Party food ideas... bring them on!

[Cindy B]

Ok, my husband is turning 40 in a few weeks.

I invited a few family members over, and a few friends to come and celebrate with us.

We are an informal bunch, but it would mostly be adults and a few kids...


I do want it nice but informal... lets put it this way, it has to be buffet, late October, 6 pm...

We have no special diet restrictions...

Fire the ideas out there... I am open to anything!

 

[newmousecateer]

A pan of baked mostoccoli, sloppy joes, baked beans, cole slaw, Italian beef, Italian sausage in red sauce with green peppers, potato salad, jell-0 mold(s), green salad & dressings.

A lot of this can be made ahead of time and frozen or refrigerated. Order the Italian beef from one of your favorite places to get a beef sandwich.

I will try to think of more.

 

[bigsis1970]

how about

teriyaki chicken thighs and drumsticks in the crockpot and
sweet and sour meatballs in a crockpot
baked ziti or lasagna w/ garlic bread and salad
hot wings

hope this helps michelle

 

[whirlsy]

Lasagna, garlic bread, tossed salad, cheesecake, and something sweet for kids

 

[aahmom1]

My SIL makes an awesome dip for tortilla chips. Layer cream cheese, taco sauce, then add tomatoes. It is delicious.

 

[CamColt]

I would do what I usually do for DS's bday.

Chips & dip(including my sisters awesome nacho dip)
Salad
Pasta salad
Potato salad
Coldcuts
Cheese
Rolls
Lasagna
Cake
Icecream
Cookies

 

[caitycaity]

antipasto platter, veggies with dip

and around here we'd have to serve some kind of crab dip.

i'd probably make a turkey, ham or casserole for the entree.

have fun, and happy 40th to your dh.

 

[luvdsny]

My newest favorite thing to do is to make Salsa Ranch dressing. I just use mix up some Ranch dressing, usually using the Buttermilk packet, and then mix in my favorite salsa to taste. You can dip chip in this....or......you can poor it over a Taco Salad. Yummy!

Toasted Bread and Bruschetta is always good!
Guacamole and chips.
Meat and Cheese platter.
A relish tray...with pickles, peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, etc.

Hope these help.

 

[gina2000]

Maybe a Mexican fiesta meal?

Chili

burritos or tacos

big green salad

salsa and chips

7 layer dip

cornbread

Mexican Wedding cake cookies

 

[debster812]

Some sort of soup/chowder
Sweet and sour meatballs
Fireplugs *award winning* ribs and wild rice
I have a GREAT recipe for ginger chicken bites for a nice nibble if you want that, just PM me.

 

[Meriweather]

Originally posted by gina2000
Maybe a Mexican fiesta meal?

That's what I did for DH's 40th.

Build your own tacos/burritos
Green salad
dips...salsa, layered
a decorated cake that had Happy Birthday in Spanish on it
.......and a pinata.

It was a lot of fun

 

[RUDisney]

I've recommended this before on the DIS for a baby/bridal shower, but it would work for any party.

Get a spiral sliced ham and cut it into slices. Still informal, but fancier than cold cuts. Have a cheese platter for those who want ham and cheese and serve it on croissants. I had this at a bridal shower and people still talk about it.

Now, what I haven't mentioned before, but it is a wonderfully different pasta salad is bow ties with sliced roasted red peppers, sliced black olives and mandarine oranges and pine nuts with a poppyseed dressing. I use Olde Cape Cod brand poppyseed dressing. It is delicious.

The "fancy" casual thing to do around here for a party is to serve rigatoni with vodka sauce. I am fortunate that a local deli makes the best I've ever tasted and sells a quart of it for $3.99, but one of my friends sweats some minced garlic in olive oil and adds some vodka to that until the alcohol burns off. Then she adds a jar of Ragu and some heavy cream to make it pink. She cooks this for a long time so the flavors can blend and the sauce thickens. It is actually very good, but I'd never tell my "jar sauce snob" DH how it was made.

When you setup your buffet, use bricks and/or sturdy boxes to raise some of the bowls and dishes higher than the others. Put a tablecloth over them, and you can tuck fresh or silk flowers around them. It makes for a lovely (and easy) presentation for your buffet.

 

[JerseyJanice]

For brunch, you could serve a couple of quiches.

An easy way to make them: Use Pillsbury pre-made pie crust to line 2 pie pans. Fill them each with about a cup each of a vegetable or meat and shredded cheese (e.g., bacon and swiss, spinach or broccoli and cheddar, ham and Gouda).

Beat together one and a half cups of half-half and 3 eggs (seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper). Place the pie pans on a big, preheated cookie sheet* and divide the egg/cream mixture between them.

Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes (with foil around the edge of the pie crust for the first 15 minutes) until the center is set, and all is nicely browned.

*Preheat the pan so it doesn't "curl" quickly and spill the egg mixture when it gets hot.

Also Cindy, I posted a recipe for an eggplant dip with pita chips this summer on the Recipe Board here. Let me know if you want it and can't find it. The eggplant thing was easy, different, and a huge hit at a party I threw.

 

[Cindy B]

Yum, they all sound awesome..

DH favorite meal is Mexican, with Indian up there as well...


I like the quiche idea as well.

 

[RUDisney]

If you like the Mexican ideas, a really good hot dip is to spread seasoned beef on the bottom of a glass 13X9 baking pan. Blend a container of sour cream with a jar of salsa and spread on top of the beef. You can add a layer of refried beans over the beef, if you wish. Cover the sour cream/salsa mixture with grated monterrey jack cheese and bake at 350 until it's bubbly, usually about 1/2 hour.

I've also thought about taking the lazy man's way out of this and using the El Paso seasoned and shredded chicken as the bottom layer. I think that would be good, too.