I know I can get some great suggestions from this board....My dad is 80 and my sister and I are throwing his a surprise open house. What should we serve. We were thinking first of the cake, punch, coffee menu, but he is diabetic, and I am sure some of the people coming to see him might be as well or have to watch their diet.
We also thought of a fruit bowl..but I know there might be kids as well, grandkids, cousins etc....any ideas would be a great help.
thanks

What time of day are you planning the open house?

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Sorry I forgot to tell you that
Its planned for a Sunday afternoon, from 1 to 6 the end of this month

I wonder if the guests might expect a something a little bit substantial especially as you head toward the 5pm timeframe. I'm thinking about those early bird dinner specials that seniors tend to go for. What do you think?

Perhaps some finger foods - a veggie tray, finger sandwiches, meatballs? The fruit salad sounds very nice and a good idea for the summer. I love those carved out watermelon bowls.

cj/

I can't believe there aren't some more ideas and/or opinions out there!!! Calling all party planners!

cj/

I would still have cake or cookies even if he is diabetic. Then get him some safe cookies or cake (or whatever treat he likes).

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I've never lied to you. I've always told you some version the of truth.

We just had an 80th birthday party for my grandmother...
This was the menu:
Cupcakes and cheap popsicles for the kids (they LOVED this!)
Cake AND ice cream for the adults (the kids were on the move!!)
Lays potato chips (cause target had them for $1 a bag after coupon)
Pulled pork sandwiches (super simple to make...just roast a boston butt pork roast all day with a bullion cube and water then shred the meat with a fork and return to a crock pot and add your favorite bbq sauce and slap it on cheapie buns from the bread outlet)
Potato salad (make sure you keep it cool)
BBQ baked beans
5 gallon container of iced tea
5 gallon container of punch
(you can "rent" the 10 gallon orange bowls from mcdonald's for a refundable cost of $10-$50 and they will give the $$ back when you return the container plus buy the hi-c orange drink for $5-$10 a gallon which makes the 10 gallons of juice)
celery and carrots with ranch dressing

Don't be afraid to ask people to bring a dish to pass...this could turn out to be a potluck if you want it to...

We also had a "memory video" on the tv all day looping and various people sat down and watched the different pictures on the tv. It was a huge hit.

We asked people via the post card (again, a huge money saver) not to bring gifts. Some didn't listen but that was okay...we didn't have to worry about 200 gifts to thank people for. Many people brought cards (greeting) so we decorated a basket so people knew to put their card there. The post card had a picture of grandma as a girl then a picture of grandma now and it said "come join us to celebrate the life of xxxx xxxxxxx on Sunday, July 8 from 1-5 at her house. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx if you need directions. People loved it!! We got the card stock at office depot for $9 for 250 sheets and cut them into fours so we could have sent out 1000 invites (but we sent out 30 because we put the info in the local paper).

This was not a suprise because older people don't really read things that well and my grandmother's friends would have spoiled the suprise and said sorry I can't make it to your birthday party.

Contact the vice president AND the president via email and they will send your dad a birthday card (my grandma about fell off her rocker when she got these in the mail!! LOL)

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