Food

**Mutley**

Ok, so now that I have your attention, I need to use you. 

What kind of food would you like to eat at a 1pm Bridal Shower in cold, harsh February? 

There is a somewhat large guest list (30ish people.)  So while everyone will have a seat, we just cannot fit everyone at a table inside.  Thus, I am leaning towards heavy appetizers - finger sandwiches, dips, etc. 

What do you love?
What do you hate? 
What do think is just cheap? 

I am going to take on the task of making a cookie bar with all heart shaped cookies. 

Sorry if this post doesn't make sense.  I just got home from getting 8 vials of blood drawn and I am still feeling loopy. 

Ana_2985

Yep food gets my attention.

-chicken salad, tuna salad, hot roast beef sandwiches
- Any kinds of dips and bread or chips is a good idea but I don't know any recipes.  I like the spinach and artichoke, crab and cheese, buffalo chicken...
-spanakopita
-mini meatballs
-bruschetta
-parmesan crusted chicken tenders
-deviled eggs

I can't think of anything I hate.  And maybe a some of those would be too "cheap" if your having a fancier type party.  But I never say no a mini hot dog.

**Mutley**

Ok, I've done a little more research now.  

Shrimp Spread




Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties




Balsamic Bruchetta




Figs with Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Bacon




Dried Cherries, Pecans and Rosemary Brie en Croute (or some variation)




Broccoli Chicken Roll




Artichoke and Crabmeat Triangles in puff pastry
 (No picture)


Clam dip in a bread bowl
(No picture)

Drinks
Mimosas
Yeungling (bride's favorite beer, not available in CA)
White wine
Juices
Coffee
Water

paintgirl

Yum! When and where? I'm there!

I did teriyaki beef skewers for New Year's Eve. Very tasty and they could be served room temp without killing anyone.

How about goat cheese and marinara dip? Pretty self explanatory but I think I did have a recipe somewhere.

Queso? Velveeta cheese product and Rotella tomatos - YUM. Put it in a small crock pot to keep warm.

Blue cheese stuffed dates

One note on bruschetta-type stuff - they will get either soggy or hard and stale pretty quickly. They don't make it long on a buffet-style set up.

I'm there for the cookies.

katanne9

That looks delicious. Can I come over and eat at all now??? PLEASE!?!??!


My first thought was finger-Panini sandwiches. Finger sandwiches (totally lunch appropriate) and grilled, WARM for cold February months.

KD+BC

Mmmmm...I'm not hungry at all but you're making my mouth water. I love the idea of heavy apps (I'm biased though, that's what we're doing for our wedding). Also, Yeungling is one of my favorite beers too! So good!

Before I saw your ideas, I was going to suggest different varieties of warm and cold sandwiches. All of your ideas look awesome.

K2snowbunny

Stuffed mushrooms!!!!!!!
I love this receipe I got from FI's grandma.  I make it everytime we have people over.

Combine cooked/browned hot sausage with cream cheese in a bowl.  Spoon mixture into medium sized mushrooms caps.  Bake at 350F for 15-20 or until mushrooms are soft.  I usually use one roll of Jimmy Dean hot sausage to one block of cream cheese.   You can prep it ahead of time and bake before serving. 

desertsun

I would definitely try to do something warm. Mini quiche?

Also, I am glad to see some vegetarian items in your list above. It sucks to go to events like this and end up not getting enough to eat.

jeanacorina

I second desert on it being nice to include vegetarian stuffs.

I love love LOVE me some bruchetta. And stuffed mushrooms (of the veggie variety). And also tomato & cheese paninis, and then.............................. just about anything.

Ana_2985

I don't know if crab is vegetarian but the crab stuffed mushrooms are pretty good.

jeanacorina

Well, no, crab is not really a vegetable.... more of an animal.... but I am sure it's a good recipe Ana.



I've had some awesome stuffed mushrooms that had cheese and olives or something. I also seriously screwed up a stuffed mushroom recipe by marinating the mushrooms in balsamic vinegar and stuffing them with bleu cheese. DO NOT TRY THAT! It's gross and terribly salty.

