Need Food Ideas

[deputysgurl]

I am needing food ideas. We are wanting to do finger foods, cuz we can't afford a sit down dinner. So I need ideas on what to make. If you have any please send them my way. My mom and Aunt Kelly are giong to try to make them all for me . My mom is getting involved finally.

[breezy]

I always bring these to potlucks, but 1st I have to tell you a story about them...

Alan and I were going to a party when we first started dating. It was potluck. I am in the kitchen clattering about and he yells out in typical male fashion, "watcha bringing to the potluck"

"stuffed mushrooms honey"

He stuck his head around the corner and made a "yuck!" face. I laughed and asked if he had had them before. He sheepishly said no.

I proceeded to make them and I am not overly fond of mushrooms... but they really are yummy and EASY!!!

2 packages of whole mushrooms---clean and de-stem
1 tube of breakfast sausage
1 8oz box/cube of cream cheese

fry sausage breaking into small crumbs, when sausage fully cooked turn off stove and add cream cheese... mixing as it melts/softens
Stuff into mushrooms and place on a cookie sheet or in a pan
bake at 350 for about 45 minutes

The moral is that he LOVED them, LOVES them and can't get enough of them!!!

[ljeagle]

Breezy are they good cold?

[breezy]

They are much better warm.

I thought about asking if they had a kitchen at the site, but didn't... now I am guessing that they don't??

[ljeagle]

I'm not sure if she has a kitchen I was wounder for me. They sound good but I already have so much stuff to keep warm I don't need to add another thing. I might try this for home.

[Heather]

Ask Tommy the Chef! He has done a lot of parties and his food never disappoints.

[deputysgurl]

Thanks for the ideas. I am still clueless on what everyone wuld like to eat.

[ljeagle]

My family always does those little croissants with deli meat in them. I'm not big on them but they love them. They get the Croissants from Sam's. They also do a lot of Veg. trays. I like those small wraps with cream cheese and stuff in them. Not sure what they are called.

[breezy]

I love those wraps!

They are easy to make too!
Making them myself, my favorite is cream cheese and hard salami. I also love them with smoked turkey.

Geesh, can you tell I am a major foodie!

[wynelle]

Sam's CLub croissants stuffed with Sam's CLub chicken salad or tuna salad are filling, attractive and tasty.

Sam's Club meatballs, in crockpots with barbecue sauce are no-brainers: easy to do, no muss, no fuss. Or little weiners in the crockpots.

Not to blow cold water over your plans, but how many people are you expecting to feed? What has been discussed on this forum before is the inadviseability of expecting family to be servants during the reception. Do you really want your mother missing out on the family photographs, meeting with friends and family, etc because she is heating up the eggrolls in the kitchen?

Can you possibly get local college students to heat up and serve the appetizers?

[deputysgurl]

my mom is just making them before had. Then my servers are going to heat them up before the guest get there. I am expecting around 150 at the reception. But I know not all of them will eat. So That is why we are doing finger foods.

[ljeagle]

My family love the little wieners that wynelle talked about. U can put them in the crockpot to cook and serve them right from the pot. For every small pack we put in the pot we use a cup of grape jelly and a cup of mustard. I know it don't sound good but u must try it. They are really good!

[Marrying_the_Good_Husband]

I'm doing finger foods, too. I have the luxury, though, of having the party NOT on my wedding day, so I plan on doing all the work myself. It'll be harder to pull off when you have the wedding. Right now I'm thinking things that will be substantial enough as a meal, but can still be eaten without knife and fork: ham on biscuits, filet mignon on garlic toast, chicken satay, shrimp, crudites, every type of frozen hors d'oeuvres puff pastry/quiche kind of thing I can possibly find, olive tapenades and interesting spreads, etc. I got a Martha Stewart hors d'oeuvres handbook (that has about 500 pages of recipes!!!), but I think the most I can find frozen, the better. I don't want to be exhausted cooking and running around the whole time. I plan on checking around at Price Club and Trader Joe's and some of the nicer supermarkets, like Whole Foods to see what kinds of convenience items they might offer. I do want to get a sushi tray too because I LOVE sushi. But, that might have limited appeal, so maybe not. Then again, that would require chopsticks, so that blows my no utensils plan.

