Give me your favourite easy buffet ideas please...

[Impatientwino]

Sorry to do this to you at dinner time on a Friday and make you hungry but it's my 40th soon and we've rented a nice house for the weekend to enjoy some child free time and just relax. On the Saturday night I've found a guy who is going to come and cook us some tapas but on the Friday night I'll need to feed everyone. I want a nice, casual buffet that people can pick at throughout the evening.

10 adults, no veggies/vegans or any dietary requirements at all so can do a nice mix of meat and veg stuff. I want to try and keep it simple because a) I want to drink bubbles and talk to my friends and b) I won't know the kitchen facilities above what I can gleam from the photos beforehand. The kitchen seems to have a big oven and grill and a microwave (and most importantly a wine fridge!)

I'm going to do a nice cheeseboard with chutney, crackers, pate and some port. I've got some m&s entertaining salmon blinis in the freezer I didn't use at a recent party and it's in early December so there will be plenty of party food on sale but give me your favourites. I'll have some prep time when I arrive and can take things already prepared. I'd love to make some things the day before if possible.

What would you want on a Friday night having travelled an hour to arrive and it's cold and there's a fire on.... go!

three things that always go down well at parties ive had and are often requested to take to others are small jacket potatoes with the middle taken out and mashed with cheese and a bit of chopped onion topped in cheese and warmed through. Tortillas topped with chopped jalapeno peppers from a jar and grated cheese then sandwiched together in a stack,wrapped in foil and baked until the cheese melts, a mix made by frying onions, peppers, mushrooms and cubes of bacon if non veggy mixed with tomato puree when soft and spread onto bread rolls cut in half, toasted and topped withcheese. very cheesy but lovely. of course you can't go wrong with sausage rolls too I cheat by using frozen puff pastry ready rolled and a nice quality sausage with the skins stripped off.

Filo pastry parcels filled with a wee spoonful of haggis served with recurrent jelly.

A big ham, baguette, butter to go with your cheese board.

Are you doing dessert? Profiteroles always go down well here as you can have 1 here and there rather than a plate full of pud.

Coronation Chicken is always a winner, it's easy to prep in advance. Depending on how much actual cooking you want to do the Entertaining range from Cook is worth a look for nice quiche etc

Cocktail sausages cooked in honey/mustard/soy sauce glaze. Foil tray, mix up equal amounts of honey and mustard with a decent splash of soy sauce, Chuck it all in the oven to cook until it’s all gooey and crispy.

Cocktail sausages, chicken legs, sausage rolls, little cornichons, potato salad, big bowl of salad leaves, mini quiches/tartlets, plenty of cheese, pate and nice bread, those salmon roll things with cream cheese or salmon mouser inside, plenty of cold meats. Aldi and Lidl sometimes get those while iberico ham things on a stand in before Christmas. Morrison also did them last year. Also I'm a sucker for silver skin onions! 😄

Also came on to say cocktail sausages cooked in maple and soy glaze, so moorish and tasty. Finish with chopped spring onions and sesame seeds for a naice look. Best served hot but can easily be made the day before and served cold. Or get the glaze mixed and out in a Tupperware pot and chuck over the sausages when you get there, they take about 35 mins to cook so not an age.

An easy thing that you can prepare in advance is cous cous with roasted veg. Chop a load of courgettes, aubergines, mixed peppers, onion and garlic. Mix with harissa paste and a few mixed herbs and olive oil. Roast for approx 45 mins. Id store these in a bowl or some such and then make the cous cous when you get to the house as all you need is a kettle. I usually chop in feta and parsley at the end but could also get extra points for serving with grilled haloumi, pittas (again just need a toaster), hummus, maybe some fried chorizo. Chilli jam on the side.

Deffo buy a fresh baguette or 3 and warm through to serve with loads of butter. And if you really want your guests to love you buy a Camembert or 3, pierce with garlic cloves, drizzle with honey and bake. Dip in the baguette and die a happy woman.

Potato salad is another cook ahead thing that people really like.

The usual crisps and dips are always a winner.

I like PPs idea of a big ham, you could also make this the day before or buy one ready made as its a bit of a faff (voice of experience here).

Deffo agree about cheese board.

Oh and the last thing - can I come?

