Baptism Food Ideas

You could make a bunch of meatballs the day before and heat them in a crockpot the day of the baptism. You can do this with mashed potatoes too. Make up a big green salad that morning, put it in the fridge and you've got a meal. Ice cream always makes a nice easy dessert.

We did a Honeybaked ham - which you don't even need to heat up. Hashbrown casserole can be made ahead of time, and heated up. Or cold salads work well too -- can be made in advance. Looks like you have lots of good ideas here.

We did a spiral sliced ham and cheesy potatoes in the crock pot, a salad and rolls. The ham warmed in the oven while we were at church (they are precooked), then we just took it out and served when we got home. It was a little more formal, which is what I wanted for the occasion.

It is hard to decide since when the mass is done everyone will come straight over and the option is to prepare in front of them or have it allready prepared. I have done it both ways and it has worked out. We have gone with roast beef (sliced and in a slow cooker) sandwiches with a side of potatos and veggies, Sloppy joe's with tatertot hotdish both in a slow cooker and ham in the oven, mashed potatos prepared earlier and put in slow cooker to stay warm, stove top stuffing in a slow cooker and then a veggie tray. When I had everything in the slow cookers already prepared it was a lot less stressful for me but when I chose to prepare with company they all helped out...a few did the mashed potatos, one prepared the corn, one cut the ham...it was a fun time with family making the meal. We also included cake and ice cream for dessert. Congratulations on the special day!

you already have tons of ideas, but a big hit at our house is hot chicken sandwiches. You can either bake two or three chickens or buy the rotisserie ones from the grocery store. Pick off the meat and throw it in the crock pot with a can of cream of chicken soup for every two chickens and a little bit of water or broth. Thicken with cornstarch or flour and water about 15 min. before serving. You can also make hot ham or turkey and cheese. Just make the sandwiches the night before and wrap them in foil. you can heat them quickly in the oven after you get back from church. Allrecipies.com is a great website for ideas.

We just had our 1 month olds last week. We made a bunch of jellos, pasta salad, veggie pizza, taco dip/chips, cookies. Bought cake, potatoe salad, another poppyseed chicken salad, etc. For the main dish we got sheet pizzas from our fav place. They served 12 people but everyone filled up on sides so we had 2 entire ones left lol We had 40 people over and my mom, MIL, and sisters each made some stuff to help me out.

Do you have a crockpot? When our daughter was baptized I found a simple stew recipe for the crockpot, threw together a salad the night before, and bought bread from Panera. I baked a cake from a box the night before. I didn't have to spend anytime cooking on Sunday (except to throw the stew ingrediants into the cockpot) and we had a nice filling lunch all ready when we got home from church.

Looks as both my ideas are already listed... With my son's we did a sandwich bar as well. I went and got the meat and made my own meat tray; to look just perfect & pretty. Ham, Turkey & Roast Beef. I then made a cheese tray that could be used to eat the cheese with crackers or to be placed on the sandwiches. Added all of the condiments on the side, lettus, tomatoes sliced, onions, mayo, mustard etc. I also made a chicken salad & tuna salad that could be used for sandwiches. I had chips and also veggies and dip. All of this was done the night before & I was able to come and just pop it out of the frige and place the buns on a tray. We topped it off with cake & icecream for sure.
We also did the sloppy joe thing, that I cooked the night before, but I will be honest, it did not work as well. I found myself needing to heat it up which took a bit longer than I had planned and I felt everyone was waiting to eat. We had a large crowd though.
We did tocos for my son's 1st communion and just placed the meat in a crock pot to keep warm. That went ok, but the sandwich bar was the best.

You didn't say what time of day you are having the event but either way I would keep it simple. If you are wanting a meal.. make it cold cut, chips and maybe a salad or two along with a cake or cookies. Coffee or Tea or Punch etc. You could also add a veggie tray. You can pick up most of these items at your local deli and order in advance or if you can do it. Just pick it up the night before.

Simple is always easiest! Most likely the people that will be coming over will be family and close friends so you dont have to go all out... go get some fresh rolls, make or buy a meat tray and a cheese tray and then make a couple cold pasta salads or fresh fruit and then a couple deserts depending on how many people you have...
S.

I am not sure where you are located but sure you can get this anywhere. Festival foods has hot ham on Sundays and provide the equipment to heat the ham and the rolls. This was super easy for my family and we had a veggy tray, chips, the usual picnic type items. It was super easy and convenient with those items. Good luck and hope that helps!

