'Proper' hot lunch for 20+ 3/4 yrs olds - how to keep it warm (and reduce panic)!?

[LadyMontdore]

Having a party in a village hall for ds. My plan was potato wedges, little bits of pizza, sausages and salad. Maybe some bits of chicken. Did this last year and worked really really well, children sat for a good while and there wasn't much left over. I also do not like making sarnies!

However this year there is no cooker in the venue!

Will potato wedges/pizza/sausges etc keep warm for about one to two hours if wrapped in tin foil and put on one of those electric portable plate warmer hostess things (we have one already) or will everything go soggy and give everyone food poisoning?! I don't really wantrto serve everything sizzling hot anyway.

If I remember rightly from last time I did training (a while ago now!) 90 mins is the maximum amount of time food should be left out and eaten.

Does it all have to be hot?

Why not jacket potatoes and garlic bread which will stay warm wrapped in foil and have cold sausages etc with them.

A friend of mine took her slow cooker and cooked/heated up hotdogs, it was all eaten

Why does it have to be hot? Child love sandwiches!

Can you get pizza delivered? That's the latest rage for parties here.

I would just have picky food, cold sausages, crisps, carrot sticks, cherry toms party rings etc. Sarnies are a labour intensive waste of time and barely get touched.

I woudlnt expect my child to get a hot full meal at a party

or is it the 'keeping them seated for a while' aspect that is appealing?

If so, paper table cloths on the tables with a load of crayons keeps them quiet

I know it isn't the easiest option! But I hate the waste involved with 'picky food'. I just can't bear the way the plates get piled up and very little is eaten.
I also think that as it is lunch I quite like to give something a bit more 'lunchy', last year it the children definately treated it more as a 'meal' rather than just a grab a handfull of bits kind of thing. The other thing is that nearly everyone we no has their birthday at this time of year so we have 2 months of one or two parties a week and DS is near the end so a change from sarnies might be quite nice!

Am liking the baked potato idea.

I have given up on hot food for children's parties unless I am at home. Too much juggling. As stringcheese says, get pizza delivered and have cold snacks already plated up. As fairy theme we are having mini everything - mini sausages, mini sandwiches, mini choc fingers, mini party rings, mini cakes etc. My guess is that we will need less as they will probably still select 3 sandwiches, but half the size, but might actually eat them.

Other option if you are close is to get obliging oh/mil etc to go back and collect ones you have put in oven before go, or start party with food, depending on timing. I think I would find it stressfull trying to cook loads of food as well as pack everything / organise, decorate venue.