head about pudding. From what you've said, this is a 65th birthday party where the attendees are mainly going to be there for a drink, so the food is just secondary to that - something to soak up the alcohol throughout the evening. You're unlikely to hear comments about how the food was "amazing", but I'm guessing you don't care much about that!

I'd just go for it with the finger food from cheapyland, that way you'll get it within your budget, there will be food served and it sounds like maybe the sort of food that will be expected anyway, so everyone's a winner. I'm presuming the people attending will have a rough idea what will be on offer anyway, so if they're fussy they'll eat before they arrive, if they're not they'll have a munch throughout the evening. Sorted!

i think thats up to them if food isnt important to them. and not just baout eating, but where it comes from, ustainability, use of land and all that. like anything else though, some people care a lot about those things, and some dont. great bread can be anything that someones made (as in a person or artisan baker rather than a supermarket). i tried for years to make bread and got really frustrated with breadmakers etc, and then after reading a couple of books something just clicked, and i laughed at myself for how easy it actually is, and how you can make something fantastic and have it ready to eat in a couple of hours. theres something about bread, and the giving of it, its labour intensive, and somehow (dont laugh ?) theres just a load of love involved in making it, so when you give it to people and they love it, thats a fab feeling. i use a leaven to make bread, and i ll happily send some to anyone who wants to try it out that way.

i think theres a balance though, dont get the feeling that i make everything we eat daily, i certainly dont. sometimes i like nothing more than a greasy chippy fish and chips or a slice of the most plastic bread going. for friends though, and catering, i like to make an effort to make something - doesnt have to cost must, doesnt have to be poncy or pretentious, just havs to be good.

Nick, I don't think I've ever agreed with so muchn of one of your posts before!

I am a bread making whore. It is a labour of love.

Oh, Beth: sorry for derailing your thread ?

I've never shopped at Iceland but surely there's still be logistical hassles with cooking the sausages, warming up the vol au vents, making the sandwiches etc? The idea of making sandwiches even for 50 makes me lose the will to live.

Nick, I think we're clear that the people who are coming to this shindig would be happy with Iceland food, and that's fair enough - I just don't want Beth to spend her dad's party slaving over a hot foil tray ? Cooking anything for those sort of numbers is going to be a PITA.

I know soph, i was just answering ginnis question, thats all ?

Sophie - the point of Iceland style food is that it is minimum prep. So the cocktail sausages come precooked, the sausage rolls do usually too. I don't think they do pre-made sandwiches yet though!

They sell food for this exact circumstance - mini pre-packed desserts etc.

If I were going for the Iceland/Tesco route I'd do an entirely cold buffet I think - far too much hassle trying to heat things up simultaneously.

Thanks Nick ? Sorry to be a thickie, but what kind of leaven? Something other than yeast? I've not made my own bread since I was at school, and I'm not sure the rock hard wholemeal twisted buns which came smouldering out of the oven are what you'd class as great bread, and cerainly not a labour of love ?. Do you use a bread maker at all or do the whole lot by hand?

Beth if you are looking for a local caterer then I could give you the name of one. At our wedding we just had a big buffet and despite them thinking there was 20 people less than was there what they served up did everyone for the meal, all the evening guests & people hungry again at night, doggy bags for loads of folk, the staff at the hall and still lots got thrown in the bin!! We gave them or budget and they told us what they could do for it rather than them having set prices.

Can the venue not help you out or is it not a food place? The Cafe in the town centre do buffets as well or Functions R Us do food and a bar as well if yo don't want to do it all yourself.

TBH I love doing large buffets, it's a challenge. My brother and I catered my niece's christening as my sister is hopeless and it was hard work, but satisfying. We did (home) cooked meats which my lovely butcher sliced for me, pates, salads, bread, and the centrepiece was a whole salmon with prawns.

Later on we did lasagne, cottage pie, chilli, curry and barbecued ribs along with rice and chips.

We made most of the stuff beforehand and we were lucky enough that the venue let us have full use of the kitchen, and the cost wasn't really an issue. But having said that I'd have been happy to do a 'budget' buffet and still come up with nice stuff. A lot of older people like sandwiches and sausage roll type stuff (and they might not all have their teeth)

I used to manage a (very downmarket) pub and catered for events on thatsort of a budget frequently. Iceland/Tesco was our only route really. The secret to sausages/sausage rolls/chicken wings etc is to roast them in batches and then serve cold. Sandwiches, as I said, would be a nightmare forthat many people.

