It was always tradition to have turkey with all the fixing at a big sit down dinner with all the family present to celebrate the glories of the holiday season. Although I loved making the big meals and watching my family enjoy the feast, I always felt like I spent more time cooking and cleaning the kitchen then visiting with my children and there families. There never seemed to be any time for visiting because by the time the meal was prepared it was time to eat, then when the meal was finished it was time for everyone to pack the kids up and head home before the traffic became heavy. The one thing I always sure of was that at the end of the day I was exhausted and felt let down because I hadn't had any time to visit with my children or grandchildren. To make the let down even worse I had a sink full of dishes and a counter full of pots to be washed.
Even after my mother passed away and we no longer had the family home, we still tried to all get together for the Christmas holidays. This year I moved into a small 2 bedroom apartment that I share with my son and now his girl friend and her son. Because of the limited space we have puzzled over what to do for Christmas dinner. After pondering how to cook a large meal in a small oven and where we would set a table to accommodate approximately 22 people.
After some long deliberation on the situation we decided on having a buffet because it allows for people to eat when and what they choose, allowing them to be able to mingle and enjoy the company of others without a large table interfering with the conversation. A buffet also allows you to use crock pots to make a variety of foods without slaving over a hot stove all day. I mean if you think about it isn't spending time with your family the most important thing about the holiday. Spending time with family and catching up on whats happening in their lives should be the top priority not the big meal.
As we began deciding on what to include in the buffet we have been adding items from the traditional meal along with the finger foods and items like Swedish meatballs, crab rolls and items that are easy to eat while mingling with others. The best reason for doing a buffet is that the choices of foods is limitless and can range from ethnic, to Chinese, to Italian, to American cuisine. And with the buffets there is always something for everyone's taste, you are sure that no one will go away hungry.
To put on a successful buffet first think about the people who will be your guest and their likes and dislikes. Provide for a variety of finger foods that will please everyone from the vegetarian to the meat lover.
One thing I like to do is have a variety from the sea and land. I usually have shrimp cocktail and miniature bake stuffed shrimps with a side of butter for dipping. The good thing about this is that those of your guests that are on a diet will be glad to see the cold shrimp to munch on and those that love the butter fattening foods will enjoy the stuffed shrimps.
Recipe for the miniature stuffed shrimps.
1 bag of large shrimp from the freezer section, thawed ( uncooked shrimp)
1 cup ritz crackers (crumbled)
1/2 cup crab meat
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Peel shrimp leaving a little shell on tail. Split shrimp and de-vein. Place shrimp on lightly buttered shallow casserole dish. Mix together the other ingredients and roll the mixture into small balls and place on fleshy part of the split shrimp. Place in preheated oven 300 degrees for about fifteen minutes or till stuffing is golden brown. Remove from casserole dish and place on serving tray with lemon wedges.
Another finger food I like to make is Stuffed mushrooms. Use same stuffing for the mushroom as for the shrimp. Remove the stem so there is only the cap remaining. After all mushrooms are stuffed and placed in a buttered casserole dish cover them with mozzarella cheese and bake at 300 for about 15 minutes. Remove from casserole dish and place on serving tray with lemon wedges.
I also like to serve Swedish meatballs.
You can purchase a bag of meatballs in the freezer section of any grocery store.I like a brown sauce rather than a red sauce.
Ingredients
1 bag meatballs
2 large cans of beef broth
1 pint cream
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic
In crock pot place meatballs and beef broth cook on medium heat till meatballs are cooked. remove 1 cup broth and add cream to remaining broth along with spices. Place the one cup in a small sauce pan on high heat till boil. Place flour in a mixing bowl and add some of the hot broth to the flour. Whisk mixture until smooth. Add to the remainder of the broth in the sauce pan whisking after each addition. Whisk until the mixture become smooth and thick like a gravy. Add the ingredients to meatballs in the crock pot stirring as you add the gravy. Keep meatballs on low while your guests help themselves.
Stuffed mushrooms
Used the same ingredients for stuffing as you do in the shrimp, only add 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese( break into two amounts 1/8 to be added to the stuffing and the other 1/8 for the top). Clean mushrooms and remove center stem to allow for stuffing. Place mushrooms in greased baking dish cap down. Roll stuffing into small balls and fill mushrooms one at a time To finish sprinkle top of mushrooms with mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cheese melts completely.
These are just a few of the items I like to use for the appetizers. But you can add whatever you like to your buffet and make it your own creation.
The next step is to decide what will be the entree of the buffet, from this you can choose some of the traditional foods such as turkey, ham or roast beef, but try some alternative ways of cooking these meats. Meat pies are always a popular item for these affairs. A roasted turkey with the potato, stuffing and gravy can be the focal point of the buffet if you still like the traditional foods.
Then the desserts should be of both the finger food variety like cookies and brownies, along with the pies and cakes. The simpler the desserts the better. If there are children present try to accommodate them with a variety of cookies and brownies, things they can eat during activity. Remember when it comes to the children their main focus will be on the toys they receive not the food they eat, so try to provide foods that will draw them to the buffet table.
One of the more popular desserts was a cheese fruit tart. This is my own recipe but it is delicious and the kids and adults will both love them.
To start you will need a box of felio dough.While dough is still frozen remove it from the box, there will be two separate packages of dough cut the folds into three sections. As you open the dough it will easily break into three sections so that you end up with about 12, 3 inch squares from each of the rolls. Using a cup cake tin, that has been coated with pam spary, place the pieces on the cups of the pan and let thaw. When thawed push the dough into the cup cake tin. Next make the cheese cake filling.
Fruit and cheese filled tarts
Cheese cake filling:
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Place cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and cream these two items together, till creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Place enough filling in the dough until one third full. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees about 15 minutes to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the rest of the filling you will need 2 kiwi fruits and a bag of frozen mix fruit, thawed. Peal and slice kiwi place in center of tarts, then add a variety of the mixed fruits( I like the blackberry, raspberry, blueberry and strawberry mix).
For a garnish of chocolate, use white chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips. Melt each of them in a small sauce pan until completely melted. Drizzle the chocolates onto parchment paper making whatever design you want and let cool. Remove the pieces of chocolate from the paper and use to garnish the tarts.
What ever you choose for your buffet there will be something for everyone. The main thing to remember is that when doing a well rounded buffet it takes planning. With the buffet style, the focus isn't on the food as much as the company. And elegance isn't a necessity, its all about being casual and comfortable.