Entertaining neighbours

MollyNew

One of our neighbours is in poor health so one evening for her birthday we were invited round for a fish and chip supper. We phoned in the order and a couple of us collected the food. It was a lovely informal evening.

We do that since one of our neighbours is a widow and finds solo entertaining hard . We call up to order and collect it. All the host has to do is provide drinks , and condiments.

I used to love cooking and entertaining but not now. Last week we had people staying overnight and for the evening meal I bought a ready-to-cook Tesco special, sea bass fillets with a Mediterranean sauce. I just served it with some new potatoes and french beans, strawberries and cream and a cheese platter. It was good and so easy.

Just come back from a ‘natter’ party (ladies only) at one of our neighbour’s houses.
We took our own drinks - L put a couple of pizzas in the oven and then had the usual crisps, couscous , nuts, tortilla chips and dips.
She did make a beautiful raspberry pie.
Last month I held one at my house. I ordered 2 Occasions Tray from Sainsbury’s - sandwiches and the rest. Went down well.
These days entertaining friends and neighbours is not the ‘slog’ it used to be .
Go for it !!

I would do an afternoon tea.
Dainty sandwiches, homemade fruit and savoury scones, and a fancy cake and biscuits. Tea, coffee and a bottle of bubbles.

Invite them round for drinks and a buffet. Buy the buffet in Marks and Spencer, DH is in charge of buying and serving the drinks.

Another vote for a buffet and a visit to M and S and Waitrose .
Please don't do what one of my friends does
She serves a simple but delicious buffet and then spends the evening apologising about her house being too small and how she finds cooking difficult.
Just enjoy it!

MollyNew

One of our neighbours is in poor health so one evening for her birthday we were invited round for a fish and chip supper. We phoned in the order and a couple of us collected the food. It was a lovely informal evening.

That sounds lovely Molly…….I would think it was the neighbours best birthday ever!

One of our neighbours is in poor health so one evening for her birthday we were invited round for a fish and chip supper. We phoned in the order and a couple of us collected the food. It was a lovely informal evening.

I think a casserole is easier than a buffet especially if you’ve got a slow cooker . I get stressed when entertaining and now have a short list of meals , which are easy to cook and serve . I don’t care if I’m repeating meals . So I do various casseroles in the slow cooker with roasted veg and potatoes. or one pot meals in the cooker. Such as a chicken traybake with potatoes and veg . Dauphinois potatoes go down well and can sit in the oven until needed . I do a cold starter like a mackerel pate and fresh fruit salad for dessert.
Otherwise check out Cook .

The thing is, if you don't reciprocate, you don't get invited again.
Lots of excellent suggestions from everyone on here.
I'd go with Cook. How about their cottage pie and some green beans?
You could dish up the cottage pie from the stove and have just the dish of beans on the stove. Husband must do drinks.
(Now that it's just me, I only do a roast for family. There's too much to do at the last minute - gravy, carving, veg into dishes etc - so I do one-pot things like pies for guests.)

A buffet is great or M&S "entertainibg" meals or Cook are good too

I get anxious too - it’s no use saying relax and enjoy it. Why don’t you invite them for drinks and nibbles as you suggested but make it a bit more ‘filling’ with some larger bits of the M&S type offerings. Do you like games? Drinks and nibbles would fit well with a murder mystery or a few games of Yahtzee. Do off your way, you won’t enjoy it otherwise.

Try Cook. They do ready frozen meals for 6. All you need to do is heat it. They also do some lovely starters and desserts.

Have you got a slow cooker? How about preparing a stew of some kind, eg coq au vin, beef - there are lots of straightforward recipes on line. The beauty of doing it in the slow cooker is that you can set it going in the morning so it will be ready early evening and it will look after itself. If you add plenty of veg to the pot then all you need to serve as a side would be mashed or boiled potatoes and maybe some peas.
If you want to have a dessert, there are plenty of delicious ready made ones from the likes of Marks, Sainsbury’s, etc to take the pressure off, or maybe make a fruit crumble - that can be prepared well in advance then popped in the oven whilst eating your main course.

Of course, a buffet will be equally as acceptable, but it does require some work putting it all together if doing it from scratch yourself, though of course supermarkets do ready prepared ones which include mini sandwiches with various fillings, mini pork pies, sausage rolls and quiche plus various other bits. I’ve used those in the past and they’ve been very acceptable - just add a few extra savouries such as crisps, nuts, cheese and crackers, etc (checking for allergies/intolerances beforehand) and a couple of sweet things., plus a variety of drinks.

Whatever you choose, relax and enjoy the company of your neighbours, so prepare something that does not require too much last minute faffing.

Out of interest, what did your neighbours provide when you went to them? Could you do something similar?

Definitely a buffet and you can fill the table with loads of crisps, snacks, bowls of nuts. Get some ready made salads, stick them in a bowl, get a few French sticks and some decent butter.Basically buy everything and open packets ! A nice trifle for after or alternative ice cream dessert goes down well.
I think you would enjoy it more, than cooking and worrying.
During this get together I'd casually say 'For our next get together, shall we all go out for a meal for a change, we could take it in turns to pick a venue' If you got into the habit of doing that, it would be much easier, and then all of your group could still have people round but for drinks and nibbles instead of a meal.

I think a buffet is the best option too. Focus on the foods you can cook well, buy in good quality ‘party style’ food too. But most of all, relax and enjoy their company.

Charcuterie board prepped in advance? This was for 3 people plus olives, crackers and artisan bread. And wine. There was ample for 4 people so just add a bit more

Yes, go for a buffet. Shops like M and S and Waitrose do some lovely platters of food to order. It saves that last minute panic when the timing of hot food has gone wrong.

Guests can sit in a comfy chair with a coffee table at hand for their drink. It's a more leisurely experience and people can choose their own plateful and not have to pass the gravy round.

A buffet sounds good, but that’s quite a lot of preparation? I’ve followed quite a few recipes for a whole well seasoned chicken roasted over various vegetables, so you’d only need a green vegetable to accompany that. We absolutely adore an M&S New York cheesecake for dessert with an assortment of berries, also from M&S.

Buffet would be perfect . Relaxing and informal . How lovely to have such nice neighbours

Why don’t you order in a takeaway, I’m sure your neighbours would see it as a novelty not as an easy option.
I’m sure if it were something like Chinese there would be acceptable alternatives on the menu for English tastes.

If your DH will only eat English food, how about inviting your neighbours for Sunday lunch?

Easy to cook, easy to serve, both main course and desert.

no use worrying over this, a buffet would be lovely, personally I prefer a buffet to a sit down meal at someones house.

A buffet would be more than acceptable honeyrose so get the invitations out and enjoy .