A guide to the catering for a family party at home.

There comes a time when you have to face up to an elderly relatives birthday party or Christmas do and you find yourself saying the words “Don’t hire out a hall, let’s have it round here!” It’s a decision you soon come to regret. Where will everyone sit, who will you invite and worst of all how are you going to cook the party food. You probably don’t have access to some commercial combination ovens like the ones at https://www.247cateringsupplies.co.uk/catering-appliances/commercial-ovens-and-ranges/combination-ovens , it would be so much easier if you did, but your poor old domestic oven will have to rise to the occasion. Here are a few tips to help you:

First off all we need to talk numbers. How many are you going to invite?  You need to have a rough idea to mainly make sure you have enough space. Can you use the Garden at all? That’s ok as long as it doesn’t rain and with the British climate you really can’t be too careful. If you do then getting a gazebo might be an idea or an awning but that’s starting to put the cost up. One idea is to stagger when people come but that’s setting you up for a lot of organising and hoping that people will turn up when they say they will or when you say they will.

What type of food should you serve? If it’s hot food then you have to keep it warm. Experts say that a cold fork option, where you have lots of things sat in bowls and dishes that people can dip into is a much better option than finger food as you’ll need to keep topping that up. The other thing to consider is where you are going to keep the food before you cook it. If your answer is “my fridge” then you need to consider what’s in there now because if its essentials like milk and spread you’re going to have to make a lot of room for the food for the party. Drinks should be chilled beforehand then stuck into cold bags filled with ice. Alternatively, and this depends a lot on your family, you could fill up the bath with cold water and ice and use that. It might be an idea to have a second toilet option if you go down that route though.


Where are you going to serve the food from? Do you have enough space on surfaces or a decent sized table?  Don’t plan on lots of finger food options if you don’t have the room to put them all out. Assuming you don’t have the commercial sized oven it will have its work cut out for it. That’s why a cold buffet is a good idea. A salmon or cold sliced ham with a nice salad is a worth the effort or even a mild curry and rice. When its dessert time bring out the sponge and Ice cream. Good luck. Hope they appreciate it.

Leave a Reply


ninety nine ÷ = eleven