cold party food - nothing fancy, teenagers!!

[YellowPixie]

Going to my mum's at the weekend and lovely as she is, she has the appetite of a 2 year old and although she reassures me she has "plenty" of food we have been here before with ravenous teenagers who are not sated with a small pack of cocktail sausages and a pack of tortilla chips between 8.

So I am taking food (as is my sister). Looking for ideas for things to take which do not require heating/cooking, are easily transported in the car for 90 minutes, crowd pleasers for teens, no prawns/fish. Don't mind spending a wee while in the kitchen but not hours. Only thought so far was some sort of cheese twist or something using puff pastry as I definitely have some in the freezer.

Cold pizza

Homemade sausage rolls, or a spinach/feta puff pastry plait, or some potato wedges, cooked right before you go so will still be faintly warm on arrival

Houmous/other dips with bread sticks/carrot/cucumber/pepper strips

A ready made quiche, some of them are alright cold

Bread rolls and a supermarket cheese board

More sausages! Lots more sausages. Including chipolatas, perhaps, they cook quickly.
And lots of rolls to put them in. Ketchup, mustard etc.
You could even make sausage rolls with the frozen pastry.
(teens like sausages, IME. Boys, anyway)

Sausage rolls.
Wraps cut up into halves on a platter.
Pesto Pasta salad.
Dips and crudités.

Cheese and crackers!

Those packs of sweet chilli rice crackers and/or tortilla chips
Spread cream cheese on a plate, drizzle with sweet chilli sauce and scatter with coriander (or leave the latter off if kids are haters)
Dip the crackers/chips into the dip. Until I tasted it, I thought it sounded disgusting, but it is so, so good. Easy to assemble when you arrive.

Sausage rolls - easy peasy. You can add chutney or crumbled stilton to make them seem 'artisan'.

Big plate of carrot/cucumber sticks and hoummus - easy to assemble when you arrive.

Can you persuade your mum to get some bags of frozen wedges that you can stick in the oven when you get there?

Pizzas are another obvious one.

Pork pie - big one from butchers
Cheese and biscuits

Pork pie - big one from butchers
Cheese and biscuits

Or hotdogs - really easy if you cook a load of onions in advance

Thinking about what I used to do for kids parties where we had to lug it all to the village hall/ leisure centre and assemble onsite. This would be my list:

• cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, blueberries, grapes - just need putting out, no prep or cooking
• Iceland - Bag of sausage rolls, cheese and onion rolls, chicken wings, Pizza - just need 30 mins in the oven before you go, then serve up cold
• Dry stuff - Baguette/ slicable fresh bread, crisps, breadsticks
• Dips/condiments/sides - garlic & herb dip, coleslaw, potato salad, cream cheese
• Desserts - cheesecake, trifle, double chocolate gateaux

Not sure how many teens and others you’re feeding but a selection from that should fill a hole.

-Chicken drumsticks. Cheap and there are various coatings/sticky finishes but can eaten cold with foil/kitchen paper around the bone end as a 'handle'.
-Quiche or these smaller versions. Almost any filling can be used- tomatoes, basil, ham/bacon, spring onions, tuna/sweetcorn, various cheeses etc https://www.amummytoo.co.uk/filo-pastry-mini-quiches-great-for-kids-to-make-and-eat/
-Mexican dip can be served with batons of carrots, celery, peppers or corn chips.https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20707/best-ever-layered-mexican-dip/

Honestly, I would be taking an air fryer type of some sort with me and take no shit from my mum while I was being a mum.

With that, sausage rolls, toasties, baked potatoes with something on top. If I had to wash up afterwards, well, you’ve just fed a mob of teenagers - they can pay for their dinner by rolling up their sleeves.

Costco has big platters of party food massive portions all prepared fresh on the day. Economical too.

M and S also have good stuff but more expensive.

I made some puff pastry whirls with ready made puff pastry they were okay but I didn’t follow a recipe and they were a bit soggy. Loaded with protein for hungry teenagers though. Cheap and filling but my advice is to follow a recipe!

Airfryer a good idea. We take a small coffee machine with us everywhere we go 😂 It’s usually in the car anyway ready for our holiday!