[Cirig]

Shrimp cocktail or coconut shrimp
mini sandwiches
deviled eggs
scallops wraped in bacon
crab cakes
maybe a pasta?

OHHH- look here http://content2.williams-sonoma.com/...x.cfm?type=brd

[tinkerbell]

We too are doing a reception for about 150 and don't have the budget for a sit down. We are serving meat and cheese platters with rolls, veggie trays, fruit trays, and then some misc fillers we haven't decided on yet. We also have two friends of the family that are taking care of all the food stuff during the reception leaving the family worry free!

[SuzyBride]

We had about 100 guests and tons of food left over. We had:
meatballs
alfredo meatballs
chicken salad on crossants
lil smokies in BBQ sauce
crab dip with crackers
lots of other dips with crackers
lots of fruit
pigs in a blanket

I know there's more... I'll be back!

[Complicated Woman]

In addition to stuff that takes a little more work -- scallops, deviled eggs, etc -- you could have a few fresh, cold appetizer items that you basically just open and serve. You could put out prosciutto slices on a tray with melon, olives, fresh bite size mozzarella, different spreads, cheeses, crackers, maybe some nice cured meat and fresh breads...all that stuff will fill plates and tummies and is very low prep...just put it out on the table.

ETA: Cirig, great site! I think I may use that to plan the engagement party for Tom and I!

[syringa]

I make mini cream puffs and fill them with chicken salad, tuna salad, etc. The cream puffs can be made days in advance and frozen or refrigerated, then add the filling before serving. They are easy to handle and not messy if not over-filled.

[cru5h]

I think some of the ideas from
http://www.pashweddings.com/weddingf...ead.php?t=1128
were good. Not the "fine dining" stuff, but the miniatures and the shot glass ideas. You can get so creative with finger foods.

Check http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/
for fun foods that look like other things.. (example: they had lamb and lion cupcakes in their magazine this month) poke around and get inspired.

[CupieJen]

These are YUMMERS!

Mini Spinach Calzones
Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 8 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 of a 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1/2 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Dash pepper
1 10-ounce package refrigerated pizza dough
Water
1 tablespoon milk
Spaghetti sauce (optional)

Directions
1. For filling, in a medium mixing bowl stir together the spinach, cream cheese, green onion, Parmesan cheese, and pepper. Set aside.
2. Unroll pizza dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12-inch square. Using a knife, cut into twenty-five 3-inch squares. Spoon 1 rounded teaspoon of filling onto each dough square. Brush edges of each square with water. Lift a corner of each square and stretch dough over the filling to the opposite corner, making a triangle. Press edges of the dough well with fingers or a fork to seal.
3. Line a baking sheet with foil; lightly grease the foil. Arrange the calzones on the baking sheet. Prick tops of calzones with a fork. Brush milk over the calzones.
4. Bake in a 425 degree F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. If desired, serve with spaghetti sauce. Makes 25calzones.

[breezy]

OHHH those sound good. I am hungry, I really need to go eat

These are good too

1 Can crossant dough
about 8 slices of bacon
1 tub garlic cream cheese


cook bacon until crispy, let cool. Crumble bacon into cream cheese and mix well.
roll out the pizza dough (it has perferated lines creating triangles)
cut each triangle into 3 smaller triangles
slather on cream cheese bacon combo, cook until golden brown
375 about 10-15 minutes

[Indigo]

If I had the option of doing this. I would get lots of breadsticks, crackers, breads, fruits, veggies and cheeses and do a lot of spreads and dips. Some warm but mostly cold. Chololate fondue for the fruits and desserts. Tapanades for the breads, dips for the veggies, spreads like hummus and pates for the crackers. Mix and Match ECT...

I love the Martha Stewart appetizer cookbook. Tons of great ideas in there.

For the drinks pitchers of sangria would be fun.