My son is getting baptized soon and I want to have the luncheon at my house. I'm having about 15 people and it will be at about 3:00 p.m. by the time we get back to my house. I am leaning toward making a lunchmeat tray, cheese tray, and various breads. There is no one here to set it up, so I have to have something where I just pull it out. I was also thinking about maybe making some pasta salads, a tossed salad and baked beans in the crockpot. I don't know if I would be better off just making a veggie and a fruit tray rather than the salads. What do you think? Is that way too much food or too little? Any ideas or receipes are welcome!
Thanks!
That is exactly what I did for my girl's baptisms including the fruit and veggie trays but minus the crockpot food. I ordered all the food including the macaroni and potato salads. The place I used even provided mayo, oil, pickles and peppers too.
I had all the bowls /spoons out on my counter and when we came back to the house it only took minutes to transfer the food to the decorative dishes.
I think your idea of the lunchmeat/cheese tray w/various breads is a great
idea.
I would add the pasta salad, you can keep a tossed salad in the fridge.
The baked beans might be a good idea.
If not those, I would personally put those mini links in bbq sauce in a
crockpot.
Add a veggie tray (make yourself) w/Ranch.
Throw out a bowl of chips & a bowl of pretzels.
Bottled water & bowl of punch.
I was raised Catholic, and we had a rather unorthodox way of doing it. For my sister's and brother's (I was 6 and 8 respectively), we had lunchmeat with cheese and veggies and dips trays, and fresh bread. We also had chicken(Dad picked it up right after church), and potatoes. We had a punch prepared earlier(well, the fruit cut up with the secret ingredients marinating), which we poured the carbonated goodies in over the iced fruit just before they got there. We also put a kettle on for the adults that wanted tea.
When my brother was baptised, my Mother was still recovering, so we did potluck so Mom wouldn't have to work so hard(she always did her own party trays).
Light, easy to set up, and very Sunday Social friendly.
What you have suggested sounds great and exactly what we do as well. Personally I like the pasta salad and then a veggie and fruit tray. Maybe meatballs in a crockpot.
I think that that is perfect for the time of day. I am assuming that the church service is somewhere around 2pm, so most will have already eaten lunch, but might need some snacks. I would go with the luncheon tray, one salad, some fruit/veggies, and some chips. 15 people is really not that many, so I wouldn't cook too much, unless you don't mind a ton of leftovers or giving the food away at the end. Also, don't forget about a cake (or other dessert) to celebrate with! Congratulations for your son!
First of all congrats on your son's big day! I like your idea of sandwiches, veggie tray, and fruit tray. Maybe have one warm item in the crockpot like little barbecue meatballs or little barbecue hotdogs people can eat with toothpicks. God bless your family during this special time!
I would go with the veggie and fruit trays with the deli trays. That way it is all finger food. No one needs cutlery, they can eat comfortably standing up etc...
I would go with the veggis and fruits as opposed to the salads. They will hold better on teh table and whatever is not used up will work good in lunch bags or casseroles etc later in the week. baked beans is a good idea also as it will be something hot. someone else mentioned the little smokies or little hotdogs in sauce those are always a huge hit at our parties.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE WITH NOT TOO MANY DISHES:
3 PM is WAY past lunch time, so if your guests have not eaten a good breakfast, brunch or lunch, you should serve something fairly substantial. I suggest the following:
Hot and cold beverages
Cheese and fruit platter with assorted crackers
Hot pasta or enchilada dish (these can be heated up quickly) or a crock pot dish that will already be hot
Tossed green salad with a good dressing
Crunchy French bread and butter
AND of course a CAKE
My "go to" for a situation like this is chicken salad. I have an easy recipe for a chicken salad wrap (very simple) that everyone raves about...and there is nothing to it. or you could make a nice chicken salad that has fancy things like grapes or dried cherries in it and put it on a mini croissant. Both of these sandwiches keep well overnight in the fridge, so it's easy to just pull them out.
Pasta salad and a fruit and veggie tray would go perfect with it too.
if you think your guests would want hot food, meatballs in a crock pot are foolproof and usually do not have to be supervised.
