Budget Murder Mystery Themed Dinner - Working with Italian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and No Pork/SF

[TwoMisfits]

Hi everybody,

My spouse is planning my birthday party - a 1920's murder mystery party themed to a Mediterranean cruise ship. We have 11 folks coming (and possibly up to 15), and we are working with Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and No Pork or Shellfish...would you come to this type of menu? FYI - we are trying to keep it very make ahead or very fast last minute prep, so no one gets stuck in a kitchen, too...

1st course Apps
- Antipasto Platter - we're thinking of GF bresaola, roasted vegs (red peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus), maybe olives (although I hate them)
- Seasoned Nuts
- Gluten Free bread (hoping to pawn this off) with herbed olive oil dip
- Home Brewed Beer (ala 20's bootleggers)...
This course should be able to be set in the middle of the table for everyone to grab and gab...

2nd course Main
- Baked Marinated Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Based Bruschetta Topping (it adds at the end, so if anyone hates it, they can have pretty straightforward chicken)
- White Bean Salad (still deciding what type - like the cold lemon ones over argula and spinach)
- Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon-Poppyseed Dressing or Macedonia
- Possibly a Cold Italian-style Quinoa Salad (to replace one of the 2 sides or extra)
- Wine or Bottled Water
This course will be plated by my spouse after he's been "killed"...

3rd course Dessert
- Champagne Fruit Soup with a Sorbet Floater
- Lemon Almond Biscotti (someone is bringing these - GF and DF and biscotti - they are nice to make these b/c I'd never attempt it!)
- Coffee

I already have someone bringing Biscotti, and I'm hoping I get folks to do the bread and the wine (they've already asked what they can bring...I just haven't told them anything yet b/c I wanted a plan, but I couldn't turn down the biscotti. I figure I have room for an extra app or dessert since I have 4 folks asking to bring stuff (over and above the biscotti family)...

Does this sound like too much, not enough, just right?

I should add, my spouse is prepping everything here and we are going to a friend's house for the party (b/c my house can't fit all those folks)...so preprepped is everything (right now, I think he can just bake off the chicken there and put the bean salad over the greens and the champagne in the soup and everything else is just pulling from a fridge and plating with this menu...

 

[J'aime Paris]

I think the menu sounds fabulous...except the GF items, Yuck! I'm sorry! I don't like the taste at all! I'd be bummed if it was the only option for me.

I completely understand that for some folks GF is a way of life, not an option.

Could you possibly offer GF and non GF bread and biscotti? Have them in separate serving bowls with cute little labels indicating which is which?

(Unless all of your guests are GF...then never mind!)

 

[TwoMisfits]

I think the menu sounds fabulous...except the GF items, Yuck! I'm sorry! I don't like the taste at all! I'd be bummed if it was the only option for me.

I completely understand that for some folks GF is a way of life, not an option.

Could you possibly offer GF and non GF bread and biscotti? Have them in separate serving bowls with cute little labels indicating which is which?

(Unless all of your guests are GF...then never mind!)

I would...except the person who is hosting has kids who will be around...and the whole family is the GF one (mom and 2 of 3 kids are celiac)...so to be polite (and to make sure grabby tween kids don't wander in and grab the wrong thing), I'm keeping it all away (she hosts so many things for me that I like staying on the good side...it's why the only "replacement for wheat" foods I'm planning are the bread and the biscotti...I prefer just the regular food options than trying to find ones that are close...

It's why we're doing quinoa and white bean salad, and not GF pasta - that's a sub I just don't like (same for dairy-free cheese - we just decided no pasta and cheese was the tastiest option...(And it's why I told my husband not to get me a birthday cake...which I don't even like much...I like ice cream WAY more, but that's also a no-go, but an awesome sorbet is an excellent stand-in for my ice cream fix!)

Plus, I figure everyone is happiest if either everyone can eat everything or everyone can only eat some things...since I'm adapting for Jewish preferences (thankfully not full Kosher), some dairy allergies, and celiac, I don't want to better adapt for one than the other...

 

[Lvsdisney]

When you listed the limitations, I thought "that's sounds awful" BUT then you posted the menu and it sounds delicious! I think as long as your guests are the more adventurous food eaters, you should be fine. Time and date? I'll be there!!

 

[TwoMisfits]

When you listed the limitations, I thought "that's sounds awful" BUT then you posted the menu and it sounds delicious! I think as long as your guests are the more adventurous food eaters, you should be fine. Time and date? I'll be there!!

Yeah, I have one guest who is pretty picky, but he's really easy going...I'm thinking in addition to having the chicken dressed last minute (so he can have his topping left off), I may dress the fruit salad last minute, so he can have the option of the plain fresh fruit without the lemon poppy seed dressing (or I'll just bring a small container of the fresh fruit plain)...that way, I know he'll have a full meal at least!

 

[wendow]

I think it sounds great As a mom of a dairy allergic (ds8), peanut allergic (dd17) and gluten free to help with joint inflammation from Lyme (dd17), I am well versed in eating differently. I actually find many of the GF foods quite tasty. I think in this case, the more options the better. I like the idea of a basket with gf breads/crackers and a 'gluten infested' basket a good idea.

