Hosting a Baptism lunch for about 16 people, would love any tips or go-to recipes. Because of the timing, I will need to make things the day before.

I'm looking to likely do a some kind of crostini, a seasonal roasted veg, a chicken dish, a pasta salad, a cake + some cookies. Want to make sure it is "enough!" and also I will be out from 10-12:30. Wondering if I should refrigerate overnight and take things out to temper before I leave the house or upon return. Any advice from frequent hosts or go-to recipes would be great. All omnivores, 3 teens, a handful of hungry men, but it will also be early in the day...Thanks in advance!

Two Trays Kitchen
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Nancy
Nancy April 3, 2018
Aside from the quantities, a thread about a year ago addressed what and how to serve for a post-communion dinner where the family had to be out of the house and come back with the guests. May have ideas you can adapt or use.
https://food52.com/hotline/35210-meal-for-30-people
 
Stephanie L.
Stephanie L. April 3, 2018
Hi Two Trays! I had a similar brunch a recently, and my best advice is to focus on big bowl dishes that use kind of similar ingredients but taste equally good hot or cold. For my brunch, I focused on Mediterranean-style flavors and had the following:

- Orzo pasta salad (orzo pasta, feta, shallots, vinaigrette, kale. If not kale, then don't mix the greens in the day before to avoid them being soggy)
- Roast cauliflower salad (roast cauliflower, sundried tomatoes, capers- serve at room temp)
- Chicken koefte (spiced meat patties, super easy to make)

The chicken dish was the only one I cooked day of, since it doesn't reheat amazingly. A Baptism lunch sounds more formal than what I was doing, but I really wanted to have some sort of "build your own" aspect that would please people of a lot of different ages and tastes while minimizing my own stress. Was also really helpful to have the appetizers out when people walked in the door so they could nibble and I could mingle/finish preparing without people standing around hungry. Would agree with your suggestion to prepare the table as much as possible beforehand (and have some dishes that are good at room temp and put them out) and then have the hot food be freshly prepared. Hope this helps- have a wonderful party!
 
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