To think beige buffets get a raw deal and have their place?

Mandarins, surely. Love trifle. My Mum's was made as follows
Open tin of fruit - mandarins or fruit cocktail
Place sieve over jug and pour fruit into sieve
Measure how much juice/syrup is now in jug
Boil water and top up jug to amount needed to melt jelly cubes
Melt jelly cubes
Put trifle sponges in base of trifle dish
Put drained fruit on top
Pour over jelly mixture
Leave to set
Add custard layer, either from a tin of Ambrosia or (less and less likely as time went on) made with Bird's custard powder and cooled
Whip cream and spread on top
Decorate with hundreds and thousands or cherries from fruit cocktail or glace cherries

Food of the gods.

I love a beige buffet. We have a family buffet every Christmas and Easter (Jesus would have loved it). Whole dining table covered in fifty shades of beige food with a small plate of grapes, strawberries, tomatoes and cucumber for health. Everyone gets a paper plate and there's not enough seats so you have to try to juggle your plate and glass of wine. Eat till you feel a bit sick.

Shooting is gross.

I made a super fancy buffet for family who came to visit my new house. Lots of very expensive Parma ham and smoked fish and crudite type things and blinis with caviar and all that. Fruit skewers with a tahini dip. There were a couple of kids coming too so I heated up 100 mini frozen sausage rolls from Tesco and put out some Pringles and fondant fancies.
You know the punchline…

When I was growing up it was smoked salmon, tuna, egg mayo and herring bridge rolls. Cold fish goujons, potato salad, coleslaw, pickled cucumber, a selection of danish, some crumbly kind of biscuit things, marble cake, apple strudel and a cup of tea always on a cup and saucer served from a tea pot.

Sounds amazing. I love a vol a vent. Best funeral buffet I have ever been to? Pies. There were lots and lots of pies. It was fantastic.

We do, A poster on here the other day was describing how she made trifle with tinned clementines and orange jelly and hundreds and thousands. It made me long for the food of 1970s family get-togethers.

I love a beige buffet. I get a bit jealous when other teams at work have them, or any buffet for that matter, for special occasions because every single other person in my own team turns their nose up at the mere concept. To the extent we’ve stopped being invited :(

It sounds delicious! I think the whole idea of fashions in food, and the sneering that goes with it, is ridiculous. You read and hear people say things like 'Prawn cocktail! That takes me back!" or 'Black Forest Gateau - a blast from the past!"

But if they're nice to eat, they're nice to eat, and hang whether they're chic in Islington at the moment. I don't give a damn.

Afternoon tea has made a massive comeback over the past 20 years. It would have been sneered at in my childhood. It's delish.

A meal I'd love to bring back to fashion is High Tea. That's a more substantial meal and we used to have it at my ILs, and also with my family, who are all either working class or lower middle. At my ILs it consisted of

nice bread rolls, ready buttered,
hard boiled eggs
cheeses
pork pies
cold meats - selection
sausage rolls
a simple salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber)
crisps or similar
pickles
All washed down with a cup of tea and followed by a piece of home-made cake.

You sat around the table and took whatever you wanted on to your plate and then ate with a knife and fork.

This type of meal, very northern and working class (for special occasions, obvs) couldn't be more out of fashion but I honestly recommend it - it's scrumptious, easy to put together, there's something for everyone and it's just so relaxing. I know the modern equivalent is the dreaded (brace yourselves...) ;'picky bits', but you do have to sit at a table for my version and you do need a cup of tea with it.

Someone mentioned Sara Lee gateaux please where do they sell them?? They were my absolute favourite. Although now I like a nice strawberry gateaux and Black Forest because no one else in the house will eat them ha ha ha (in a evil laugh)

Also I always get my food warmer out for such occasions just to keep the cocktail sausages and cocktail sausage rolls. Oh I forgot the pigs in blankets which can be eaten at any time I might add! . A gadget I still want for big dinners Christmas , gatherings etc is a Hostess trolley.

All my close friends , if they were having a party etc they would tell me “don’t worry we are doing your cheese and pineapple on sticks” They would also keep cocktail sausages warm for me lol 😂.

Yes, they have their place. Wensleydale to be precise. “Funeral Teas” in the area are traditionally beige. Scotch Eggs, Pork Pies, Ham Sandwiches, Christ’s and sausage rolls. Always will be!

I really, really fancy a vol au vent right now. I might do them when I'm next down to host book club.

Our union annual meeting used to do a beige buffet, which had white or brown bread mixed grated cheese sandwiches, and cheese and onion pastie for the veggies. The year they did Brie and cranberry sandwiches there was an audible’ooh crikey, look at that!’

every other year was Lancashire hotpot with pickled red cabbage.

I went to a funeral quite recently where the manner of the actual death was terribly sad, but the 'beige' funeral tea was bloody FANTASTIC: the best lentil soup (which is not uncommon at Scottish funerals, particularly in the winter) I've ever tasted, beautiful little crustless sandwiches with all the traditional fillings, sausage rolls, scones etc., all beautifully made and presented.

In a way, it was funny because while everybody was understandably sad, we couldn't help turning to one another and saying 'this soup / quiche / scone is bloody amazing!'.

My friend enjoyed food, though, so hopefully she would be pleased that she had such a delicious send-off.

I'd much rather have a beige buffet than any Hipster Wankster Deconstructed Shite of Rib Of Squirrel with a Ferret Jus served on an Artisan Floor Tile.

This. Some ready made versions of this type of food are, frankly, revolting. I'd rather have nothing.

I don't mind pork pies, cheese and pineapple, crisps and pizza slices on occasion but only if its decent quality, good meat, freshly cooked pastry, nice bread and garnishes and pickles etc so it looks appetising rather than a sea of soggy beige. Plus a good variety rather than processed pork five ways.

A pork pie with an whole egg in it.

Much too fannyish. Sausage rolls should be so heavy on claggy pastry that they’re practically vegan.

Lol, you have no idea what a beige buffet is.

Most big buffets I go to are beige ones - I don't mind them but don't love them as I find them too stodgy. I love a pretentious buffet for a change. I bloody love vol-au-vents though 😁 Beige buffets always get decimated pretty quickly so they are popular, at least in my circles. I'm just relieved I've never had the horrors that are a 'grazing table' or 'table-scaped' inflicted on me.

I think they are a safe choice when you've got a wide range of ages. Decent ones still make sure veggies/vegans and gluten-free/allergies have something to eat and it's very thoughtless not too. Plenty of easy options available for them.

https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-2-pork-egg-gala-pie-slices/516003011?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=955441401&utm_content=non-brand&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=955441401&gbraid=0AAAAADi6iHlqu7SG2i9TSP4vUErl9ef2J&gclid=CjwKCAjwzNTUBhAjEiwA7zcvWsJLbod0f4BJ2lyVzf30P6AnsOZZi20Y8H1L5T73dAHW9-jHbS43hRoC504QAvD_BwE

Phwoarrr!

What’s a gala pie?

He's the fella who lives next door but one from Betty Crocker and across the way from everyone's favourite Aunt, Bessie

I’m so mc I forgot who Mr Kipling is