{"id":23747,"date":"2017-12-26T08:10:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-26T13:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=23747"},"modified":"2017-12-19T09:49:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T14:49:13","slug":"easy-post-holiday-buffet-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=23747","title":{"rendered":"Easy post-holiday buffet ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cathy Branciaroli,<\/strong>\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

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What was a glorious ham dinner on Christmas can be part of a tasty \u2014 and easy \u2014 post-holiday buffet later this week.<\/p><\/div>\n

Whew we made it!<\/p>\n

We survived the holiday onslaught, fed large numbers of people and generally were all-around heros in the kitchen. Now\u2019s the time to take a break from all that stress and offer laid back, easy to prepare dishes.\u00a0 And the first thing that comes to mind is a post-holiday buffet, preferable where guests contribute some of the dishes.\u00a0 Unlike a buffet that one might have prepared pre-Christmas, this is all about low key, no fuss eating.<\/p>\n

That glorious roast, that enormous turkey, that sturdy ham, are now but a memory.\u00a0 Only their leftovers remain.\u00a0 But creative cooks can still bring out their glory.<\/p>\n

Here are what I\u2019ve found to be great suggestions for a post-holiday buffet.<\/p>\n

Make ahead<\/strong> – I try to choose as many recipes as possible that can be made ahead of time. That way, I can enjoy the dinner, without being frazzled by last minute cooking.<\/p>\n

Personalized meals.<\/strong> With allergies and general likes and dislikes to contend with, it\u2019s hard to please everyone. A buffet allows you to serve a\u00a0variety of dishes that might not otherwise fit together. And, you can enlist those with specific requests to bring a dish that pleases them and to share with the gathering.<\/p>\n

Easy self-serve<\/strong> – At a buffet, everyone can serve themselves.\u00a0 While everyone chooses their favorites you\u2019re free to tend to the last-minute details in the kitchen or better yet, enjoy the group.<\/p>\n

No waiting.<\/strong> At a buffet-style meal, guests can get up and refill whenever they\u00a0like. You don\u2019t have to pass dishes around the table all night, and no one has to wait for seconds.<\/p>\n

Ok, you\u2019re saying, \u201cyou\u2019ve sold me but what do I make?\u201d\u00a0 Here are some thought starters for easy to prepare or make ahead dishes using leftovers of what you have on hand from the holidays.<\/p>\n

Sandwich tray using sliced leftover meat and fun condiments<\/p>\n

Mashed potato strada or scalloped potatoes using a layer of potatoes, a layer of bite sized meat chunks,\u00a0 mayo, sour cream to moisten, another layer of potatoes and shredded cheese on top.\u00a0 Bake till hot.<\/p>\n

Vegetable medley using a m\u00e9lange of whatever didn\u2019t get eaten at the holiday.\u00a0 The vegetables can be cut up and tossed with a sauce or dressing of your choosing with croutons.\u00a0 Serve warm or at room temperature.\u00a0 I especially like asparagus pieces as a leftover with balsamic dressing.<\/p>\n

Tossed salad \u2013 try Boston Bibb lettuce with cherry tomatoes, which are widely available at the store.\u00a0 Use your favorite salad dressing.<\/p>\n

Sweets platter using homemade baked goods or \u201cgood as homemade\u201d cookies from a cookie swap.<\/p>\n

Beverages including ice tea or more invigorating drinks depending on your crowd.<\/p>\n

Entertaining couldn’t be simpler with a make-ahead spread using up leftovers that lets the hostess\/host kick back and relax after all that pre-holiday stress while satisfying family and friends.<\/p>\n

Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her award-winning blog <\/em>Delaware Girl Eats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cathy Branciaroli,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times Whew we made it! We survived the holiday onslaught, fed large numbers of people and generally were all-around heros in the kitchen. Now\u2019s the time to take a break from all that stress and offer laid back, easy to prepare dishes.\u00a0 And the first thing that comes to mind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9366,6269,3733,9989],"class_list":["post-23747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-easy","tag-featured","tag-food","tag-post-holiday-meals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23748,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23747\/revisions\/23748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}