80's style Christmas Buffet

[kitchenplans]

So, for sad reasons,we're hosting boxing day buffet. It was previously hosted by my late MIL. I want to do something different to her spread (painful for DH and Sibs to be a weak repro), but still sentimental and meaningful. So I was thinking of doing an 80's style buffet.. I've got vol-au-vents and cheese/onion hedgehog, what else? about 20 people, and as on boxing day needs to be able to be bought in advance.

A pint glass with sticks of celery in (and dips.)
Salmon mousse with cucumber scales.
Sausages on sticks.
Part baked rolls.
Cheese and pineapple hedgehog.

Just off the top of my head.

Anything with blancmange!!!!

Not sure if 80s but were Ritz crackers with cream cheese and something else (cucumber?) a thing?

Prawn cocktail?

Scotch eggs or deviled eggs
Quiche (or mini quiches)
A cheese-and-crackers plate with grapes
Hummus and/or baba ghanoush with pita triangles
Tea sandwiches
Some kind of "specific" salad like Waldorf salad, Caprese salad, Caesar salad - or maybe a fruit salad?

Or go all-out with fondue!

I was going to suggest vol au vents …I still do them for Boxing Day 🤦‍♀️

Big bowls of crisps. Peanuts (assuming no allergies). Pizza slices (cheap margarita for the 80s feel 🤣) Cake to slice and serve. Packet trifle. Cans of pop (much more exotic than a big bottle).

Viennetta
Glazed ham with glace cherries
Prawn cocktail in half an avocado

Little melba toasts- not sure if you can still buy them, or what went on them!
Bowls of KP nuts.
Yes to ritz crackers with a chunk of cheddar on them! Maybe with a dollop of Branston pickle.
Cocktail sausages.
Quiche pre - sliced
Cheese straws

Not sure about 80s as a lot of the things suggested sound more 70s - doesn't matter at all though, it's still retro and hopefully will bring some smiles at a sad time for you all.

Appreciate some of these have been mentioned but sometimes repeats reinforce what was popular

A cheese and pineapple hedgehog. We used to also have pieces of tinned hotdogs on sticks too.

Ritz crackers with primula cheese in a tube. My Mum also used to squeeze the cheese into short lengths of celery. You could also put out a couple of jars of Shiphams paste or similar. Salmon mousse.

Devilled eggs

Prawn cocktail

Vol-au-vents with either prawn cocktail or tinned creamy mushrooms (I now prefer to cook mushrooms myself and add a couple of spoonfuls of cream cheese and stir til melted.)

Twiglets

Blackforet Gateau

Vienetta

Trifle made with a Birds trifle kit

After 8s &. Matchmakers

Babycham
Snowballs
Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry

I'd include sandwiches. Possibly a selection of shapes as well as flavours. I have a dim memory of pinwheel sandwiches featuring in magazine articles, and Danish open sandwiches were popular in the 70s, so probably still around in the early 80s. We did have wholemeal bread back then, but most people had white bread or Hovis, which was wheatmeal, I believe. Rye bread would have been very exotic, sourdough unknown. (French bread was a party favourite but not for sandwiches.)

Fillings for bog standard sandwiches cut into squares or triangles: egg and cress, cheese and chutney/pickle, ham and mustard, tuna mayonnaise and cucumber. I think I'm right in saying that the M&S prawn sandwich became hugely popular in the 1980s, so that might be another option.

Agree that moat of these are 70s rather than 80s but it doesn't really matter.

Mini Kievs
Hummus and pitta bread
Mini quiches
Slices of French bread pizza
Garlic bread

Stuffed dates
Vol au vents with prawn mayonnaise
Chocolate log cabin cake covered in flakes to represent the logs
Brandy snaps with piped cream
Tunis cake
Turkey sandwiches
Elizabeth Shaw mints
Mini pizzas

Angel delight
Wagon wheels
Prawn cocktail
Shirley temples

You are going to have a cracking playlist as well.

Space invader crisps. Skips crisps. Party rings. Iced gems.

Your cheese and pineapple hedgehog will also need a sibling with cheese and baby pickled onions on its sticks.