Well, this sounds more formal than my experience, so take that for what it's worth.

We don't go to church, neither do my parents. We tend to have an afternoon in the garden at moms, or I work, or we have an outing with the kids. Then we do a dinner at my parents. My dad is a mega gourmet chef and makes all sorts of stuff. If it's mom and I though, we like to focus on simple, fresh ingredients, time together, and something from our garden.

I would imagine in your case that a crock post meal would be nice, or soup and sandwiches, or a pasta dish. I would hope that none of your friends and family would have high expectations of you. I also would recommend potlucks! It's all about the time together right?

 

I think I'd go seasonal: a heavy soup or roast something if it's still wintery out, a big creative salad if it's warmer. Lunch isn't a huge meal for me though so nothing with large portions of meat.

 

I also think it depends on the season.

Soup when it's cold outside

a BBQ when it's warm

 

Phew! You all have similar ideas to what I've been doing. I want to be sure I'm not serving things wildly out of people's expectations, like "damn, we're not going to the Flower's again are we? All they ever serve is soup and bread".

I'll definitely go with grilled stuff and salad during the summer.

 

What about doing something like a chili bar, baked potato bar, taco salad bar, or something else that is easy to set up so that people can self-serve. Even having pre-baked pizza shells and letting people top their pizzas according to their own tastes is easy. Do you have people bring a dish to round out the meal, or are you preparing it all yourself? I always ask people to bring something, and do the same when we are invited over. I feel like it is a lot to ask someone to feed 6 extra people, so I try to bring something to help out.

 

i think quiche would be perfect

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bremen i think quiche would be perfect

Agreed. A nice crab/mushroom/swiss quiche with some fresh fruit and fresh bread would be perfect. I'm a breakfast lover so we often do a large brunch on Sunday afternoon including any of the following:

egg casserole w/ potatos, turkey sausage, cheese, onions, etc.
baked french toast with a maple pecan topping
frittata with feta and asparagus
quiche - see above
strada with mushrooms, spinach, cheese and a good ham
fresh fruit
fresh bread