Sandwich buffet for party

[SiValleySteph]

Please help me remember everything!

My son's 1 year old birthday party is coming up, it's at 1 pm on a Saturday. I'm thinking of having a sandwich making buffet.

I think this is what I would need for the sandwich part:
Cold cuts (turkey, ham, roast beef)
Cheese slices (swiss, cheddar, meunster)
mustard
mayo
pickles
tomato
lettuce
rolls

Does this sound okay? Or would you think it's annoying to have to make your own sandwich? Any ideas for making it a bit more gormet?

For sides, I was thinking:
fruit platter with dip
veggie platter/pitas with hummus
tortilla chips and salsa or maybe some exotic chips (those ones from Trader Joes)

For drinks, I'm thinking champagne cocktails:
chambord & champagne
maybe mimosas?

And of course, birthday cake for dessert! :D

Does this seem like a reasonable menu? I swear I used to be creative and fun and then I had a baby and became totally boring. :p

Thanks for any help!

[Jaycee]

This is all for the adults right? Somehow I have a hard time imagining a bunch of 1 year olds making their own sandwiches and sipping on mimosas :D

ETA: If you are worried about "boring" you can always kick it up a notch by adding a few gourmet type items to the list of sandwich toppings, ie..grilled veggies, roasted red peppers, sliced avacados, ect..

[SiValleySteph]

This is all for the adults right? Somehow I have a hard time imagining a bunch of 1 year olds making their own sandwiches and sipping on mimosas :D

:D:D

Of course! 1st birthday's are just an excuse for the parents to have their friends over, right?!?

[Jaycee]

Absolutly..this is exactly why I'm having a baby!! :D

ps. I eta'd my last post with a suggestion :)

[irish74]

To make it more gourmet, you could use fancier mustards, cold cuts, cheeses and maybe tapenade and some other spreads. Also go with an artisan bread instead of regular old sliced. Also those big sandwiches where it is the whole loaf of bread and then they get cut into pieces are nice too. Someone had one at a party recently that was spread with pesto and had salami, cheese & some other goodies on it, it was delicious.

[TennJane]

I think a sandwich buffet sounds like fun! I agree with Jaycee - maybe adding a few more gourmet things would spice it up a bit. You could also make or buy some hummus and flavored mayos. Have a great party!

[Surftraitor]

I just went to a 1 yr old b-day party for twins and they also had a sandwich buffet. It was great. They had a fun selection of breads: croissants, "everything" grain breads, sub rolls, etc. They also had yummy gourmet mustards/mayos. In addition, they had chocolate covered strawberries, fruit salad, pasta salad, veggies/dip. It was really good. I say go for it!

[SiValleySteph]

Thank you so much for all the great suggestions! I can start making up my shopping list now. :D

[lilcapeanut]

In case you need a couple of more ideas, you could give people ideas by writing a menu of "house" sandwhiches. For example, you could make a sandwhich in honor of your son. Let's say your son's name is Jake - you could describe "Jake's Hero" as open sandwhich made of a hearty helping of salami, provolone, sundried tomatoes and pesto on a slice of toasted olive bread. You can also have sandwhiches with your name - the "Some Like it Hot Stephanie" - a divine sandwhich made of roast beef, dijon mustard, cheddar and loads of pickled jalapenos. Yumm. . . . I'm getting hungry. :) The "menu" makes it fun and also offers your guests ideas to make their sandwhiches even better. Another idea to gourmet up your sandwhich buffet - I remember seeing a really awesome "tuna sandwhich" recipe on Bobby Flay's shows on the Food Network - it consisted of grilled ahi tuna (yep, fancy - no cans here), dijon mayo, celery and red onions, I think. Anyways, if you don't want to go thru with all the fuss, you can get some smoked salmon, red onions and cream cheese. If you want to go all out, you can get a panini sandwhich grill thingy or a Foreman grill and have your guests make paninis. I think that would be fun and also gives those who don't like cold sandwhiches an option. If you do the panini thing, you could add roasted peppers (so easy to make your own), sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella, olives and marinated artichokes to the spread. Anyways, have fun with it!

[Hello Kitty]

you can get a panini sandwhich grill thingy or a Foreman grill
I love adding more gourmet ingredients, but that is a GREAT idea!

[Jaycee]

OK, you have all persuaded me to have a sandwich for lunch now :D With all the fixins!!!

[SiValleySteph]

Can I convice hubby that we NEED a panini press?? :D

We were originally thinking of grilling and he said he needed a new grill if we were doing that, so maybe we NEED a panini press for a sandwich buffet... right???

