Dairy Sheva Brochas in advance!

amother

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 11:13 am

I'm making sheva brochas for my cousin in a few weeks time. It's motzoi shabbos and we're going to have very little time to set things up and have limited oven space.

It's for around 40+ people and they've asked for dairy. Ideas for easy things we can make, preferably in advance?

So far our menu in progress is...

punch/compote starter

Main
Pizza-not sure how we're going to cook enough in time
salmon

ice cream for dessert

groovy1224

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 11:23 am

Baked ziti and lasagna are easily frozen. You can do lasagna roll ups for a nicer presentation.

Otherwise, you can boil pastas before shabbos and prepare the sauces, and just warm up on Motzei Shabbos.

You can do the same with salads; prep all the ingredients and just combine right before.

I don't know if quiches freeze well but you can make them fresh on friday and the just warm them up.

The last time I made a motzei shabbos sheva brachos with limited time to set up, we ate out for both shabbos meals so we were able to set up the tables before shabbos, and keep the kitchen clean. Then all we had to do was warm up food and set up the buffet.

If oven space is an issue, can you see if any neighbors have toaster ovens you can borrow for the night? Or oven space? If you need your oven at one temp to bake salmon, you might want your pastas or premade food warming at a lower temp.

amother

Lemon

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 12:35 pm

salads, for sure - but not the kind you have to chop up a lot. Cabbage salad from a bag with accoutrements, chopped lettuce from a bag with nuts, dried fruit, quinoa salad can be made in advance.
Blintzes freeze great.
Fruit soup appetizer, freezes great.
fun!

Seeking Peace

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 1:12 pm

do you want to add some pick-up items? mini pizzas (those may be easier to make several tins of, freeze and bake the night of) spinach quiches and baby knishes are all delicious.

orzo salad, quinoa salad and a large vegetable calzone also make for a great presentation.

for desserts, you can't go wrong with fresh cut fruit, chocolate chip cookies and a few yummy cakes. rice krispy treats are easy and a crowd favorite.

Dairy parties are always fun and delicious! Enjoy and mazal tov to the new couple!

amother

Gold

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 1:23 pm

Are you doing buffet, family style or plated? If buffet, bagels, assorted flavored cream cheeses and lox are easy and require no prep. Also, instead of salads which you would have to put together on Motzei Shabbos so they taste fresh, I would do a salad bar. Everything can be be prepared/cut up before Shabbos and put in ziploc bags and then all you need to do is dump them into bowls and put out dressings. Lettuce, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, assorted colored peppers, shredded carrots, chickpeas, corn or baby corn, olives, cubed feta, craisins, chow mein noodles, croutons...

amother

Mint

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 1:31 pm

Baked potato bar--have potatoes and sweet potatoes wrapped in foil and ready to go in the oven the minute Shabbos is over. Have toppings prepped in advance--sautéed onions, mushrooms, creamed spinach.

If you don't mind semi-homemade, you can also buy blintzes and bake them right after Shabbos and have sour cream, etc, ready to go.

CatLady

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 1:47 pm

What about vegetarian chili, with a few toppings like grated cheese, chopped scallions, diced tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc. The toppings can be prepped ahead of time, and so can the chili, which will reheat on top of the stove before being transferred to the slow cooker.

amother

Slateblue

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 3:13 pm

What about a nice creamy soup , self serve, in cups.
I would do
Soup
Garlic knots
Salad bar (as suggested above)
pasta dish
Eggplant rolitini (keep low carb option)
Mini Quichés
All this can be made on Friday and just reheated
If you really think you need it a slab of salmon.
Salmon needs to be baked fresh

Dessert could be a nice cheesecake STORE BOUGHT
And coffee tea bar

pizza4

Mon, Oct 28 2019, 7:37 pm

You can freeze ready baked ziti.
You can prepare and freeze raw pizzas and bake fresh. Or make them a little underdone and then freeze and rewarm when you need it.
I like making a really yummy milchig broccoli kugel for nicer dairy occasions, sprinkle cheese on top. Freezes amazing.
Also I remember seeing a super easy recipe for frozen breaded cauliflower, made with sauce and cheese. Needs to be made fresh though.
Warm up store bought chocolate chip cookies to serve with the ice cream.

amother

Tue, Oct 29 2019, 1:34 pm

You guys are all amazing. Thanks for all the great ideas.
I'm doing it with a couple of other relatives, and they're not the type to do salad bars etc-I would have loved to do 'make your own pizza', but that would have taken too long anyway.
So the revised list is

Punch/compote for starter
soup and rolls(I'm not involved with those)
main is:
Salmon
pizza
potato knishes/borekas
hot veg
roast mini potatoes

Any good ideas for how to make good roast potatoes and a hot veg? Can I even make them in advance?

dankbar

Wed, Oct 30 2019, 9:24 am

Things that freeze well, that you can make in advance:
Lukshen cheese kugel
Baked ziti
Eggplant parmesian
pizza wheels prepare raw & bake before serving
quiche
cheese blintzes
cheese cake
cheese danishes
butter loaf cakes
muffins
Fish balls
Broccoli soup with cheese
garlic knots
challah rolls

You can set up sternos for buffet style.

For stuff done fresh you can divide among family members so not everything falls on you right before event like

fresh lettuce salads, tuna salad, egg salad, avocado salad.

You can order fish platters, sushi, bagels in advance to be delivered to your home

dankbar

Wed, Oct 30 2019, 9:33 am

You can do mushroom/egg salad few days prior.
If you need to do all yourself, you can prepare tuna & egg salad before shabbos in an airtight container.
Some salads don't need to be done fresh & can do earlier like marinated salads, babaganoush, broccolli salad, cabbage salads, marinated eggplant salad, some dips. Dressings can be combined to pour over salads.

You can prepare cheese platters before shabbos if its well covered

You can prepare iced cappuccino or fruit smoothies before shabbos