However, out of interest, I looked on the Iceland website and they sell bags of 45 cocktail sausages for £1. So, I'd get a load of those, the equivalent in sausage rolls, chicken wings, potato wedges, bread, crisps and nuts and be done with it. If you want to go mental, there's platers of 60 "defrost and eat" prawns for a fiver. Doubtless prozac-addicted, unhappy prawns, but prawns nonetheless.

From what Beth says, I don't imagine she's catering for a group that expect an awful lot more. And there's nothing wrong with that - that sort of stuff has its place.

But they'd need warming up at least in order not to be totally revolting.

They're already cooked though. You can buy most of this type of "buffet" food that is pre-cooked. Remember the Kerry Katona adverts? Tables full of party food a la cheap.

I do think the OP needs to rope in some help though. It's a couple of days hard work, even with a few helpers. It is doable though, on the budget.

Sorry, meant to add though that the hassle of getting serving platters or transporting pre-coked stuff would be more likely to put me off tbh. Would you need to factor serving platters/paper plates etc into your budget as well?

I must just be a minger then as I've served them at lots of kids parties just out of the packet ?

Some very good ideas from mariets and MA above if beth is still reading.

I know I'm a snob, but the thought of 45 cocktail sausages for a quid just makes me want to slit my wrists - a feeling with which the Iceland prawns will doubtless be familiar.

I used to run the kitchen in a similar place and that's exactly what was on the menu. The pub manager was only interested in his profits and people would give him £100 for food for about 120 people so I didn't have a lot of choice. I moved on to a golf club and the expectations were higher..LOL.

That's exactly what I was thinking, but you said it so much better. ?

That's exactly what I was thinking, but you said it so much better. ?

a leaven starts life as a mixture of flour, water, and something which contains wild yeast on its surface, like raisins or similar. you feed it with more flour over a few days, and then remove the raisins as it ferments. its a natural equivalent to commercial yeast, and then you use it mixed in with more flour and water for your recipe and it rises, you keep some back and leave it in the fridge for the next lot. the proving and rising process takes longer than with yeast, but you get such a wonderful depth of flavour, its far and away better than "bought" bread from any supermarket. if you like i ll send you some with some instructions - really its a piece of piss.

no, no breadmaker. just loaf tins or a cast iron pot with a lid. and no strenuous kneading either.

Just ? at he idea of a load of prawns desperately casting around for a swordfish to end it all for them as they see the 'Iceland' emblazoned fishing net/pots (or whatever you catch them with) coming towards them.

Btw, if you fancy giving it a go you ll need two things. cheap digital scales which can measure from zero up to say, 2 kg, and a killner jar from ikea, costs 99p. one that holds say, a pint and a half ish. nothing too small

? I know Sophie, but, to a very large proportion of people, a sausage on a stick is a sausage on a stick. Especially if you've had a drink. It's not my thing - <the much missed Lady Carrington> if I buy "party food" I get it from Marks and my local butcher for local people, but lots of people don't care and would think it odd that someone else would.

I also think that Beth's guests are going to expect food. Norn Iron and Scots families have much in common and I can only imagine the reaction on many of my relatives' faces if they turned up to a do only to be served with birthday cake. My MIL had a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle once when I served ciabatta with plum tomatoes, parma ham and mozarella at a party at my house. Fortunately, I anticipated this and also did a platter of egg and onion sandwiches on white bread. ?

Nick, that sounds fantastic, thank you. Hitched won't let me email you though. Could you drop me a line: ginni @ claycorner.co.uk?

Nick - does it turn out a sour dough type bread or a normally yeasty bread?

if the sour dough type would love to try it

But they'll have eaten their dinner/tea already!

Anyway, Nick, I'd love to take you up on your offer of leaven when I have more time. I adore the idea of making bread with "depth of flavour" like Adam Last-Name-Unknown.

Oh Sophie, if you were of Celtic origin, you would understand. ?

People really do seem to expect it. Even if they've eaten earlier. Which is possibly why, as nations, we are in such glowing coronary health.