buffet advice please

[Lisa78]

As you may know, I am no Nigella in the kitchen! Next weekend is DS2's baptism and we are having people back here afterwards for a buffet and I am getting quite stressed now! For a start, its sort of mushroomed so a lot more people are coming than I expected would but I'm also struggling about what to do for the buffet.
I'd like to do as much as I can on the saturday, so I am not cooking whilst people are waiting to eat! I can't cope with anything complicated and I don't want to spend a fortune

I thought I'd do a big bowl of salad and a big bowl of pasta in sauce. Garlic bread? Quiche? Pizza? I know tesco do these chicken wings which are £1.24 for 12 so i can get some of these. I also thought I could do baked potatoes and cut them in half so they are easy to eat from paper plates! I've got some chicken nuggets and potato croquettes for the kiddies, but this is not going to feed 50 odd people (50 - how did that happen? )

Any advice gladly received!

Could you do a big pan of chilli the night before and warm up on the day? Do some rice on the day Plus a big pan of ratatouille (sp?). Dips are good with bread sticks, cut pitta bread, carrot batons, celery etc. Some French bread and a selection of cheese. Then pad it out with bowls of crips, nuts, olives etc

If you've got 50 people standing around eating one-handed from paper plates you might like to focus on finger food.

I go to the local market and get platters of cooked meats. Then I just butter bread rolls on the day and shove them in a bowl. A nice salad, a few sausages on sticks and a couple of big gateaux's from your local wholesale (Costco) and you're sorted. Of course I always end up doing a few other things. Pasta salad, potatoe salad and all those sorts of things. But they come ready made in bowls from Costco as well. Ds2's Christening was catered for by myself and a friend and it cost just over a £100 including some alcohol. You can even get your christening cake from costco.

BTW - what's the difference between a christening and a baptism?

Flip - it's the same thing!
For DS2's baptism/christening party we got trays of sandwiches and nibbles from Safeway. They were really good, made to order and really not very expensive at all. Evryone was very impressed. I orderd far too much though as ever and we had a whole (unopened) tray left over that we sent down to the local soup run

I think I'd do some lovely bread, some huge slabs of nice cheese, butter, cold quiche, a salad or two (green and maybe a tomato, basil and mozzarella, which always looks more impressive than it is imo!), cold meats, garlic bread and some pickles and chutneys. All quite low effort and it wouldn't take long to get out when you get back.

thanks - will probably do all of these, am terrified of people being hungry!

Lisa, I did the buffet for my mum's 60th for 68 people!!! we had:-
salmon (bought ready prepared from costco, just fancied it up a bit IYKWIM)
variety of cold meats
quiches
variety of salads - normal green, prawn, feta cheese, coleslaw, potato, rice, pasta
french bread
jacket potatoes (cut in half like you said!)
cheese board/with biscuits
mini indian/chinese appetisers
sausage and cheese rolls
cheese straws
roast chicken drumsticks
plus I did extras for the kids crisps, chicken nuggets, cocktail sausages that sort of thing
HTH

lmb - would you like to come to DS2's baptism, err, come really early. Like Friday!

depends, where do you live and how much you are paying

Yorkshire, and I ain't paying, the honour of being in my presence should be enough!!! (and saving my guests lives )

Yorkshire - me too!! so when we read in the Yorkshire Evening Post next week that a whole christening party has died following a bout of salmonella - we'll know it was your party

distinct possibility I'm afraid

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thanks yorkiegirl, yours too! (Though if you are having caterers, might come to yours instead

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