We just had our oldest daughter's confirmation last Sunday. We bought cooked beef brisket and prepared potato salad a week in advance from Sam's Club (I think the expiration dates on these were like 3 weeks from the date of purchase). We also bought a gallon can of baked beans, buns, chips, dip, and my mom brought the veggie tray and dip. We used an electric knife to slice the brisket nicely, dumped barbecue sauce on it, and put it in a low temperature oven (very tasty and tender!) and put the beans in a crockpot before leaving for church. You could also put the brisket in a crockpot or roaster depending on the amount you need. The potato salad and vegies were ready to go in the fridge. Our guests made sandwiches with the brisket and we got lots of compliments on a very simple meal! Add a cake, mixed nuts, and mints. We have done the sandwich bar before, but found this hot meal to actually be simpler since you don't have all the sandwich fixings to wash and prepare, takes less room in the fridge, and is less expensive than the deli meat and cheese.

Hi L., When I have family events at my home I make the easiest thing I can think of. Sloppy joes. They are easy and everyone loves them. I use ketchup and brown sugar. You would use just enough brown sugar to take away the ketchup taste. People love them!!

~A.

We had a "build your own" sandwich bar at my elder daughter's baptism, with deli meat, fixings, choice of buns/bread, condiments, cheese, etc.--easy to store in the fridge & just pull out when we got home from church. I just shopped the day before & had everything ready to go. The deli was able to help me with quantities as well. Another twist--at my goddaughter's baptism, they ordered a sub tray from Subway and sent someone to pick it up on the way back from church while the family was taking pictures. Chips, a fruit bowl and/or veggie tray and dessert & the meal is done!

At my younger daughter's baptism, we served lasagna. It baked during the service and was ready when we were done. We also toasted garlic bread and served a lettuce salad. I believe my mom made a fruit bowl, and someone else provided a jello salad of some sort. Cake topped it off.

Anything in the crockpot will also work well. You can cook sloppy joes or turkey or roast the day before and warm it in the crockpot. I also like to make chili in the crockpot--I dump the ingredients together in the morning, and it is cooked by lunch or dinner (I do brown my hamburger on the stove with onion & garlic before putting it in the crock).

Whatever you serve will be wonderful! God's blessings to you and your family as your daughter is welcomed into your faith community.

Hi L.,

Being a mom of a newborn I think is tough and I always felt like at baptism celebrations, I wanted to feel relaxed and happy during the occasion (during and after). We ordered a party sub from Subway and everyone else brought something to add to the table I think or else I just added fruit, chips, and a pasta salad. I can't remember. The other time since my parents home was closer than mine to the church - she took on the stress and my MIL supplied a salad or two. I had c-sections so the stress and prep work was really not on my agenda especially between breast feedings. I'm not even sure if I was able to eat with everyone else b/c of nursing. I think catering is the way to go or else make sure you have something easy to do - buffet style.

God Bless your little Mazie!

I am baptizing my son this week too and I have decided to go with a build your own taco bar. I figure I can make the meat the day before and then just throw it in a slow cooker to heat up during the service. The veggies can be cut up and put in bowls the night before. We are also making fresh salsa and guacamole but you can buy that too. Everything will be pretty much ready when we get back from church.

We just did my son's baptism 2 weeks ago, and had 20 people over afterward. I did "Neat Sloppy Joes", Apple Snickers Salad and a Broccoli Salad and chips and dip, and then a cake (I was going to buy the cake, but made one instead - I would suggest buying one to simplify.) We had assorted cans of soda and ice, and coffee and water.

Here are links to the recipes I used for the food - they were all simple and I made them all the night before - on this website you cna customize # of servings and it will multiply the recipe for you.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Neat-Sloppy-Joes/Detail.aspx

Broccoli Salad
6 C raw broccoli pieces
1/4 C Sunflower seed kernels
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C Bacon Bits
Dressing - mix together and pour over the rest & stir up.
1 C Mayonnaise
1/2 C Sugar
2 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

The sloppy joes (I used 5 pounds of meat), I browned the meat and onions and celery, and then drained and added the sauce mixture, poured it into two 1-gallon ziploc bags and put it in the fridge overnight....in the morning I poured them into the crockpot and turned it on low while we were at church, and they were ready to go when we got home!

The Broccoli salad I used pre-cut broccoli florets for the salad section at Sam's club - they came in the right size bag,, 6 cups, too and the "real bacon" bacon bits in a bag rather than cooking the bacon myself, also used dried cranberries 1/2 raisins to give it a little more tanginess.

Here is the Apple Salad http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1743,151175-253203,00.html (almost as good as a dessert) - Chop up 6 sweet/tart apples (I used the Honey Crisp variety - you could use half Red Delicious and half Granny Smith) with peels on for color. Chill and chop up 6 full size Snickers candy bars into smaller pieces or slices. Fold all together with 1, 8 oz. container of Cool Whip. Let sit at least 1 hour, or overnight in fridge before serving. Easily doubled, which is what I did, and had leftovers after 20 people.