 

[krysenchips]

It sounds good to me, but I would personally add a couple of gluten-free dry beef sausages to the Antipasto platter. But I always err on the side of too much protein.

 

[mjkacmom]

Gluten free bread is pretty nasty, and usually has to be toasted to be palatable. Dd14 has tried so many different types, and has never found any non-sandwich bread to be edible. It might look like bread, but taste, not so much.

 

[hsmamato2]

I think most GF things are pretty good.... IMHO, when I have a party, I don't tell anyone except the folks who NEED to know what is GF and what isn't....I've found that most people, if they aren't told, don't know the difference.... it's become my thing...I just don't tell people that the cookies or cakes are GF,they a;; tell me how much they love everything,everyone's happy. As far as bread goes, it can be dicey, but I think good quality GF is good for all the guests...

 

[TwoMisfits]

Okay, so I found out I also have vegetarians (turns out the folks who keep most of the Jewish dietary laws, which I knew, actually do it by being vegetarians - I guess that would be easiest - learn something new every day) and some who won't eat white meat chicken...so, we are keeping the chicken dish but roasting portabello mushrooms and boneless chicken thighs separately to be the "main" for those people (with the same tomato bruschetta-style topping) - this will actually work with one big pan and then 2 smaller ones for one oven, baked at the same temp, but just removed as finished. But I'm tossing the meat off the antipasto tray and keeping it meat free and mainly a roasted veg platter...

Thankfully, my GF baker friend (she sells at a farmer's market and people love her baked goods) has volunteered to make me Italian style loaves and then dinner rolls, so the bread should taste good (She sells out every week, so that's a good sign, although I've only had her GF pastries, which are really good. I asked her to bring enough bread that I could make a few dips for it (I may sneak some Mediterranean into the Italian and have a hummus, a baba ganoush, cheese-free pesto, etc - still thinking...

My celiac friend offered to make a hot red pepper soup to go with the apps, so that will round out the apps course (something nice and hot with the cold items)...my vegetarian friend also took over the quinoa salad and is bringing an extra cookie type, and and my dairy-free friend took the white bean salad and biscotti...so I do have some great friends, even if they all have different needs...I mean, I told them I'd make everything, but they wouldn't hear of it, and that's really nice.

They all told me I didn't need to bother dealing with their dietary needs and choices, but my house host did say how nice it was and how thankful she was that we'll have an event she doesn't need to "pick and choose" from and she can just have everything, no worries...

(Although a friend with no dietary needs did joke to me that this was getting complicated and I agreed, and said "what did you expect with a dinner party in 2017?" - my spouse and I have decided we're gonna print 1920's style cruise ship menus that will let everyone circle their choices so we keep them straight...

 

[Skippyboo]

They make some really tasty gluten free crackers if you wanted to swap those instead of the bread.

 

[TwoMisfits]

They make some really tasty gluten free crackers if you wanted to swap those instead of the bread.

I may find those to go with the bread - thanks!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I think most GF things are pretty good.... IMHO, when I have a party, I don't tell anyone except the folks who NEED to know what is GF and what isn't....I've found that most people, if they aren't told, don't know the difference.... it's become my thing...I just don't tell people that the cookies or cakes are GF,they a;; tell me how much they love everything,everyone's happy. As far as bread goes, it can be dicey, but I think good quality GF is good for all the guests...

This is what I do as well.

I had a birthday party for my husband. Baked ziti, salad and bread. It was a buffet, serve yourself. After everyone had gone through, I got a plate for myself. As people were eating, and mentioning how good it was, they were very surprised to see me also eating.

Yes, folks, that awful gluten free food you talk about is also what you are eating and loving. Gluten free food today is not the gluten free food of yesterday.

 

[wendow]

I also find GF foods really good. Other than sandwich bread, I pretty much like it all better. And while the sandwich bread isn't phenomenal, it's not bad and I can easily, easily enjoy it.

My MIL has been GF since the mid-80's. I did not meet her until the early 90's but I'd absolutely agree with @MaryLovesPoohBear , eating GF today is nothing like it used to be. I remember when my MIL had very few foods to sub and they were just altogether disgusting. Now, she is well-fed no matter where she eats.

One of my dd's brought home a fundraiser form for the part time school she does. The item being sold is 'Butter Braids'. I'm sure many of you have seen these. They now have a couple of GF items they sell (GF, soy free and nut free). Still no dairy free though which is our hardest allergen to avoid. I *wish* we only had to avoid gluten because there are so many options.

 

[MKCP5]

It sounds good to me, but I would personally add a couple of gluten-free dry beef sausages to the Antipasto platter. But I always err on the side of too much protein.

Good thought but just be careful as many dry sausages, salamis, etc have dairy in them. We found out the hard way! Couldn't believe that was in them. It's used as a binder.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Wow I can't believe you managed to come up with a menu that pleases so many restrictions. Kuddos.