foodperson.com

Spring means graduation parties and weddings, among other celebrations. Such parties can raise the stress level for the self-catering host, who doesn’t want to miss the actual graduation or the next wedding-related event. What to do? Choose dishes that you can make the day before and serve or finish on party day, and dishes that are easy to serve and clean up after.

That’s what I suggested my friend do for her son’s post-graduation event, and the party came off without a hitch. The menu:

• Asparagus strata, made from an adaptable and easy strata recipe and baked the morning of the event.
• Curried chicken salad. (Recipe to come in future post.)
• A bountiful plate of fresh vegetables with dips. She used baby heads of lettuce, radishes and small fennel ribs from her own garden plus carrots and celery. She also had a separate plate of blanched asparagus. You could use your favorites or whatever is plentiful this week at the Farmers Market.
• A cheese plate.
• A platter of homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies, baked as time allowed over the preceding couple of weeks and frozen.

When the graduation was over, all that was required was putting the food on the table. We set the strata and cheese plate out first so they could warm up a bit. You could even zap the strata in the microwave if you wanted to take the chill off.

Everything else went onto the buffet counter. Anything that needed to stay cold, such as the chicken salad and a friend’s deviled eggs, went out last. The only utensils needed were servers and forks. Cleanup was a snap (says I, who left before the cleanup was complete).

The best part, though, was that my friend was able to enjoy her own party. You can enjoy yours, too. Meanwhile, here are links to some other stratas or “French toast” dishes, if you want something sweet rather than savory:

• The Make-Ahead French Toast, which was popular at my daughter’s graduation brunch, from AllRecipes.com.
• Epicurious’ Spinach and Cheese Strata or its Chive and Brie Strata.
• The Food Network’s Baked Blueberry and Pecan French Toast with Blueberry Syrup, also popular at my daughter’s do a couple of years ago.

You also might be interested in Epicurious’ article on a post-wedding brunch or the Food Network’s article on a complete make-ahead brunch. Although they’re both billed as brunches, the principles apply for evening, too.