Summer buffet for 30 or so adults plus 20 children - help me plan in advance please?

[cleanandclothed]

Having a party in the summer, I think probably 30-40 adults and 15-20 children, mainly 1-5 years old.

I would like to do a (probably cold) buffet. Happy to make a fair amount myself, equally to buy stuff as well. But I am already stressing! Mainly about the mechanics of actually storing/serving/setting it out (will be hiring a small hall with small kitchen).

Any suggestions for easy to make, store and serve dishes? Am hoping to keep to around £10-£12 per head, does that sound doable?

It sounds totally doable to me. As it's summer you can do mainly (all?) cold food which makes serving a whole lot easier. Lots of things can be done in advance and frozen and all you'd have to do would be to let things come up to temperature. Lots of pastry things freeze really well (e.g. quiches, spanakopita, other stuffed filo things, home-made pasties etc.). You could do nice chicken salad (I'm guessing you could cook and freeze the meat and make the dressing closer to the time). Whole baked salmon, served cold with watercress dressing. You could buy bagged salad to save time. Depending on how costs are adding up, you could always get more antipasti types of things: roasted peppers, olives, cold meats etc. I guess that is a more of a mixed buffet type of thing.

If you wanted more of a 'theme' you could always go turkish/middle eastern as they have so many mezze foods many of which can be served cold - tabbouleh, gozlemes, dips (baba ganoush, hummus etc.) with pitta and veg.

For my ds 1st birthday last year we had about 18 adults and 12 kids, to keep it simple I did: slow cooked pulled pork, served in burger bun with coleslaw, BBQ and a couple of different salads (potato salad, green salad, pasta salad). Very very easy. Pulled pork we did overnight in the slow cooker and it was delish!

Hope those give some ideas. Now I re-read it I think my first option sounds quite 70s - I'm obviously thinking back to my mum's parties when I was growing up!!

Have you thought about a hog roast?

Thank you - still mulling over. I like the mezze idea. The kitchen is quite small - with a big fridge for storage but not sure I could do many hot things.

For those numbers I would honestly look into caterers- it may not work out much more expensive per head but crucially they will have sufficient fridge and freezer space, crockery and glassware etc and even more crucially take it all away with them afterwards. Do you really think you will be able to enjoy your party if you are doing the catering?.

I did this for a friend's daughter's christening last summer, same sort of set up as yours sounds.

Poached a whole salmon the day before at home, served it on a large platter, watercress and pea shoots round the edges, very thinly sliced (peeled) cucumber half moons along it (as scales) and sealed with a thin aspic glaze, made with the poaching liquor. I made a dill mayo to accompany, loosened with a but of creme fraiche, 'twas delicious.

Also did a new potato salad with a cider vinegar and mint dressing, tomato, basil and mozzarella salad with pesto dressing, and a simple cucumber salad with coriander, chilli and mint dressing.

For the children I did a mountain of mini sausages cooked in a honey and mustard mix, chicken satay skewers and satay dip, baked new potatoes with a creme fraiche, spring onion and chive dip and tortilla chips with tomato salsa and guacamole.

All of this can be prepped 1-3 days in advance, with only the chicken satay skewers and sausages needing cooking on the day.

I commandeered a couple of friend's fridges, which helped and, because I'd done it all in advance, stress on the day was negligible.

For pud I'd made the christening cake too, but also made an enormous tiramisu and the children made their own sundaes, helping themselves to sprinkles and fruit compotes etc.

And price, less the cake as that was a separate thing, was £9/head.

Last Xmas we did buffet instead by using cold turkey breasts which we cooked the day before, sliced up nicely for sandwiches or with variety of salads (cold pasta salad, new potatoes salad, green salad, spinach/walnut/feta cheese salad). Good quality sausage rolls go down well with the kids and no preparation required. You might also be able to do Jacket potatoes in advance as they keep well for 2-3 hrs wrapped in foil & kept in thermal bag, could be served with cheese, ham, etc. I also love Dutch ovens as they are great for serving large numbers and is very different. Prawn cocktail in melon is an oldie with very little prep time.

We host a summer party every year and our friends bring dishes along - which I know isn't the route you're going down, but I thought I'd give you the list of what we had at the last one incase it gave you some ideas.

All dishes were served cold

Wild rice with chicken, grapes and walnuts
Pasta with feta cheese, pesto and pine nuts
Homemade pate with crusty bread
Poached whole salmon
King Prawns and a thai chilli dip
Salad
Potato Salad
Cold meat selection - Ham, chicken and roast beef
Quiche

Then we had a "fun" table which went down a storm

Cheese and pineapple hedgehog
Sausage rolls
Sausages on sticks
Chicken nuggets
Breadsticks and dips
Sandwiches cut into triangles (tuna & cucumber, cheese and beef with horseradish)
Spring rolls
Samosas
and of course...vol-au-vents.

We then had

Carrot and orange cupcakes
Lemon cupcakes
Cheeseboard and crackers

Fabulous ideas, thanks. Am waiting to see exactly how many replies I get before deciding what to do - will definitely have people to help set out and clear up. Poached salmon v good idea - and I think I could get mum to do that!

I'd do a BBQ. Good quality sausages in a good quality roll, offer 3 different salads and some relishes sauces etc. Keep it very simple, or get caterers!