I’ve been meaning to share this one with you for AGES. Several months ago now, we had a long overdue housewarming party with our friends. We’ve never thrown a party before and given that we’re in our 30’s we wanted it to be civilised, at least at the beginning anyway. Civilised means food and so, I set about wondering what to make. We were expecting a varied group of people and not all at once so it needed to be cold or snack food which could be eaten standing up.
Given that we live in a very fetching (ahem) block of flats built in the 1970’s, we decided to go themed and put on a retro-style buffet. Inspired by our hideous (but fantastic) set of vintage Women’s Weekly recipe cards and your suggestions on Twitter, we came up with a huge list of ideas.
My retro themed buffet menu:
- Devilled eggs
- Prawn cocktail
- Sausages on sticks
- Quiche
- Alcoholic fruit punch
- Melon & parma ham
- Cheese & pineapple on sticks
- Crisps, crudités & dips
- Cherry tomatoes, mini gherkins & olives on sticks
- Pickled onions
- Mini scotch eggs on sticks
- Crab sticks
- Celery sticks
- Breadsticks
- Battenburg
- Fondant fancies
- Snowballs
So, lots of things on sticks and lots of stick type things. Everything could be picked up and eaten with your hands – after all this was a party buffet! I loved how it all looked on the table, plenty of bright colours to tempt your stomach although some natural, some not so much.
The best:
My favourite thing on the table, and actually, the first thing to get eaten was the plate of devilled eggs. I’d never made them before and they were a bit fiddly but with my friend Karis helping, we managed them! And you know what? They were delicious! Here’s the recipe we followed.
The punch was pretty nice too – I can’t remember exactly what I put in it but you can’t go wrong with tropical juice, lemonade and white wine plus a dash of rum and a load of tinned fruit can you? Umbrellas not optional!
The worst:
The sausages were tinned mini hot dogs from Ye Olde Oak although they definitely tasted like they came from the 70’s. Maybe next time we’ll go better quality on those but I just loved the tin! Also, the cheese and pineapple went a bit soggy, I think it’s because I used tinned when actually, fresh would have been better!
Everything else on the table was pretty easy. The quiche came from Higgidy (yup, neither retro nor homemade). Then it was a case of warming things up, cutting things and displaying them nicely on the table with any fun props you have.
Have you ever done a retro themed buffet? I’d love to hear! Is there anything we missed? What makes a perfect retro themed buffet menu in your opinion?
The secret to a successful 70’s buffet is to make everything yourself. Make pastry for mini pasties,quiche and sausage rolls.
I’ve been doing this for my two sons birthdays since they were small. Unfortunately I can’t do it for my eldest sons 50th this month.
His partner is making it happen for him I’m glad to say.
i like the egg i will be back for more
My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.