What do you call this type of meal?

[tectonicplates]

I had never heard the term "picky tea" before joining MN.

I'm talking about the kind of meal where you have some slices of bread, a selection of vegetables and dips, cheese, and often some leftovers and things so it turns out a bit random. You put all the food in the middle of the table and everyone helps themselves.

What do you call this meal in your family?

Picky tea. I just thought everyone did it. It's a Saturday treat because we do it in front of the tv.

My MIL calls it Bits and Dabs. As a result, I call it Bits. DP finds it an offence against his taste, so he calls it a waste or a bin.
If you call it high tea or a cold spread, you are from Enid Blyton.

When she was 2 years old DD1 christened this type of meal “lots of things to choose from”. She’s 19 now and we just had Lots Of Things To Choose From for lunch.

Zupper.

From Use Up Supper.

Lidl lunch here, as we used to have it after doing a big shop in Lidl when the DC were small. Fresh rolls etc from their bakery with salami, cheese, cherry tomatoes , cucumber and maybe a bowl of crisps as well. This is still Dd's favourite lunch and she's nearly 18.

literally never do this for dinner, only lunch...& then just call it lunch.

We call it a chimps tea party

Picky bits

Bread and Stuff. If it’s plated rather than served family style, it’s a Picky Plate.

choosing meal

mainly because buffet implies a serving table which you then walk away from

Picky bits just makes me think of loads of hands grabbing at the food, pulling bits off etc the very reason I hate buffets!

Have you seen the cruise buffet video with the ultraviolet marker?
Very illuminating (pardon the pun)...

Bits or if its

And the bread has to be fresh and sliced at home so, “I bought a fresh loaf so it’s bread and stuff for dinner.”

Picky Plates are nature’s defence against double dippers and grubby fingers.

I call it a spread.

Yorkshire Tapas

Buffet

We call it 'picky'. Not picky tea, just picky.

Lunch?

Fridge pie! 😂

Bits and bobs here

Picky bits makes me feel a bit 🤮

"Picky bits"

When I was little, we had a Ploughman’s every Saturday in front of The Gladiators as a treat. It started out as a straightforward Ploughman’s (bread, cheese, pickle) but got a bit more Greek Mezze as we got older and food became more exciting over the years but we still called it a Ploughman’s.

My mum used to do occasional dinners too where there’d be several mismatched food on a plate and she’d call it ‘using things up’... Even now, If we visit (remember when we used to be able to visit relatives for food?) she’s known to put a selection of food out to serve ourselves with one random mismatched dish that needs eating (like a bit of pasta salad when the rest of the dishes are things like curries, rice, and samosas).

In my house, I tend to eat any leftovers for lunch the next day so we don’t really have ‘Picky teas’ (grim name).

Party tea if it involves sandwiches, crisps and whatever other ‘bits’ are available.

If it’s a self assembly job then I’m not sure it qualifies as a party tea, I often claim to be just doing ‘salady bits’ for tea even when salad vegetables form a vanishingly small part of the whole. So a baguette, cheese, leftover pasta, crisps and dips, a bit of quiche etc can all come under the umbrella ‘salady bits’ provided I chuck a few cherry tomatoes and some limp rocket on the table too.