Buffet ideas for Christmas Day

[RedRobyn2021]

We're having our Christmas dinner out this year but on Boxing Day, my mum is hosting and asked that we bring a dish with us for a buffet but I'm not sure what I could make.

I know she will be making cold meats, chicken pate, Christmas pudding and cheese cake. She's also likely to buy the cheese too.

Would homemade samosas be nice?

Or I was thinking Bolognese pinwheels?

Just trying to think of picky things that I can make at home and reheat there. Would really appreciate any inspiration.

Sliced cold Spanish omelette? Pizza? I had tiny Yorkshire puddings with cocktail sausages in once on a buffet, which was nice.

Tear and share garlic bread plait

Blinis, sour cream and smoked salmon.
Honey mustard mini sausages on sticks
Pineapple and cheese on sticks- old ideas are the best!
Quail egg scotch eggs
Devilled eggs

I think samosas, bolognaise pinwheels (a new one on me) and pizza might not go well with her trad English theme. I think buffets have to have some sort of focus or they feel like a load of random tastes which is not very appealing.

For a main dish then quiche, sausage rolls, a game pie, pork pie, a gratin, a cooked ham or just smoked salmon and soda bread or hot sausages.

For a side dish potato salad or potato dauphinois or latkes or something that you could chuck in the oven. Roast root veg. Wintery salads.

For a pudding then trifle, pavlova, or Nigella has a lovely spiced plums with barbados cream (a mix of cream and yogurt)

Pigs in blankets.

Yorkshire pudding with a sliver of beef and a bit of horseradish.

Mini beef wellingtons

Something like this or homemade sausage and chorizo rolls.

It's August😫
I think the home made sausage rolls sound nice. How about taking a nice salad

We have a family buffet on Boxing Day - I take or make:
Ham joint
Sausage rolls (harissa, onion marmalade & plain)
Mexican slaw
Potato Salad (Mayo free one)
Guacamole
Chips
Hummus
Coleslaw

There is also turkey, sausages, beef, cheeses, crackers, roast potatoes, salad, chutneys, pickles, raw veg crudités.

Brie and cranberry tartlets, very festive.
Pigs in blankets, cocktail size, on sticks.
Sprout salad?

I know it’s the Christmas topic. But how depressing!

Festive sausage rolls are always a hit here, as well as old school vol au vents!

Nothing depressing about a sausage roll 😍😂

A sausage and cranberry wreath - puff pastry type thingy
Cranberry and Brie filo crackers
Quiche
Pizza
Slow cooked ham in cider with Christmassy spices

If your mum is doing cold meats and pate / dessert, the you need buffet sides.
How about homemade coleslaw, breads, dips (hummus, guacamole, cranberry etc)

You can never have too many pigs in blankets.

Homemade samosas are always nice. I’ve never had bolognaise pinwheels and want to try now.

My skills aren’t up to much so I take a pasta salad or bake if it’s a hot buffet with either bow shaped or elk shaped pasta. For dessert my offering is individual meringues arranged in wreath shape with berries and whipped cream assembled on site otherwise a Christmas Mess - big meringue with berries and cream on top assembled at home and a little worse the wear on arrival.

Or I’ll take savoury (tomatoe or pesto) and sweet (always nutela) puff pastry masterpieces shaped into twisty Christmas tree’s.

We're on week 3 if not 4 of rain here, I find a Christmas buffet thread quite a pleasant diversion personally! I'm currently planning what clothes to take on a December mini break, is that 'depressing' too?

OP I think your samosas and pinwheel ideas would be a lovely contrast in flavour and texture to cold meats etc

Also agree with PPs re sausage rolls, sticky sausages or pigs in blankets.

Another vote for homemade coleslaw, fresh, crisp and works well with most other buffet items. Add some red cabbage for a festive twist.

And just to add to puffyshirt's annoyance.....
a selection of good quality chutneys and pickles might be good stocking fillers for you Mum given that they can be used the following day to go with meats/cheeses. And some lovely paper napkins. Garden centres are great sources of these.

I've don mini yoekshire puddings with cocktail sausages.

A pizza, home made or bought but cut with a pastry cutter so they are tiny.

One of my go tos is dried apricot, soaked over night so they plump up, put a piece of brie in and wrap with streaky bacon, they only need 10-12 mins in the oven.

Filo parcels - cream cheese and salmon bits or mango chutney with brie or cream cheese and mushroom.

Mango chutney is really easy to make and you can make it now and let it age.

For a 1lb jar or jam jar you need 2 mangoes, sugar and pickling vinegar, spices and a handfull of sultanas.

Peel one mango and chop them both and put in a pan with a 50/50 mix of sugar and vinegar, throw in the spices and sultanas and simmer for about an hour.

When you can draw a wooden spoon accross it and it leaves you seeing the bottom of the pan it is done. Put in a sterilised jar and leave for 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks it is ready but you can leave it longer.

I also do a thing which is a jar of nibbles, basically get an empty jar, fill it with slices of mushroom, sliced olives, finely sliced peppers, capers, and a peeled clove of garlic. Fill the jar with oil and tap to get rid of any air bubbles.

Again leave for a couple of weeks then try it with crusty bread.