Cold finger food for 40-50 people, what have I done?

[Dustyblue]

I have a new job, going well so far thankfully. Nice people.

Part of the job is organizing events/programs for the community (it's a NFP) and so I have. In a moment of new-job madness, after arranging a 2 part lecture and discussion session over 2 evenings, I suggested snacks/discussion for 30 mins after the event.

Over to muggins here. Work has a 'certified commercial kitchen' but it's no bigger than a decent domestic kitchen. Am thinking of making pre-made cold food and not using the oven etc.

So far:

• cold chicken skewers with satay sauce to dip
• cold quiche?

I so should not have done this.

Order sandwich platters from a supermarket, crisps , fruit etc

You need to order in unless you're hygiene certified and insured in case of allergies etc?

I would buy in tray bakes/ muffins/biscuits/scones and drinks, I wouldn't worry about proper food. People won't expect sandwiches etc after a lecture, it's more a nibble and a drink. If the idea is to encourage discussion people won't be wanting to sit down with a buffet.

Satay sauce has peanuts so I'd avoid that.

If it's just nibbles rather than replacing a meal then I'd buy a selection of mini Danish pastries and have it out on platters.

It's snacks not a meal, you don't need a commercial kitchen! Get some cakes / biscuits and be done with it. After two days of lectures they'll probably all want to be out of there ASAP and no one wants to double dip chicken satay skewers!

For a 30 minute slot I would do cake, biscuits, tea, coffee and juice. No one will expect a buffet.

Oh my, thanks so much. So many good replies.

No budget for food, it's a Community House and I'm working off what they've done before. Eg, they've done evening sessions with snacks/discussion afterwards and were thrilled to have cold frittata and scones. We have a community garden (was silverbeet frittata from the garden with donated eggs).

The more I read these replies, the more ridiculous I realise I'm being.

But thank you, this is so helpful.

I'd keep it simple as well, buy in some cakes/biscuits or something. The plus with that is that you have the ingredients to hand in case someone has allergies, making food yourself increases the risk of that being an issue. You can get boxes of the small packs of biscuits on amazon. If you really want sarnies sainsburys and I think morrisons you can order platters.

I’d say something like “I realised that I’d need a basic food hygiene training and certificate for this so it’s just a few snacks that will be available at the event”. Don’t go overboard, keep it simple and everyone will be happy someone else is having to do it and not them!