Buffet style party for 15 people on a budget!

paigexstewart

I have read thorugh similar posts so I know a fre ideas like sandwiches and pasta, salads and rice.

Any suggestions on cheapest way to make sandwiches and best way to make them look good! I dont want just triangles or squares

Also anything cheap, but looks amazing. Something people wont expect?

Also any party games and entertainment that is cheap?

People are aged around 35+.

Its a birthday party.

Thanks guys.:o

pandora205

I had to rustle up party food for about 20 people at a day's notice last weekend. I didn't have time to do lots of preparation so bought quite a few bits (breadsticks and dips for example) but the best buy was a cake from Costco. I got a huge party cake for £11.99 and it is delicious and everyone commented on it (wish I could say I made it). If you have one near (and someone with a Costco card) that is a really good place for cakes and I think they have smaller ones too.

Here is a pic of the sort of thing (this one has been personalised)
http://www.theleong.com/blog/blogpics/24cake.jpg
The one I bought had balloons and best wishes on (It was for my daughter and boyfriends leaving do - They've just gone to New Zealand).

Most popular stuff was sausage rolls, small sausages and crisps, despite there being lots of healthy bits! Cheese didn't go well, so I'd give that a miss.

paigexstewart

I was going to get a cheese slection, but I wont now.
Yes cosco opened up a few months ago near me, can I get a card there?

Im just worried that I wont have enough food! Everytime I cook for a dinner party I do tons, but never done a buffet before!

IlonaRN

Quiches are a good idea too, and a couple can be vegetarian in case there are any veggies in the guest list!

abaxas

Never under estimate the power of pastry to fill people up.

KarrieBee

You could make open sandiwches so they looked like canapes. I think plenty of a few things is better than little bits ofg lots of things IYSWIM?
I think trying to stick to things that can be eaten with fingers is best so not
cheese or pate as people need to balance cutlery and plate and drink - and then you can be moneysaving on carpet cleaner too!!
For a friends 30th we had a "kids" party with sausages on sticks, kiddies crisps, iced gems and penny sweet party bags - very cheap and cheerful and a big hit but perhaps you are after something mroe sophisticated!

hilstep2000

I always go to Iceland. They have indian and chinese snacks £5 for 60 pieces. People seem to like them. They also do bags of chicken drumsticks for £2. Suppossed to contain 10, but all the ones I've had contained 15 pieces! Add lots of french bread too.

Boodle

At a recent party my bean tortillas were very popular as an alternative to sandwiches. I just spread flour tortillas with mayo, then filled with tinned bean salad and a little grated Cheddar, and wrapped up. I cut them into 2 on a diagonal so they looked rather pretty too. The trick is to not overfill - in fact I was worrying the filling looked stingy when I was making them - but once they are cut they were fine and much easier to eat!

FairyElephant_2

Cheeseboard always goes really well at my parties! You have to unwrap the cheeses and cut a chunck or slice of each one though - for some reason people don't like to be 'the first' to break into a new one I find! I like to put grapes and/or cherry tomatoes on there too, for colour & style LOL!

We don't make up sandwiches or rolls any more - we lay out the fillings and leave people to make their own - much easier to freeze/use up the leftovers then (if there are any!).

If you have the facilities, for a 'cold weather' party I have found that a hot meat (like a pork joint) goes down a treat, and if you can buy on offer it can be cheaper than ham etc. (or buy it reduced and freeze it 'til needed like I did - cheapskate me!) - and it looks really impressive when you bring it out of the oven to the table! - not to mention smells gorgeous!! Add stuffing (made a bit 'sloppy' so it kind of spreads on the bread rolls) and apple sauce - all set up for DIY to your guest's preferences.

Mulled wine is also good, if you have a slow-cooker it makes & keeps warm brillinatly, and you can use a cheap wine, diluted with fruit-juice/lemonade, goes a long way for little £££££ and looks impressive with fruit chopped up in it!

HTH

FE

flissh

I played a good game recently. Never played it before. There were four of us in two teams of two, I guess you could have bigger teams. We were given small squares of paper, someone had roughly torn up, (about two inches square), I think we had about 15-20 each. We had to write names of famous people/characters on each square, fold and put them all in a big bowl. (eg, George Bush, Donald Duck, Lewis Hamilton, Shirley Temple, Sponge Bob Square Pants)
First team, 1 minute (other team timed them) One team member pulled out paper, described person on paper, without actually naming them, team member has to guess, they get through as many as they can in 1 minute. Keep score of how many they do, put aside used names for later.
Alternate teams and guessers, until all gone from bowl.
Put used names back in bowl, folded again, play round two, but this time can only use three words to describe name on paper. INCLUDING umm...arrr.. Be strict with this bit, makes it funnier.

At the end, names back in bowl for final round, Pull names out, this time mime names in chrades-type way.

Sounds long winded, but truly one of the funniest games I have played in ages.

kerik4

We always have a couple of baguettes and smoked mackerel dip (can find the recipe for you, not too expensive) - French bread is very filling!