Christmas Eve Buffet

[PippaRabbit]

I'm hosting a Christmas Eve buffet for 50 people. I've put together the following menu, does it sound ok or should I add more or put on less choices?

Ham hock and pea soup
Red lentil soup
Mushroom and onion mini tarts
Parmesan, pancetta and sage mini tarts
Butternut squash, sage and nut quiches
Stuffed baked squash
Cheese and onion rolls
Cranberry, almond and spinach salad
Baked Camemberts
Sausage rolls
Smoked salmon and horseradish bruschetta
Goats cheese, basil and tomato bruschetta
Roasted veg cous cous salad
Marmalade glazed gammon
Roast beef
Bread baskets
Breadsticks and dips
Cheese board
Sherry trifle
Strawberry pavlova
Poached pears
Christmas cake
Mince pies

With sausage rolls, bread, gammon, roast beef and ham + dessert there’s enough for kids unless they are ultra picky. They’ll probably be off doing their own thing anyway.

Do you have sufficient refrigerator space and oven space?

It all sounds delish and I'd eat it all. BUT it might be worth going for more straightforward versions of some foods like the quiche for example.

It’s not my cup of tea at all and I’d probably be really hungry

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat you couldn't even make yourself a sandwich from what was there? Seriously...nothing??? Wow!

A sandwich? With what? The cheese board?

I think it sounds incredibly over ambitious (& I am a keen cook), are you inviting people for a main meal or Christmas Eve drinks?. We do a regular drinks party every year & the first year I went mad with far too much choice, and was left with far too much leftovers. Now I really simplify things. Also consider how people will eat, will the food need a knife & fork (& therefore people need to sit down) or can you eat standing up?

It does all sound very delicious though.

What do you eat Georgie?

Sounds excellent. Very complex for you to prepare. A few things are worrying me - potential spillages or difficult to eat (soups/bruschetta/poached pears). I would love to walk into that spread right now. If I did I would be looking for a few things not mentioned and easy - big bowls of cherry tomatoes /grapes/pitta with hummus and Tatziki/ a plainish green salad of some sort/ a potato salad. Not as well as but perhaps instead of some things? Have fun ! Sounds great.

Personally I'd welcome the soup as a change from regular buffet food, as long as you have enough mugs for people to drink from rather than bowls (or I'd recommend the disposable insulated hot cups e.g. from Costco).
Another vote for reducing and simplifying. Too many pastry options (quiche plus tartlets plus sausage/cheese rolls).
I'd decide whether you're having a finger buffet or a fork buffet and stick with one or the other rather than a mix which you have there.
I've hosted lots of buffets and know from experience you will struggle to deliver all of that, let alone do it and enjoy the party

I like all meats (not seafood), most veg and fruits but there’s too many flavour combinations. I like plainer foods. So salad but not ‘cranberry, almond and spinach salad’.

I agree it’s way too complicated .

Personally I’d keep the soup as I’m gluten free and it might be one of the few things I could eat , as nearly everything is has bread or pastry. I think you have about 12 different pastries / cakes/ pies/ tarts .

You only have one salad and no vegetable dishes so I’d do more of these.

You obviously enjoy baking but you are making Your life very complicated.

BTW is this all adults ? Because there’s very little for kids except breadsticks, sausage rolls and pavlova.

Or maybe your family has the kind of children who love goats cheese, mushrooms and sage, in which case ignore my comments.

Assuming people will be standing not sitting at a table you need easy to eat food

So ditch the soup or do it in shot glasses

Do you have 50 sets of cutlery or are you using plastic knives & forks? How will they eat roast beef?

We have a party every year for about 70 people and everything I serve is finger food for this reason

So I do roast beef - but I slice thin pieces and stick it on a bread or toast type thingy with a sauce eg Stilton and watercress and some rocket or tomato

Do lots of platters of that sort of thing

Keep around half plain so fussy eaters and kids happy

You must have mini sausages - I always cook around 200 and it’s never enough

The tartlets are fine if they are small enough

Ditto quiche esp if you make it rectangular or square so you can cut into small pieces easily

Bruschetta and sausage rolls perfect

I bring cheese out at end once we are down to about 15 and can get around a big table

Sounds amazing, but much too much both for the cook(s) and for guests for Xmas eve, when lots of people will be prepping/eating a big meal and desserts the next day.

Agree with skipping the soups and reducing the number of desserts.

Would provide popular crisps for the DC, that’s what they mainly seem to eat at big dos!

I am an adult and would love some big bowls of crisps (elbows children out of the way)

Soup is lovely when it’s the main hot item in a much simpler meal. Not needed in such an elaborate buffet.

Your buffet sounds amazing! How about some salad and grains?

Your food sounds amazing...

In rethinking if start from:

Will people be mostly sitting or mostly standing to eat?
Then... will people be mostly eating with fingers/forks/knife and forks/knife forks and spoons?
(Bear in mind that if you have a plate in one hand and a fork in another hand you already have to look for somewhere for your glass to go, and that’s before you’ve got mug of soup..)
I’d then work the menu to suit the logistics. So think about the size and shape of things.
I’d also suggest, if it’s a fork meal, some green salad, and things like carrot sticks and cucumber sticks work well for children and grown ups.
And yes to doing more sausage rolls than you could possibly imagine..

I like the idea of soup - nice and warming. Could you serve it in tea cups?

It’s hustvfar too much food and far too much choice for a Christmas Eve buffet. A lot of people won’t each a huge amount in the knowledge that they will be stuffing the next day. You can’t stand up and easily eat a lot of it, there will be tons of leftovers just at a time when you can’t use them up/storage space will be limited/no one will want to take them for you and - most importantly - that’s such a huge amount of work for you to prepare and clear up after that you aren’t going to enjoy yourself one bit and will be exhausted for the next couple of days. Why do that to yourself when you could make so much less and people would enjoy themselves just as much? BTW I am a feeder too but have learned my lesson the hard way!

Can I come?

I don't think it sounds too much

I think that at 4.30, most people will stay an hour or 2 and most people have plans for some sort of special dinner on Xmas eve. I would focus on more nibbles, some platters of cheese/meat/fish. Some big bowls of pasta salad/potato salad. For dessert fruit salad always goes well. Some mini sausages(lots), crisps etc is probably more the type of food expected.

Loose the soup, too messy and hard to eat whilst milling, use bilini for the base of the smoked salmon. Add cocktail sausages, crisps and some small finger sandwiches for the kids and a Yule log for pudding. Sounds perfect otherwise, just make sure there is loads.

I would love an invite OP