Food and drinks for an Open House?

[JaneyHenderson]

We are having an Open House over Xmas.
In my head it's this:
People popping in - having a drink and maybe some food - then popping off again!
I would like to serve some nice Xmas cocktails and possibly one hot dish (chilli/curry etc) but equally don't want to be stuck in the kitchen/fannying about or mixing drinks all day.
I have only come up with mulled wine and a curry. Very boring.

Ideas? All and any welcome

There are some very easy Prosecco/Champagne cocktails that would be festive and not too faffy to make. BBC food has a list, most only need fruit juice and a drop of spirit or liqueur to make.

Curry is never boring but alternatives to it could be a huge lasagna, some kind of pie, shepherds pie, beef stew. Will there be room for people to sit down for a bowl of curry or similar? Or at least rest their drink while they eat.

Mulled gin,

heat
ginger beer. Apple juice: lime juice
add ginD cinnamon stick and apple to garnish. Easy and tastes great. Use a nice spiced gin

Oo I never thought about the whole balancing plates situation!
Will make sure they do. We have an open plan downstairs so should be ok.
I have a tendency to over cater with a morbid fear of not providing enough food!this has never happened.

I love this! Off to Google it now.
Thanks both x

We do an open house over Xmas and I find people always eat more than you think, and stay longer than you think! I do an absolutely huge ham and a massive cheeseboard with crackers and those bake at home rolls, plus a big slow cooker of chunky soup which is weirdly a huge hit (I provide cardboard cups to eat it out of). Then a big platter of sausage rolls, bowls of dip and crudités. All of it can be prepped in advance and looks after itself.

My DH is the king of the Xmas ham so that was an alternative. I like the soup idea. Bread can go with either ham or soup then.

I am also thinking that I could make the soup veggie which takes care of that.

Thank you so much x

Do you have somewhere cold like a conservatory where you could store a few cheeses and naice crackers etc? Those always go down well.

No but we do have a garage! And a fairly big fridge. Booze will go in outside in the back garden.
I love parties and hosting but equally love having a drink and a catch up with everyone!
I have found a good Negroni recipe when searching for mulled gin as well.

Could you use a massive slow cooker?