These ideas are all so great! What could Lucas's signature sandwich be? To go along with his tastes it would be cheese. That's it. :D:D

[jimmysgirl424]

Have you tried French's new Gour-Mayo?? They would make a great variation for your guests who want something a bit jazzier than just plain ol' mayo. Speaking from experience, the Wasabi Horseradish is very tasty! Here is a link to the website so you can check it out:

http://www.frenchsfoodservice.com/frenchs/gourmayo/

[irish74]

If you don't get a panini press you can use a Foreman grill or a waffle iron to toast the sammies.

[JRPAGV]

Some ideas...

I love provolone cheese. That would be a great addition. ;)

I agree that maybe you could add some fancier mustards. It's a shame you don't have Heavenly Ham restaurants in your area. They make/sell the *greatest* mustard in the world (called "That Mustard"). You could offer dijon mustard or honey mustard.

You could offer different kinds of bread. Croissants would be great! Pita bread might be nice.

Sliced banana peppers are good (to me anyway, but it may just be a pregnancy craving ;))

I'm a big fan of shredded lettuce. :D

You could have a few sandwiches already made (like someone else suggested). In case older kids will be there, you could have some peanut butter & jelly sandwiches made. You could also have some tuna salad, ham salad, or chicken salad sandwiches prepared in advance.

Mimosas sound yummy. You could also offer lemonade or tea.

[mrsface]

We had a sandwich bar for a party at my aunt's a few months ago. She had a panini machine and all sorts of good stuff. Different breads (sourdough, marbled rye, nine grain etc...), meats, veggies, cheeses and condiments. There were roasted red peppers- my favorite!- olives, vinegar and oils. You might want to saute some onions and mushrooms, those are always good...

I had never made my own panini, so I thought it was about the coolest thing ever- if you can swing it, definitely get a machine! My MIL loved it so much that she got one for herself and then gave one to me for my birthday, and to her 3 other kids...

[SiValleySteph]

I need to post an update! :D

The party was the Saturday before last and was a big hit!

Menu

Sandwiches – make your own

Cold cuts (roast beef, peppered turkey breast, Virginia ham)
Cheese (havarti, swiss, horseradish chedder)
Roasted peppers
Breads (foccacia rolls, wheat sourdough, multi-grain
Condiments (chipolte mayo, spicy mustard, lettuce, red onion, tomato, pickles)

Veggie crudites (carrots, celery, bell pepper), homemade pita chips
Dips (creamy pesto, hummus)

Fruits (apples, pears, grapes) & dip

Birthday cake
Cinnabun Cookies

Champagne cocktails
fresh-squeezed Ginger Lemonade

I got a lot of requests for the cinnabun cookie recipe. The Ginger Lemonade was very popular, as were the cocktails. :) I also had requests for the fruit dip recipe (strawberry cream cheese and marshmellow fluff beat together). Everything went over very well! We had a picnic on Sunday with the leftovers and I don't think I will ever have a deli sandwhich without roasted peppers again! DH made the peppers and is all enthusiastic about it now. :)

Some pictures!

Food table:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d707b3127cce941ad19d5eb200000016108EZuWrFs4aK
Champagne cocktail bar:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d707b3127cce941ad6761ec200000016108EZuWrFs4aK
Cake table:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d707b3127cce941ad186df9900000016108EZuWrFs4aK

Cocktail recipes! They were red, blue, & green and fit perfectly with our primary color "theme"


Champagne Royale

4 - 5 oz Champagne
1 - 2 jiggers Chambord raspberry liqueur
Pour Chabord in a flute. Slowly add Champagne to fill. Garnish with raspberry if desired.

Ultra-Marine

1/2 shot Blue Curacao liqueur
top with Champagne
Add Blue curacao then top up with Champagne and garnish with a strawberry.

Green Dragon

4 oz Champagne
1 oz Midori melon liqueur
Pour into a champagne flute, garnish with a green maraschino cherry, and serve.

***

Thanks for your help!!

[JRPAGV]

Glad the party went well! The menu sounds yummy!

Can you post the recipe for the cinnabun cookies? They look WONDERFUL! :D

[SiValleySteph]

jrpagv,

Here's a link to the cookie recipe:
Cinnabun Cookies (http://cookie.allrecipes.com/az/CinnbnCkis.asp)

They are soooo good. I've been making them for about 3 years. I use all butter instead of butter & shortening and skip the dollop underneath, just put all the filling on the inside. I doubled the filling this time to make it easier.

Delicious!!! :D