Best place to buy adult party food from?

[EachandEveryone]

My mother is hosting my birthday and it will be a pop in affair. She is terrible with food watches everything that goes into her mouth. I don’t when it comes to cancer and birthdays. I’ve said I’ll do shop. There will be about ten of us and the odd child. I don’t think we will all be together at the same time. Some easy foods with minimum prep and I know she won’t want the oven on for long. Where should i buy from and any ideas on food!

M&S surely? Picky bits!

Lidl:
crackers, crusty rolls, a cheese board, hummus, a fresh fruit plate, cold meat, dried fruit, nuts, olives, crudités, cakes.
and if you must have something hot, make a pot of soup.

It’s not often I think about cancer and party food at the same time!

Is there a local deli that does grazing boards/cheese boards etc. That's what we do for get togethers like that.

Surely it depends on your budget?

M and s is pretty reliable imo

Depends on your budget though

Well there is no budget really

Not carrying from Lidl as I don’t have time and it will mean shopping with my mother.

No budget then M&S, some of their bakery stuff is lush, plus some nice dips. The loaded chicken shwarma dip is lovley with crusty bread

M&S is nice but if you don’t want the faff Sainsbury’s and Morrisons also do food platters to order. So they pack it up for you and you don’t have to buy individual items and assemble yourself

Costco do good party food

Costco.

Morrisons party food is nice it heats at the same time or eat cold and they do platters to order then you can get it delivered.

Under 6 people I go for a big platter and buy locally - fish and seafood served over ice and fresh bread, or a cheese crackers bread and fruit platter.

If I'm.buying for 6 or more I look at the sandwich and wrap platters and sides from Sainburys where its all done for me - they need a few days notice. M and S do them too but are a bit more expensive. Depends which you can get to easier.

If I'm doing 12 plus I tend to use our local cafe as a caterer because they can do everything Sainsburys do (wraps, sandwiches etc) but also supply a couple of full cakes which are nice to have if you've sufficient numbers to eat that quantity!

M and S do really nice party food platters to order online.

Yes but they don’t deliver so I’m not sure

You either get pre-prepared platters from the supermarket "food to order" range, which need no prep, but you order in advance and have to collect, or you buy buffet ingredients (bread/rolls/sandwich fillers, quiche, sausage rolls, cheese and crackers, salad, crisps fruit, cakes etc) which you could have delivered from any supermarket, but you'll have to do some of the prep yourself.

If you want fully pre-prepared and delivered to your door, you'll probably need to engage the services of a caterer which will be £££ (and overkill for nibbles for 10 imo).

M&S - their entertainment range is pretty good. Cook also do some nice party food.

Sainsbury do party platters you can order.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/groceries/occasions-by-sainsburys/party-food/c:1046177?gclsrc=aw.ds&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13647293496&utm_custom2=626-844-9595&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=13647293496&gbraid=0AAAAACbCNnbDZsw1iOxF-G5YNJpy6siIi&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0uPFt4mcjwMVa4BQBh3kRTiOEAAYASAAEgKHRfD_BwE

Or Costco.

We don’t have a Costco

Do you have a local fb page you could ask for recommendations for local caterers? You will almost certainly get better than off the shelf supermarket options.

https://bedfordcheesecompany.co.uk/grazing-boards

https://thelittlegreenplattercompany.com/collections/all-grazing-boards

Id do some of these!

Have you thought about a canapé delivery company or event caterer?

Waitrose deliver party platter