As summer winds down, kids start gearing up to get back to school—and adults have memories of the same time in their own lives. To bring a little back-to-school nostalgia to your next event, consider incorporating one of these catering ideas, which vary from servers dressed as lunch ladies to chalkboard menus and cocktails served in milk cartons.
In New York, Scoozi Events recently hosted a dinner with a "childhood memory" theme. The first course, served in a tin lunch box, included miniature grilled cheese and heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; there was also a fake note from mom and a cocktail served in a milk box.
Other nostalgic dishes included miniature Kobe hot dogs served in a baseball mitt with a side of tater tots in a batting helmet.
Inspired by Looney Tunes, the dessert was an Acme-bomb-shaped chocolate dish topped with a sparkler; there were also passed cookies with milk.
Magnolia Bakery offers seasonal "Back to School" cupcakes. The treats are topped with edible apples, stacks of books, scissors, and other tropes evocative of school days.
For an adult spin on a lemonade stand, the American Cancer Society placed a yellow-and-white-striped stand near the entrance of its Chicago Discovery Ball in April. At the drink station, servers poured blueberry-lemon-vodka cocktails.
Chalkboard menus are an easy way to bring a schoolhouse vibe to a catering spread. One example of such signage was at last summer's Feed U.S.A. & Target collection launch in New York. Chalkboard menus placed near the bar areas displayed the cocktail hour offerings.
Though the annual fund-raiser is known as a sophisticated gathering, it still has had its share of nostalgic whimsy. In 2010, Glorious Food passed miniature grilled cheese sandwiches during the cocktail hour.
When Glee premiered in 2009, Fox hosted a party in Los Angeles with a schoolyard theme that extended to a cafeteria-style dinner of mashed potatoes, pizza slices, and mac 'n' cheese. Servers dressed in thematic costumes, and a surly "lunch lady" handed out trays in the cafeteria line.
