Elaborate dairy buffet

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amother

OP ↓

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 10:52 am

Need dairy buffet ideas for a bat mitzvah.

Ideally all homemade

mummiedearest ↓

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:04 am

Mac and cheese/fettuccine Alfredo, pizza, baked ziti, blintzes, bagels and spreads, veggie platters, pickles, fresh fruit, yogurts with toppings. If you want a wow factor, a chocolate fountain with fruit, marshmallows, pretzels for dessert. Kids like diy options, so the yogurt and pizza and be a build your own station.

tweety1

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:20 am

There's a delicious very easy penne a la vodka recipe on here. Search for it

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:24 am

Thanks! Keep the ideas coming. Love the diy stations.

Practically, how do I prepare this all myself? Want to make it really beautiful but also don’t want to spend a zillion dollars on catering. Even a 9x13 tin of pasta is ridiculous.

There are some pastas that can be frozen but not all, like Alfredo and vodka. How do I do this all homemade?

mamaleh ↓

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:29 am

Mini pizzas
blintzes
ice cream bar (pre scooped ice cream with tons of fruit/toppings available)
pasta bar (different shapes of pasta-include some gluten free, if appropriate-and a variety of sauces & cheeses)
Salads or salad bar (include cheese)
Quiche
Eggplant parmigiana
Lasagna

cm123

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:29 am

Açaí bowls- you can make in advance and freeze. There’s a recipe on between carpools

amother

Butterscotch

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:30 am

Pizza/ Salad bar/ Assorted Wraps/ sushi might be expensive
Ice cream bar a few flavors and toppings
Fondue with lots of fruit marshmallows etc
Popcorn machine with popcorn cups

amother

Orchid

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:33 am

Baked ziti , lasagna, eggplant parmasan can all be prepared in 9×13 in advanced and frozen. Defrost day before. Cook fresh morning of. Keep warm in sternos.

Salads salads salads.

Desert table . Can bake a few different cheesecakes and 3 types mini trifles. All freeze beautifully

amother

Wandflower

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:34 am

amother OP wrote:

Buy the sauces from restaurants and cook your own pasta. You’ll save a ton of money and making the sauce is The time consuming part

amother

Scarlet

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:34 am

amother OP wrote:

Do a pasta bar and have the sauces seperate. I'm sure you can make the sauces now and freeze them, and then just cook the pasta right before.

Ziti
Linguine
Penne
Farfalle

Alfredo sauce
Marinara
Vodka sauce
Pesto

Sautéed mushrooms
Roasted veggies
Cherry/sundried tomatoes
Flaked tuna
Olives

These are just a few options

amother

DarkMagenta ↓

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 12:03 pm

I did this for my daughters Bas Mitzvah.

Penne vodka - made pasta in advance but sauce was fresh
Fettuccine Alfredo - made pasta in advance but sauce was fresh
Baked ziti -froze
Lasagna - froze

Potato borekas - froze prepped but cooked day of
Butternut squash soup- froze

Salmon - made 2 large sides day of.

Salad bar - prepped the night before

Dessert:
Everything was made in advance and frozen:
Chocolate chip cookies
Golden crunch cookies (something sweet cookbook)
Peanut chew log
Brownie cheesecake
Caramel cheesecake
Cheesecake Mousse cups (something sweet cookbook lemon cheesecake mousse recipe used lemon pie filling and raspberry pie filling so 2 different colors)
Mini cupcakes
Cream puffs

We also did a chocolate fountain.

I'm happy to help with any questions.

amother

Bluebonnet

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 12:45 pm

Mini is always cute. When we did a dairy meal for a family party, we did mini pizzas-I used a square cookie cutter and they looked adorable. And there wasn't a single mini pizza left. You can let them make their own, but remember it is time consuming waiting for them to come out the oven. I chose not to.
I would focus on less variety and more a few yummy things that look really great presented. Having 6 types of pasta is a lot of work. Having 2 types is much easier.
Presentation is the main thing for elaborate and nice. Think about how you want to lay out your table-choose a color scheme. We bought table decorations from temu, they cost very little, but really added to it. Diamonds for mitzvos is always an easy theme and black and silver can look very classy. You can buy all different sized 'diamonds' to decorate with.
I would personally do pizza, 2 pastas with different sauces, couple of salads, maybe lettuce with feta cheese.
The dessert table to have a chocolate fountain or ice cream bar. And some mini cheesecakes. I love the mason jars for those.
I don't know who are your main guests, if it's more children or more adults as that can make a difference to the types of foods. Also whether you want to have any non cheese options for those that can't or don't want dairy. That could be sushi salad, or just salmon.

imaima

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 12:50 pm

amother OP wrote:

Kosher by Design, the pink book, has many ideas for parties

amother

Honey

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 1:07 pm

penne a la vodka
garlic knots
salad
diy ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings options

Rappel

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 1:13 pm

Quiche

Raisin

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 1:17 pm

for penne a la vodka, make sauce but don't add cream and cheese. Defrost and add them just before assembling.

lasagna, mac and cheese, other pastas all freeze well.

Quiche is nice, can be served hot or cold and can also be frozen.

A cheese board is great, I know those giant grazing tables are trendy now but personally I would do a couple of boards. A few fancy and some less fancy cheeses (camembert, brie, etc), crackers, and grapes. Maybe olives in little bowls.

Get sternos to keep the food hot.

Have a couple of healthy options like salmon and salads.

↑ mummiedearest

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 4:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

If you like diy, you can also do a waffle station. Get some cheap waffle irons and premix batter. Put out nonstick spray and let the girls make fresh waffles. Have toppings available- berries, whipped cream, chocolate, syrup, maybe even ice cream.

How much space do you have? You can also do a salad bar if the girls are into that. I’ve seen ppl do grilled cheese and creamy soups as well.

I would start with number of expected attendees and budget. Then figure out space possibilities (how many tables for buffet, where will traffic go) and account for heavy traffic on the busy diy stations. Waffles will be busy. Yogurt might be popular, but is a quicker assembly. Pasta will be popular and require chafing dishes. Put two serving spoons in each pan to make the line move faster. Ice cream or chocolate fountain will be crowded. Are you doing two courses (clearing the buffet of main course and setting out dessert)? Are you going to hire people to set up and clear up? If you need to do that and have high school kids in your area who need to fill chessed hours, that can be a huge savings. Once you have your food budget figured out, pick a few dishes and focus on those. Some will require more work on your part (salad bar?) and others will not (yogurt parfait station). Figure out what can be done in advance and limit any last minute stuff.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 10:30 pm

Amazing. Thank you for all the advice. I’m loving it all!

Practically- I can buy the pasta sauces for a pasta station but how do I keep the pasta and the sauces, separate and hot?

It’s going to be on a Sunday afternoon in a few weeks and Shabbos still will end pretty late. I really don’t want to be stressed the day of. How do I do a lot before?

familyfirst

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 10:52 pm

You can make the pastas before shabbos
Refrigerate in ziplock bags

Place pasta in colander and run under hot water to remove the chill. Place in sterno

Heat up sauces on stove and then transfer to sternos. Label them with cute labels.

Cheesecake, blueberry muffins, salad, bagels and lox, fruit cups and you have plenty!

Mazel tov!

Hatemywig

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 11:18 pm

Go mini - Mini Quiches, Mini Cheesecakes, Mini cups of mousse.

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