Covid friendly platter(s) for a Rec Center party
 

I would like some advice. We are planning a party of 24 people in a Recreation Center room which we will be renting. We intend to bring a couple of cases of water but would also like to have some simple, safe food for everyone. A platter or two would do but we don't feel some of the guests would be comfortable eating from an open platter. We do not want to ask the people coming to bring any food with them. We spoke with the people at our local Publix and TooJays but didn't come up with anything we thought would work. We are hoping to find a way to bring in simple things (e.g., slider sized sandwiches) that are individually wrapped. We will be very thankful for any and all suggestions but we do indeed intend to go ahead so please don't tell us not to have the party.

Individually wrapped paper plates/bowls of various snacks.

There are a lot of options for bite-sized or individually-wrapped snacks, crackers, or cookies.

At one gathering someone had purchased small (2oz?) cups with lids and had put hummus in to go along with the individual packs of crackers.

I've seen small sandwiches made from dinner rolls that could be individually wrapped.

For most ideas some person will have handled the food before it was served to the guests, either as little as putting wrapped packages onto a tray or as much as cooking and individually wrapping the items. I don't think you can avoid that but if the person preparing and serving was careful to handle the food safely it would minimize any risk.

Don't do it.

Buy some sub sandwiches. Wash and sanitized your hands, put on your mask and cut them up into individual portions and then wrap them in saran wrap.

Subs and cut up to small pieces. Kielbasa cook cut up on toothpicks. Deviled eggs

purchase boxed hero's from jersey mike. they come with chips and a cookie. they deliver. Enjoy your party.

For dessert send for a box of Cheryl's cookies. Box comes in different sizes with each cookie individually wrapped. Available through QVC or the Cheryl cookie website.

You bring up a timely quandary that has been on my mind, too. We want to get a group of about 20 people together. Everybody is of the age to have been vaccinated, but I can’t figure out how to feed that many without a buffet line.

I think some of us now are going to have a baked-in weirdness about buffet style and party trays for a while.

Last summer, I entertained my book club in the driveway. I used small gift bags and put in little bags of snacks, an envelope of hand-sanitizer, and a wrapped straw. I had a cooler of canned wine and bottled water.

Box-lunches could work, but I can’t think of anywhere in TV that does that. Box-lunches would cut out group-handling in a buffet line, but then you have to offer choices all boxed up and hope everybody does not want the same thing. Box-lunches would be a version of carry-out like many of us have been using for a year.

Maybe Publix needs to go into the box-lunch business.

I will follow this thread and hope somebody has an answer to this. It doesn’t feel right to try to entertain a group without offering food or to offer food and weird out some people and end up with a bunch of leftovers. I can’t figure out the answer yet. I think we are emerging into a rather strange social expectation. I hope we soon get past it.

Boomer Stewart

Honey Baked Ham has boxed meals and quite a variety and so does TooJays.

I guess you didn't read my post.

McDonald's Happy Meals

Just make it a "bring your own food party"

Every one eats Pizza and :popcorn:

Coronavirus is spread mainly by aerosol, not surface to surface. You will have 24 people in an enclosed room. I don't believe the food is the main concern, but enjoy the party!