We are getting married next October at the family walnut farm. It will be an outdoor rustic event ending with a bonfire and s'mores. I have to pick the menu for heavy hors d'oeuvres and I am LOST. Suggestions would be so appreciated! What are the best hors d'oeurves you've had? Worst?
Re: Heavy hors d'oeuvres reception option, what are your best and worst hors d'oeuvres?
Anything wrapped in bacon - Seriously (I just had a lovely version that was a date stuffed with manchego cheese and mango chutney, and then wrapped in bacon and broiled).
I may be alone, but I actually like fruit and cheese skewers rather than fruit and cheese trays because inevitably there are certain varieties of each that people tend to gravitate towards and then all I'm left with when I'm at the back of the line is pepper jack cheese and honeydew melon.
The best veggie tray I've ever had was actually grilled/roasted veggies served chilled with dip. So roasted red onion, red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower, baby carrots (actual baby carrots, not the things they sell in the store as baby carrots), and a few other items. Way tastier than the usual raw broccoli/cauliflower/celery/baby carrots.
Anything in phyllo or puff pastry.
Mini open-faced reubens were a big hit at the last function I went to (basically reuben fixings on pumpernickel or rye cocktail bread and broiled so the cheese on top was golden and melty).
Worst:
I actually really dislike those little soup/appetizer shooter things. Unless you have constant waitstaff coming around to pick up the glasses, you just have your tables littered with all these little shot glasses. I do make an exception for a bigger thing in a stemless martini/cocktail glass (like a caprese salad) provided each glass has its own fork so you don't have to keep track of your silverware, as most people aren't going to have multiples of something like that.
Anything with bones (skewers are ok, but not bones).
Again, I may be alone, but I greatly dislike bruschetta. Unless it's exactly one bite, I feel like there is high probability of bruschetta topping falling off the second or third bite and being messy and I'm just not a fan. Plus, unless you're in the height of tomato season with good access to vine-ripened, raw tomatoes are just not that appealing or flavorful.