Yyy to cocktail sausages - but Pigs In Blankets ftw!
If you're going to be grazing then you need things that are good cold as well as hot.

I love a big Greek salad at a buffet.

Red onion
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Feta
Olive oil
Oregano
Sometimes add black olives

Cocktail sausages also fabulous if you stir through mango chutney as soon as they come out of the oven, then scatter with sesame seeds.

Oh thought if something else that goes down well - tomato mozzarella and basil salad. It's something that I'd assemble on arrival though. Get beef tomatoes, chop into 2mm slices, same with the mozzarella. Find the biggest basil leaves. Then alternate between tomato, mozz slice and basil leaf. Once finished drizzle over with extra V olive oil and salt and pepper. I could proabablt eat a whole plate of that myself! It also looks quite pretty if you arrange it in straight lines.

Though be prepared for the guests to want a wee and a tea when they arrive though so you can have the food still cooking/being prepared as they get there.

Thank you so much for so many good ideas! I have lots of foil trays left from a recent party so can tray up some things ready to cook when I arrive. Gimble I can prepare the sausage baste as you suggest and bring along. The couscous you suggest with chorizo sounds mega! Absolutely come along!

Filo haggis parcels sound amazing! I love haggis! Is it wrong to cater to what I love?

Ham is a great idea, I'll do a big one cooked in coke and serve that with hot baguettes and butter and mustard/pickles - including onions yum!

YY I think some nice salads are a good shout, I love Tom and mozz salad and although I don't like Greek salad everyone usually does so I think they are good ones to go for.

I think I'll do a coronation chicken as suggested as it's easy and tasty and any leftovers will covert to sandwich fillings for lunch the next day! I'm hoping for lots of leftovers to make lunch simple!

So hungry right now!

Eccles the jalapeño and cheese tortillas sound like a great thing I could prep in the morning, wrap and transport there. Do you just put the whole stack in the oven as is? Do they separate ok? They sound delicious!

People arriving circa 6pm and won't do food until 7.30 to allow people time to shower if they want or just settle in and have a cuppa etc

Bread with olive oil, balsamic dip with chorizo.

Camembert with veg sticks and bread sticks

My mum always makes tinned salmon buns with pickled onions mixed in. There is never any left when we have these.

Woohoo I'll be there for 6:15pm sharp with a bottle of Bombay Sapphire then @Impatientwino 

Extra snacks things that always seem to disappear at parties - poppy seed and gruyere cheese twists. I just buy the fancy box ones. Yum by themselves or dipped in hummus/camembert.

Pastry pizza rolls.
Get some ready rolled puff pastry, roll out, add pizza sauce/tomato puree, cheese and any toppings you like, roll up pastry, slice, lay rolls on grease proof paper in oven for 15 mins or something and done. Can have them hot or cold, great to pre-prep and serve later

Do you just put the whole stack in the oven as is? Do they separate ok? They sound delicious! yes just sandwich together so the cheese is in the middle and the next one goes as a sandwich on top so the two sides touching are empty if you see what I mean (why is it sooo difficult to explain the simple things I wonder :) ) they are easy and yes very delish and do separate easily if you can work out the layers, they are nice cold too but nicer warm. mmm fancy some just now.

Look on pinterest for antipasti boards!

sliced apples, chargrilled peppers, olives, selection of cold meats, cheeses, crackers, chutneys, nice breads, quails eggs, potato salad, coleslaw....

Tip - go to M&S and buy the lot - all you've got to do (apart from boil and peel the eggs) is open tubs / packets and arrange nicely.

I'm going to a family in late December so I may just try if you these over the next weekend or two as I will have to sample them all ( for quality control you understand of course ) there's some great ideas on here particularly like the pizza rolls and the Stuffed little jacket spuds and various marinades for cocktail sausages

I've done a lot of buffets- and little home made sausage rolls are always the first to go. Lots of things are just as nice bought ready made but sausage rolls aren't. If you're sure it's going to be cold, how about a pot of soup?

Oh, and don't assume M&S are the best-they just have the best marketing. I use Lidl and Aldi for cold meats and stuff. Much better than M&S and spectacularly cheaper.

I used Tesco Easy Entertaining in the past, without issues. It's not as cheap as doing it yourself, but it's a lot less stress.

I’d just hit the M&S food to order and relax