Christening Dinner Menu ideas?

[Anonymous]

My son is being Christened this Sunday. We're having about 15 people over for an early dinner after the ceremony. I'd like to serve something homemade but I'm thinking baked ziti, salad and bread is too boring. Another idea is an Italian Shepherd's Pie and salad. Does anyone have a nice idea for a dinner menu that will serve that many and that I can pretty much make in advance? I won't have much time the day of the event to do more than heating it up again and some minor throwing things together. Thank you so much!!!

[Anonymous]

OP here. I meant next Sunday!

[Anonymous]

Do you have a crockpot? I would do a roast in the crock pot. It cooks all day. Pull it out about 20 mins before eating and let it rest for 10 mins. Dump bagged salad in a nice bowl, dress it with whatever dressing you like, pull out the fruit salad that you made in the morning, rolls and butter, then slice up your roast and serve it all.

[Anonymous]

crock pot is broken - started making food taste electrical

[Anonymous]

I second the crockpot idea. I actually own two 5 quart crockpots, one for the main dish and one for a veggie side dish. If you decide to buy a crockpot, spring for the one with a timer so it will turn off on its own. Then you don't worry about getting home too late.

Also, I would serve mulled apple cider. You can buy the seasoning envelope next to the apples in the grocery story. It makes the house smell great.

[Anonymous]

Do the ziti as a vegetarian option and make a pot roast as well the day before. Then just put it in the oven to reheat when you are heating up the ziti.

[Anonymous]

I would get a ham (honeybaked are great) it can be served room tempature. I would serve it with small tea size biscuits (Harris Teeter sells the frozen tea size ones) that are easy to pop in the oven and bake right before. Also some assorted mustards, potato salad, green salad. Congratulations, hope you have a great day!

[Anonymous]

A braised beef brisket is actually one of those things that tastes better after being reheated. You can find tons of brisket recipes on epicurious.com.

You could also roast a beef tenderloin. You can cook it to rare the day before or early in the morning, and then reheat it to medium-rare. The pan drippings would make a nice jus to serve with it. You could serve this with salad, and some roasted asparagus (roast while the beef is reheating). If you have a crock pot, you can make mashed potatoes in the morning and keep them warm until the afternoon.