Graduation open house

[nhmom]

I am looking for ideas for what to serve for an open house we will be holding in honor of our son's high school graduation. It will be held in NH in early June from 4:00 to 7:00. I would like to prepare everything ahead of time, so that I can put food out as guests arrive, or safely leave dishes out for the duration of the party. There will be family, friends and classmates invited. Thanks!

[schuh]

I've done open houses several times at Christmastime. I often order a spiral-cut Honey-Baked ham and serve with assorted mustards and rolls. It is very good and is meant to be served room-temp. Also, there's no effort involved at all and you can concentrate on side dishes & desserts.

I avoid anything with mayo or that needs to be served warm. The exception is meatballs, which I serve from my crock pot.

I love toffee dip with apples (a CL recipe you can search for; be sure to toss the apples with pineapple juice so they don't discolor. Another idea is a nice fruit salad. There are also a number of dips meant to be served room temp -- I think hummus is one of them.

Good luck...

[funnybone]

I'm not sure what you were looking for or how many people you were expecting to serve, but www.meals.com (http://www.meals.com) has a "Cooking for a Crowd" feature that I noticed a few days ago. I didn't look at the recipes, but you may find something there.

Actually, I just took a peek, and they have a graduation theme - might be just what you are looking for.

[This message has been edited by funnybone (edited 04-22-2001).]

[CheerLiz]

Hi nhmom! Just saying hello from Manchester, and wishing you well on your son's graduation. Wasn't it a GORGEOUS weekend to be a NH resident?

[laughsandlaughs]

If you are serving anything hot, make sure to rent or borrow some chaffing dishes so that you can actually leave the food out and let it stay hot! It's actually not expensive to rent some of the things that make parties like these so much easier.

Some various salads, pasta, mixed veggie, etc can also be made ahead and are easy to serve and leave out.