Okay, so I had a few mates coming over the other weekend. Nothing massive, just a casual thing, but you still need some grub, right? Cooking a full meal felt like way too much effort, especially on a Saturday afternoon. I just wanted something easy to pick at.
Deciding on the Food
First thought was, takeaway? Nah, gets expensive fast and everyone wants different things. Then I remembered seeing ads for supermarket party food platters. Quick look online, but honestly, I prefer seeing the stuff in person. Decided to pop down to Morrisons, it’s reasonably close and usually has a decent selection of bits and pieces.
Didn’t really have a solid plan, just figured I’d grab a mix of savoury things. You know, the usual suspects: sausage rolls, maybe some little pizzas, spring rolls, that kind of stuff. Stuff you can just heat up and chuck on a plate.
The Morrisons Run
So, off I went. Got to Morrisons, headed straight for the chilled aisles where they usually keep the party food. Found the section easily enough. There was quite a bit, actually. Lots of beige food, if you know what I mean, but that’s kind of the point of party food, isn’t it?
I started grabbing things:
- A big pack of sausage rolls. Can’t go wrong there.
- Some mini cheese and tomato pizzas. Always popular.
- Vegetable spring rolls, for a bit of variety.
- Found some mini quiches too, Lorraine and cheese & onion. Grabbed both.
- Almost forgot dips! Picked up a sour cream & chive and a basic houmous.
- Oh, and a pack of those little cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon. Pigs in blankets, basically, even though it wasn’t Christmas.
Didn’t break the bank, which was good. Just grabbed what looked like enough, paid up, and headed home.
Getting it Ready
Back in the kitchen, it was pretty straightforward. Most of it just needed heating in the oven. Checked the instructions on the packs – different times and temperatures for everything, typical! Managed to group things that cooked roughly the same. Whacked the oven on, spread the stuff out on a couple of baking trays. The spring rolls and sausage rolls went in first, then added the mini pizzas and quiches part way through.
Honestly, the hardest part was juggling the oven timings. Kept checking to make sure nothing was burning. Nearly forgot about the pigs in blankets, found them still in the bag just as the first lot was coming out the oven. Quick blast for those too.
While stuff was cooking, I decanted the dips into some small bowls and found a couple of platters to arrange the food on once it was ready. Nothing fancy, just laid it all out.
How it Went Down
My mates arrived just as I was pulling the last bits out of the oven. Perfect timing. Plonked the platters down on the coffee table. Everyone just dived in. The food definitely did the job. It filled a gap, gave people something to munch on while we chatted and had a few beers.
The sausage rolls vanished first, no surprise there. Mini pizzas were popular too. The quiches were actually pretty decent. Spring rolls were okay, maybe a bit greasy, but fine with the dip. It wasn’t gourmet food, obviously, but nobody was expecting that. It was easy, convenient, and saved me hours in the kitchen.
Overall, pretty happy with the Morrisons party food haul. It served its purpose perfectly for a casual get-together. Easy to buy, easy to cook (mostly), and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Would I do it again for a similar situation? Yeah, probably. It takes the stress out of hosting last minute.