Baked beans on toast?
4 Likes
That has been one of our go-tos for last few years. Sort of keen to do something different.
Thread drft…
Arrggg, e.coli and salmonella central! The ones were you are served are better, although seeing them tip new food on top of the food that has been sitting for a while worries me. But watching people serving themselves and break every hygiene rule in the book make me shudder. I am completely omnivorous, apart from buffets which I generally won’t touch now, apart from boiled egg in shell!
None of them demand a specific diet (apart from shellfish allergy) and all of them would eat what’s put in front of them, they are polite. But they wouldn’t enjoy it. Which defeats the object of sharing a nice special meal.
1 Like
Oh my… never had a dicky tummy… perhaps I was lucky or perhaps the restos had suitably high standards… it was many years ago since our last long trip …
But at a Chinese a few months ago… I did notice they removed the empty/almost empty dishes and replaced with ready-filled dishes… I noticed how quickly the change-over was made and how much more practical it was too… and no splashing/mess and/or mixing of foods with risks such as you mention
If you did that with me, I would be throwing up within 15 minutes as I have a very violent reaction to goats milk or cheese 
Edit: Thanks to those who mentioned allergies. Also, I’d go with what @vero suggests. I would devour almost all of what she proposes.
1 Like
OK if the buffet is a no no (after all you too need to enjoy it) and keep it simple. How about a very large chickpea tagine, enough to divide into two main dishes made the day before. It doesn’t have to be spicy, can be mild / sweet (add sultanas). One tagine remains vegetarian. Cut up some chicken breasts into small pieces, spice (or not) the chicken pieces, flash fry them and add to the other tagine. Couscous and salads (or not) as needed on the day.
1 Like
I have been put off twice now by serve yourself systems One chinese buffet, I saw a man taste each dish he fancied and put the spoon back in the dish and in Pizza Huts years ago, a child was going round the salad bar doing exactly the same plus I got poisoned by some spicy sausage on my pizza as well, never went to either again.
1 Like
How ghastly… I would have complained to the management if I’d seen someone behave like that…
1 Like
Actually I have the answer.
Toast.
5 Likes
Whilst I fully understand @JaneJones dislke of buffets…
The local restaurants nearly always offer a buffet … be it entrées and/or desserts for their midday clientèle… seems to be a tradition which folk understand and enjoy… and I’ve never seen anyone misbehaving… 
In fact some do have showers etc where the workers/drivers can freshen up before eating… and they arrive at table clean and tidy… 
Goodness me what a motley crew! A buffet would be the best way to go with bowls of potato salad, perhaps a vegetable lasagna, a selection of cold cuts, stuffed eggs tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, a nice mixed salad. Cold chicken pieces - I have a lovely recipe that would be perfect if you would like it, not too spicy
. Even some chicken tikka - not that spicy but very tasty. It’s really hot these days so cold food is always appreciated lol.
A bit too late for Saturday’s event, but what about having a pot luck dinner party the next time you all have a get together? With the rising cost of food, it would possibly help with that side of things.
I suppose it’s a sort of extension of the old days, when you always took a bottle or two of wine when you were invited for dinner.
And as you say, Saturday is change over day for you so it could take the pressure off a bit.
A nice idea but they are coming from Germany! They will bring many nice things, but not of the instant eating variety - more on the drinking front.
With local friends there is that tradition, and someone will bring an entrée and another the dessert. And we were discussing how this makes it so much easier to invite people round.
A buffet is a lot of last minute work though and with a Gite changeover day too……
1 Like
not the way I do it… no cooking on the day… everything very simply presented…
folk mix and match according to their tastes… and how hungry they are… nothing is wasted… (I hate leaving stuff on the side of my plate, simply because someone else has dished me up with either tooo much or stuff I don’t really want to eat)
We’re all different and I’m sure @JaneJones and her friends will have a lovely meal, presented in the manner in which she feels most comfortable…
Cake, cake and cake. 3 courses. Or go 5 and add in some other desserts. 
5 Likes
How are you with soufflé? It’s impressive, and would be a unifying common dish for everyone, and could then be bulked out with sidedishes where they could pick and choose.
1 Like
Beef / lamb stew cooked the night before and freshly made dumplings on the day, do a smaller portion of the stew with more herbs and a bit of something to give it some zing for the vegetarian
If you’ve got a decent wood fired pizzeria nearby, you could pre-order for everyone - tho’ despite the Grauniad recipe above, I’m not sure about potato and tomato pizza…
But if you really want to go for it, everyone could also dress as ‘Italians’. Now wouldn’t that be fun!
I’m good with soufflés, but with no cheese? Can’t think of savoury one that doesn’t add some?
I was keeping the story short, but our tradition with these friends is we cook a “proper meal” on night 1, they do a bbq on night 2, we cook pizza on night 3 and they do a couple of lasagnes on night 4…. We have pizza ovens.
1 Like
Ah, but unless you have ten or so there’s a problem, whereas pre-ordering means they all arrive at the same time.
I’d be tempted to do a big sheet pan roast of assorted Med veg because unlike ratatouille, it’s easier for the picky eaters to select what they want