Start with a dip like some edamame hummus or guacamole. You can't go wrong with a taco bar, I like fish tacos or roasted pork tacos which are also really inexpensive and feed a large group. For dessert, chocolate pudding is great and you can make a big bowl of it ahead of time.

I like a grain salad (I love the trader joe's harvest blend) with whatever veggies I have on hand, add some feta or parm, and some dried fruit and toss with a vinegarette. Cheap and tasty and tastes best at room temperature. I agree with the pork being a great choice. You can get a pork butt for about $15 and can feed a crowd.

Some buffet tips I've learned over the years:

- Chances are good that your buffet will be laid out on the table where you usually eat. Pull the chairs away and group them in clusters around the edge of the room for 2 reasons. 1 There are never enough places to sit, eat, and chat at a party. 2 There's also always that awkward guy who will obliviously sit right in front of the buffet and block the other guests if there are chairs there :)

- It helps traffic flow if you set up the food and drink stations in different areas

- When it's a large group and it's not a sit-down dinner, people tend to arrive and eat at different times. If you don't have warming plates or chafing dishes, it's great to pick foods that are still tasty at room temp. I second the suggestion for tacos. Quiches, cold Asian noodle salads, and flatbread pizzas are all great, too.

- You probably don't have warming plates in college, but you might have a crock pot. You can keep all kinds of things warm in one: shredded pork or Italian beef for sandwiches, meatballs, chili, meat for tacos, falafel...

- Have plenty of finger foods. You have to sit and put your drink down to eat with a fork, but people will continue to nosh on the food all night if they can eat it while standing.

We have a store, and we just had an event where we had hundreds of people walking by. Made some little savory pastries and a few tarts. Ramp & chervil tart; asparagus and spinach quiche; oatmeal-pepper crusted tiny galettes with pears, rosemary, baby spinach and goat cheese; non-sausage rolls with roasted mushrooms and white beans; roasted beet and smoked paprika tart with fiddleheads. Plus a few hearty salads. Honey roasted potato salad with arugula and pecans. Coleslaw with cashews, raisins and capers, with a ginger, lime and mustard dressing.

Marinated asparagus and carrots with a creamy ranch-style dip, roasted ramps or spring onions (drizzle with olive oil and salt, roast in a hot oven until some bits are crispy and black), rhubarb or strawberry anything (crisp is really easy to make in large quantities and is divine with ice cream or whipped cream), deviled eggs, rice pudding with berries, pasta with English peas in a lemon-olive oil sauce, buns with ham and pickles, etc. Most all of these things (except the rice pudding) will keep just fine at room temperature. Creamy dilled potato salad (mayo, sour cream, vinegar, dill, thinly sliced white onions, waxy potatoes) is also springy and filling, but must be kept cold. Any of these can also be scaled up to very large quantities and are suitable for snacking.

With college folks, snacky things seem to work best and you needn't be fussy. Veggies and dip, fruit with caramel or sweet cream cheese dip, chips and dip, these are all popular. Heck, even storebought pizza dough with some springy ingredients on top would be insanely popular. None of these things really need much in the way of cutlery either, which saves money and plastic, or dishwashing, depending on which route you go.

Happy birthday and let us know how it turns out!

Tabbouleh, roasted peppers, asparagus with parmesan shavings, aubergine 'caviar' vegetable frittata or tortilla, a selection of salami, chorizo and other charcuterie, Greek salad, Italian bread salad. All light, tasty, and easy to make ahead.