Lenten & Vegan Church Coffee Hour Plan

Hosting a Lenten Church Coffee Hour

Our Church is FILLED with excellent cooks! We even have restaurant owners & caterers in the Parish. When they host coffee hour, it is a feast. I picture them spending hours, if not weeks, doing all their preparation!

Which is why, when I recently hosted coffee hour, I was pretty intimidated. I'm no expert at cooking for crowds. I'm not a caterer. I just cook for my family, and occasionally a few friends. And hosting during Lent means you can't just set out a tray of cold cuts & cheese, and a purchased cake made with eggs!

But, over the years, I've gotten some advice from others who ARE experts - and I decided to put it to use!

One Cousin hosts amazing family dinners at her house for the extended family. She might host 60 people, and serves amazing food. I asked her how she did it, and she said,

"I just prepare one dish per day, and put that dish in the freezer or refrigerator (if necessary) for the big day. Then, when the day comes, it is easy to just heat up and set out all the food"

That certainly sounded more approachable than preparing a huge feast the day before or the day of the event!

Another bit of advice that I read years ago:

When you host, make one or two dishes that take some time to prepare - then make sure everything else you serve is very easy.

Another dear friend advised:

Prepare EVERYTHING ahead - even set out your bowls for chips and crackers before you host. Those little details each take a little time, and they all add up!

Again, this bit of advice made hosting coffee hour seem much more approachable. It is also advice that I've taken when serving guests at home! Although I CAN make most of these things from scratch, I don't chose to make every one from scratch every time I host. So, although my homemade salsa, and homemade cookies or desserts can be a great option, I know I can't do everything all in one week, and still meet my other obligations.

Finally, coffee hour is right after Liturgy. And, as in the story of Mary and Martha from the Bible, I don't want to be running around making preparations, when I SHOULD be in Church! So, it is important to me to serve things that don't require me to be cooking when I should be worshiping.

I wanted things that could be fixed and stored in the Church kitchen by Saturday, so that my Sunday morning would be peaceful and focused.

Early in the week, I did the shopping for things like crackers, frozen foods, canned beans, quinoa, cookies & salsa - things that didn't need to be purchased fresh right before use. I also bought bananas to give them enough time to ripen for the fruit salad.

Friday, I shopped for last-minute fresh items, like peppers, & tomatoes.

Saturday night, I put out plates & napkins & utensils. I also took ALL of the food to the Church, and put it in the refrigerator. I also prepared bowls (by lining them with napkins and setting the sealed box of crackers inside) to fill with crackers, etc, at the last minute. That way the crackers wouldn't get stale by being set out too far ahead of time.

One Blessed Church Member always does the actual coffee making for us! : )

So, we were able to stay in the service through the time of Holy Communion. At the end of Liturgy, my family & I simply opened crackers & snack mix & poured in prepared baskets or bowls, and removed lids from other dishes.

So, this is the menu I served.


Smoky Hummus & Hummus with Capers 
(I made these on Thursday)

Cut Veggies (Some Purchased Pre-cut, some cut at home.)

Cracker assortment tray (I used Purchased Crackers from Dollar Tree.)

Salsa & Chips (I simply plated purchased ingredients)

Black Bean Salad (I Rinsed Beans & Cooked Corn on Friday and put in Serving Bowl, I added other Salad ingredients and stirred on Saturday)

Quinoa Salad (I cooked Quinoa on Friday, prepared Salad on Saturday)

Fruit Salad (I prepared on Saturday)

Snack Mix (I purchased & placed in Bowl at serving time)

Cookie Assortment (Purchased. I put them in Lidded Plastic Serving trays in advance, then at serving time it was simple to just remove the lids. It is a little-known secret that the cheapest cookies are often coincidentally vegan. When manufacturers don't have to add Butter & Eggs, their prices go down! Check ingredient labels for Vegan cookies at Dollar Tree & Walmart's Great Value Brand. Many are Vegan & Lenten!)

To serve all this, I used these Nesting Storage Bowls from Walmart  (Not affiliate link - I just like them!)

 

For the cookies, I used these lidded containers from Dollar Tree that displayed a single layer of cookies: (again, NOT an affiliate link, I just like them!)

For other containers, to serve chips and crackers, I used the baskets owned by the Church, lined with napkins.

So, just a few ideas here, how you can host coffee hour without missing Liturgy - even if you aren't a Restaurateur!

Menu Plan Monday
Happiness is Homemade
Inspire Me Monday 
You're the Star
Tuesdays with a Twist
Let's Have Coffee
Wise Woman
Encouraging Hearts & Homes