Funeral and visitation food

Sandwich trays and crudites

Some kind of chicken pasta dish.

When a friend's mother passed, I took over a tray of mini sandwiches from Chicken Salad Chick. It was a big hit and something a little different.

Where's the funeral home? If in Louisiana, cook Louisiana food. If somewhere else, still cook Louisiana food. It's better than the alternative.

Bergeron's in Port Allen makes large trays of sausage, and boudin bites.
Ambrosia Bakery makes a real nice sandwich tray of chicken salad, ham and roast beef but they need to be ordered a day or two ahead of time.
Calvin's Bocage has pre-made trays of sandwiches available you can just pick up.
Anthony's Deli has nice sandwich trays.

If you want to make a dish to bring..

This is a Southern funeral staple:

Cheesy Chicken and Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients
1 (12 ounce) package angel hair, thin vermicelli or thin spaghetti noodles
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/4 cup finely minced onion
1 small bell pepper, finely minced
1 rib celery, finely minced
1 medium garlic clove, minced fine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup (like Campbell's)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (like Rotel), undrained
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
2 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then generously salt. Break noodles into half or thirds, and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet and saute the onion and bell pepper until softened about 4 minutes; add garlic and cook another minute. To the skillet, add the cream of chicken soup, diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, and chicken stock; stir in 1 cup of the cheese. Add the chicken and noodles, mix well, taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Turn out into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with half of the remaining cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly. Last 5 minutes of cooking, uncover, top with the remaining cheese and return to the oven uncovered, just until cheese has melted.

Cook's Notes: One pound of Velveeta cheese, cubed, may be substituted, although reserve some for the top. If you are boiling a fresh chicken to make this dish, reserve the broth to boil the pasta, and use in the dish. Add-ins ideas include one small jar of chopped pimentos, drained, one can of drained sweet peas, or one small carton of mushrooms, chopped.

Skillet Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti: Prepare as above, except reduce pasta to 8 ounces and start with 1 cup broth, adding additional broth only as needed. Heat through, then top with remaining cheese, cover and let rest until cheese has melted.

If the deceased was a Baptist, bring a casserole. Baptists love casseroles.

Make a pound cake. Everyone likes pound cake.

Last funeral I went to was for an aunt that lived in podunk in the middle of nowhere.

After the funeral the pastor said the ladies of the church had prepared a meal for us. We all weren’t excited about that until we went downstairs and found ridiculously good little old church lady fried chicken.

So find some little old church ladies who can fry chicken.

We did a selection of finger sandwiches and cookies at my mom’s a few months ago. I think it was probably the minimum I would have been comfortable with but it was more than enough for our crowd. Easy prep and clean up too.

We'll miss Gris Gris on this type of stuff. This thread would be right in her wheelhouse