I was just expressing that it's awesome that vegetarian stuff is mixed in Mutley's potential menu so that there's something good to eat if somebody in the group prefers not to eat meat.

So, yay for accommodation!

**Mutley**

My family leans to the vegetarian side, sooo...  Haha. 

We are also going to add in a vegetable display. 

I was thinking of doing the bruschetta as more of a dip, so the toast pieces do not get soggy. 

oceana919

Here's some recipes that you could try (and are easy):

Jarlsburg Dip

2 cups shredded Jarlsberg Cheese
2 cups finely diced sweet yellow onion
1 cup light mayo

Mix ingredients in mixing bowl, then pour mixture until pretty glass oven-safe serving bowl. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, or until edges of top being to brown. Serve with toasted slices of fresh baguette or tortilla chips.

Sausage Balls

1 package ground sausage (Jimmy Deans or Bob Evans is best)
1 cup Bisquick
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix ingredients well. Roll sausage balls and place in bottom of greased (using cooking spray works best) 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, occasionally opening oven and rolling balls (yes, I really did say that) around so that all sides are cooked evenly. They are finished when meatballs are browned through the center. Serve with toothpicks.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1 package cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1-2 cups red wine (merlot is best, but cab will work too)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 rosemary sprigs, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, seperated
Fresh black pepper for grinding
Fresh sea salt for grinding

Mix red wine, garlic, rosemary, and 1 tbsp olive oil in tupperware container, shake well. Add tomatoes, seal container well, and shake gently to mix. Refrigerate overnight, occasionally gently shaking container to mix ingredients. Next day, drain tomatoes in pasta strainer. Place tomatoes inside up in bottom of glass greased (olive oil spray works best) circular dish (I use a basic pie dish). Gather remaining garlic and rosemary from bottom of strainer and sprinkle over top, add fresh rosemary if you wish. Grind sea salt and black pepper over top to taste, and drizzle remaining olive oil over top of tomatoes. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes. They will be done when edges begin to char slightly, tomatoes will come out soft and sort of shriveled. Serve directly from baking dish with toothpicks.

Another favorite is bruschetta. The crab dip sounds amazing!

babybchbum

Make cocktail meatballs. They are SUPER EASY and delicious.

 You need 1 lg back of meatballs (from sam's, BJs or Costco... super walmart even sells them) 2 jars grape jelly, 4 jars chili sauce. put 1 jar jelly and 2 jars chili sauce at bottom of crockpot, them place meatballs and then rest of chili sauce and grape jelly. Put Crock  pot on med and it will melt the jelly to make a wonderful sauce.

hetshup

I always like to use the crockpot for soup. I like soup when it's cold. A nice potato or cheese soup might be nice.

Edit: I LOOOOOOVVVEEE figs right now, so I'm cursing you for putting those on there. Jerk.

oceana919

Mmmmm, smoked cheddar cheese soup sounds AMAZABALLS right now...

PaigeMcC

This all sounds wicked! I want to come to your party, Mutley!

I dunno how you feel about asparagus but I made prosciutto wrapped asparagus for a party the other weekend and it was a HIT!

Ingrediants :10 slices prosciutto, halved lengthways 20 (about 2 bunches) asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed diagonally Olive oil sprayDirections:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).  Wrap prosciutto slices around 2 or 3 asparagus spears. Arrange wrapped spears in a single layer on a medium baking sheet. (Wrap cheese of your choice on inside of prosciutto for added yummy!) Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until asparagus is tender.

**Mutley**

Sigh.  I love proscuitto.  Alas, it is on my pregnant do not eat list.  LIKE EVERYTHING F-ING ELSE I LOVE! 

A warm soup would be fabulous right now, especially smoked cheddar cheese.  Forget waiting till February.

Thanks, ladies.

MattsAnnie

I am so into the stuffed mushrooms. I always get the big ones, pick out the stems and put a spoonful of cream cheese in. (Either plain or chive). Then wrap it in either fila dough or a rolled out croissant pastry. brush with a little egg to hold it together, super good.
also along with the mimosas, try mixing pineapple juice and grenadine with the champagne! It is my favorite drink ever!