What to cook for a 1st birthday party?

[Anonymous]

We are having my son's first birthday party at our house - there are 16 adults and 12 children coming. We were going to have it catered but for budget reasons, I need to cook instead. What would be some good things to make at home? My food budget is around $100. The party is at 3:30 so I want to serve a substantial amount of food and I don't want to put out appetizers, short of chips and dip (I will have food out and hot as people arrive.) I was thinking that 4 1/2 trays for the adults and 2 1/2 trays for the kids food should be enough (thoughts?) So far, I have on the menu:

Kids:
Homemade mac & cheese
chicken fingers/ chicken nuggets
Maybe some sort of little pizzas for the kids?

Adults:
Pulled pork sandwiches
BBQ ribs (big maybe on this one)

Cake & coffee/tea

I would really appreciate some input!

[Anonymous]

All of the above sounds great! We didn't have that many people but we did a buffet full of finger foods. Mini twice baked potatoes, baked brie, "grown up ham & cheese sandwiches" (procuitto, gr apple, dijon, on finger size bread w/pickled onions), mini pigs in a blanket etc... A whole bunch of mini stuff that you could pick at or make a good plate of food. Sounds like you have a great list though!

[Anonymous]

Just curious why you want to serve "a substantial amount of food" at 3:30. If I went to a party at 12 noon or 6 p.m., I'd expect a meal. But at 3:30, I'd expect little snacks and CAKE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious why you want to serve "a substantial amount of food" at 3:30. If I went to a party at 12 noon or 6 p.m., I'd expect a meal. But at 3:30, I'd expect little snacks and CAKE!

I agree with this. People will not be expecting a lot of food at that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious why you want to serve "a substantial amount of food" at 3:30. If I went to a party at 12 noon or 6 p.m., I'd expect a meal. But at 3:30, I'd expect little snacks and CAKE!

OP here - we have good friends and family coming. The guests will stay for at least 3 or 4 hours... most definitely into dinnertime.

[Anonymous]

How about quiche?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about quiche?

Something like this sounds good. Ribs sound tasty but messy if people are going to be standing around eating off little plates. (And I know my own kids would head straight for them and have hands instantly covered with sauce.) Pulled pork sandwiches sound great, but do you have the means to keep them hot?

I'm the pp who asked why all the food, and while I understand your response, I think it makes sense to have things that don't need to be hot, or have everything hot at dinner time, not at 3:30.

[Anonymous]

For my son's first birthday party we had 30 people from 4 states. I didn't do kids vs. adults food but went to costco for a big fruit bowl, mini quiches, pigs in blanket, etc. and made a big tray of ziti and cut up pizza into small squares. Ribs are messy and expensive. Serve the adults kid-friendly food (I like the sandwich idea) to save on time and money.