The Celebration Buffet

The Celebration Buffet is a treasured menu in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. We look forward to it at a variety of events, from baby showers to weddings! If you're from here you know it well, if not, you might want to offer it at your next event, enjoy!

---

The Celebration Buffet
Aka The WPA/EOH Buffet
Serves 4–6 people and can be multiplied by 100s

Tossed Salad pre-dressed with Italian Dressing
Thinly sliced super soft Italian Bread
Hard Butter Pats
Rigatoni/Penne/Mostaccioli with Spaghetti Sauce
*Meatballs in Sauce if it’s over the top
Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions
Italian Baked Chicken
Parsley Potatoes
Green Beans with Almonds
Coffee, assorted soft drinks, water
Cake with Buttercream Frosting
A Cookie Table with Assorted Homemade Cookies

---

Recipes

Tossed Salad

​Use either premixed bag American salad or mix chopped iceberg lettuce, shredded purple cabbage, sliced carrots, cherry tomatoes, and possibly sliced olives and radishes. Toss with Italian dressing.

Pasta

Use any sauce you like and any tube-style pasta you like.

Meatballs

​Use store bought meatballs, like DiRusso’s, cook in sauce.

​Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions

Bake a 1 lb rope of Italian Sausage, either hot or sweet, on a sheet pan at 375°F for 30 minutes. While the sausage is cooking, cut up 1 large or 2 medium onions, cut in half then into strips. Sauté in a Dutch oven in olive oil. Clean 2 large bell peppers, one green and one red. Cut into ½ inch strips and add to onions. Sauté until almost soft. Remove sausage from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Slice into 1-inch pieces, cut on a sharp diagonal. Add to peppers and onions, cook on low for 15 minutes.

​Italian Baked Chicken

​You need 3 lbs of assorted bone in chicken, thighs and legs are best. You can also use boneless chicken breasts, the pre frozen kind. Remove any extra skin and fat from the chicken and place into a 2-gallon ziplock bag. Pour a 16 oz bottle of your favorite Italian Dressing over the chicken and marinate for 4–6 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the chicken from the marinade and arrange in a 9 x 13 pan skin side up. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and any type of Italian herb seasoning you have. Bake for 1 hour.

​Parsley Potatoes

About 2 lbs of potatoes. You can use fresh or canned, peeled or skin on. If using fresh potatoes: clean and prepare (if small leave whole, if large cut up), cook in boiling water for 15 minutes, then drain. If using canned: drain and rinse, put into oven safe glass dish with salt, pepper, and about 1 Tbs butter, and heat through in the microwave, 2 ½ minutes.

Put potatoes in an oven safe dish. In a small skillet, melt 2 Tbs of butter. Add 1 tsp of dried parsley or 1 Tbs of fresh chopped parsley to butter and sauté for a minute or so. Pour over the potatoes and toss. Heat in oven for 15-20 minutes (can go in with chicken).

​Green Beans with Almonds

Use whole green beans, canned, fresh, or frozen. You need about a half pound to a pound, depending on how much you love green beans.
​
Heat or cook green beans in a steamer if fresh or frozen or in a microwave or pot if canned. While heating, sauté ⅛ c to ¼ c slivered almonds in 1 tsp olive oil on medium low heat until lightly golden brown, then add 1 Tbs of butter and melt. Pour over green beans, toss, and serve. You can also use raw almonds and just melt 2 Tbs butter, pour over, and toss. 

Dessert

​Now you have all the elements of a Celebration Buffet except for the dessert, which is typically a sheet cake with seasonal color decorations, sometimes ice cream to go with it, and a cookie table. The cake is usually from a grocery store bakery, but the cookies are brought by everyone.

Enjoy!

---