Food for a communion party

miss.piggy

Hi all
My niece is having her communion on May 7th and I agreed to do the food (my sister and her husband are having a party in their house afterwards).
I am hoping to get some comments on my proposed menu which will be buffet style for the starter/main course. My niece wants fish and carrot cake in there somewhere! The communion is at 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning so I want to do as much in advance and the night before and morning of as I can. So here goes:
Salads:
- cooked beetroot diced and mixed with natural yogurt and finely chopped chives (assemble just before serving)
- homemade cucumber pickle (make the night before as I want it fairly fresh)
- bowl of salad leaves, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced roast peppers (from a jar), diced cucumber (assemble just before serving)
- homemade salad dressing (make the night before)
- homemade coleslaw (make the night before - will it be ok to make this the night before)
- homemade pasta salad - not sure what I'll put in this yet? but will make it that morning
- might get some nice breads in M&S to serve with butter too

Main Dishes:
- lasagne (I am going to make the bolognese sauce for this the weekend before and freeze it and then defrost it the night before and then make the white sauce and assemble the lasagne that morning so that it just has to go in the oven when we get back from the church) Or would it be better to cook the night before and then reheat it? Or would it be dry then?
- tray of salmon fillets which I will cook in oven before serving (need to make some kind of a marinade/sauce, not sure what yet?)
- Gratin Dauphonaise (assemble the night before and then stick in oven when we get back from church) Or would it be better to cook the night before and then just reheat that day?
- Homemade potato wedges (prepare that morning and then stick in oven when we get back from church)

Deserts:
- homemade carrot cake (make the night before or else the weekend before and then freeze and just make icing the night before, would it freeze ok?)
- other desert will be either a pavlova with fresh cream and fresh berries or a homemade cheesecake (I make a nice mandarin and chocolate one) Pavlova bases never turn out right for me though so if I go for the pavlova I will probably buy one - do m&s have them?)

Thanks for reading and I would appreciate your comments!

Mr Magnolia

How many adults/children are you feeding?

miss.piggy

Sorry meant to say that - around 17 adults and 5 children (ranging in age from 8 down to 1)

Mr Magnolia

I'd buy the coleslaw personally, it can go watery sometimes. I'd also avoid reheating the lasagne as it will dry out as you note yourself, same with the Dauphonaise.

The carrot cake could be made a couple of days before the event if it suits, I don't know how it would freeze.

Looks good!

thecookingapple

sounds great. good ;luck,

Goodne

When I make lasagne I assemble it the night before I cook it, I find that it holds together much better that way & it would save you time in the morning. Gratin Dauphonaise might go soggy if prepared the night before; how about potato salad instead? Are you sure its all going to fit in the oven? You might need to do something for the kids? Maybe some chicken or pizza

Miaireland

One thing to take into account is there going to be enough seating for everyone to sit while eating or are some people going to be eating with a plate in one hand and a fork in the other.

neuro-praxis

You're a good sister! Sounds lovely. I'd second buying the coleslaw. It's fairly inexpensive and usually quite good.

Re: dessert - go with what you feel confident about. If pavlovas don't usually work out for you, avoid. Alternatively, if someone coming is good at desserts, you could ask them to step in to take some of the load off you.

For the salmon - bottled teriyaki is a simple marinade, and a crowd-pleaser. Or something else I do - bake a tray of salmon, with a little olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper. Very simple. Then serve with creme fraiche that has lime zest in it - a dollop per salmon fillet. Simple and delicious.

miss.piggy

Thanks for the replies guys.
I think I'll do as you say neuro praxis and just use lemon juice and seasoning for the fish.
Think I'll assemble the lasagne the night before then and just make sure all the lasagne sheets are covered with sauce so they don't dry out.
Any ideas for a nice cold pasta salad that can be made the night before?
On the gratin dauphonoise - would it really not be ok to assemble this the night before? I really want to make this but it would be abit much to make it in the morning.
On the pavlova base - when I have tried this before I used cornflour and vinegar in it (as I wanted it chewy in the middle, as per Nigella Lawson's recipe). I have also tried it without cornflour/vinegar. However, both times it turned out soft and watery in the middle and sometimes with syrupy type liquid oozing out - what am I doing wrong? Followed recipe and cooking times exactly and left it to cool in the oven etc.

jendafer1

You could try a waldorf type salad with pasta? Had it once before and it was delicious - and not too tricky to make either.

eternal

I think you should have smoked salmon in there .Its is a staple of any good buffet and is so nice with some mixed leaves and bit of balsamic.
You could do this instead of the baked salmon ,save you time .
yes you can make the garlic spuds the night before .Raw potatoes ,how can they go soggy ?
I think you can make your own coleslaw cos I prefer it homemade and it it will prove cheaper.
The carrot cake will be fine defrosted naturally in cool space and I cant remember the rest of the post now.
for the main you could try some hake ,its a nice fish , with roasted veg ,easy peasy and soo nice !

miss.piggy

Thanks eternal
Yeah that's what I thought myself about the potato gratin but someone mentioned it might go soggy.
Will definitely be making my own coleslaw as I hate bought coleslaw with a passion!
Anyone any ideas on the rest of my post? Especially the pavlova problems?
Thanks

Xyo

why not just make a tray of meringues and do a fresh fruit mess with it?