Need some food/drink ideas for a simple jewelry party!??!
Need some food/drink ideas for a simple jewelry party!??
Hi you guys! I need some help. I'm hosting a jewelry party on Tuesday at my home and I'm having about 25 or 30 people over. I can't find any websites with a recipe that I'm into. I want fun finger foods, and a **good** punch-type drink... nothing that could be classified as "fruit punch" (the red stuff that you could easily buy in the store). Your help is much appreciated!
Answers:
Some finger foods that I use are, (Ham roll-ups) Mix Cream cheese and cut up green onions. Spread on a flour tortilla
put sliced ham on and roll up and, cut into little rolls. (Rotel)
fry ground beef seasoned w/seasoned salt.In crock pot add
cooked meat, Caned rotel(in store by canned tomatoes) and
Velveeta. mix heat to melt. Eat with tortilla chips. Sorry no Punches.
Get a platter of wraps, you can usually get them at Sams Club, Cosco or a store like that, then use ranch dressing and mix some salsa in for dipping. For a beverage, you can make a simple punch with sherbet icecream and 7 up, it is awesome!!
try food and wine magazine's website
check the food network website.
Finger sandwiches made from tuna, chicken, and ham salads are always good. Add a little italian dressing to chicken salad-it's killer. OR hollow out tomatos and fill with salad.
A veggie platter with dip is always good.
Taco dip. I'm sure someone on here has a good recipe.
Crockpot meatballs. Buy frozen cocktail meatballs and heat in crock pot on high for four hours with spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, or cream of mushroom soup with a few dashes of worcestershire.
For the punch, assuming your of legal drinking age, would be a sangria (adult fruit punch). For foods, depending on how upscale the jewlery and guests are I would try maybe for the younger group just do a party platter of chicken wings and put some sauces to offer in a nice setting for the more upscale group I would suggest shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms ( I like to do feta stuffed, but it's your preference) and I do boxed appetizers from the frozen food section of Walmart. I also prepare many all around platters, cheese and sausage, veggie tray and a dip of some kind. I prefer a layered mexican dip. Email for the recipe.
Checkout http://www.tomsaaristo.com for hors d'oeuvres.
Here's a great So Co Punch that is really **good**
1 large can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 can frozen banana daiquiri mix
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 liter ginger ale
1 5th bottle whiskey, or to taste
Lemonade Ice Ring, recipe follows
In a large punch bowl, combine orange juice concentrate, banana daiquiri mix and lemon juice. Stir to blend. Slowly add ginger ale. Remove excess foam with a spoon and stir in Southern Comfort. Add lemonade ice ring.
Lemonade Ice Ring:
2 lemons, sliced round
1 orange, sliced round
2 limes, sliced round
1 small jar maraschino cherries
1 quart lemonade
1 sprig mint, optional
In a round mold, place some sliced lemons, oranges and lime rings in the bottom. Place cherries in the center of the orange rings. Slowly add lemonade just to cover. Freeze. Remove mold from freezer and add more fruit and mint leaves. Slowly fill with lemonade and freeze again. Place frozen ice ring in punch.
Yield: 1 ice ring
Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus freezing time
Try some Flirtini Cocktail:
You need:
7 fresh blueberries
Crushed ice (1 cup)
40ml vodka
20ml cointreau
20ml cranberry juice
A fresh lime
30ml of pineapple juice
70ml of champagne
Serving suggestions:
Crush the blueberries and then pour in crushed ice and crush together further. Then pour all ingredients (except champagne) into a cocktail shaker and shake. Add champagne then pour into a cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with fruit of choice.
Thai Spring Rolls (my fave finger food of all!)
You'll need:-
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-size piece galangal (or ginger), grated
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced (omit altogether if you prefer very mild springrolls)
1/2 cup shredded or finely chopped cabbage
4-6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1/2 cup tofu, cut into matchstick-like pieces (Optional if non-vegetarian: add 1/2 cup baby shrimp instead)
approx. 2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying, plus more for deep-frying
1 pkg. small spring roll wrappers
STIR-FRYING SAUCE:
2 Tbsp. regular soy sauce
2 Tbsp. fish sauce (if vegetarian, use vegetarian oyster sauce)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. sugar
TO SERVE:
Thai chilli sauce
OR TO MAKE YOUR OWN DIPPING SAUCE:
Mix 1/3 cup plum sauce with 2 Tbsp. soy sauce and 1 Tbsp. fish sauce (or vegetarian fish sauce). Add chilli if desired.
METHOD:-
1) Place 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium to high heat. Add garlic, galangal (or ginger), shallots, and chilli. Stir-fry until fragrant (about 1 minute). Stir-frying Tip: Add a little water to the wok/pan when it gets too dry instead of more oil.
2) Add cabbage, mushrooms, and tofu (or shrimp). As you stir-fry, add the sauce. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes, until vegetables have softened.
3) Add bean sprouts, tossing to mix in. Remove from heat.
4) Do a taste test for salt, adding 1 Tbsp. more fish sauce if not salty enough.
5) To assemble rolls, place a spring roll wrapper on a clean working surface. Add one heaping Tbsp. of the filling on the wrapper (spread it lengthwise along the spring roll wrapper near the end closest to you). Sprinkle some of the fresh coriander and basil over the filling.
6) Fold the left and right sides of wrapper over filling, then lift up the end nearest you and tuck overtop. Roll to the other end. Secure the roll by dipping your fingers in some water and wetting the end, "pasting" it shut.
7) To fry spring rolls, place some oil (about 1 inch deep) in a wok or deep-sided frying pan over medium-high heat. When bubbles rise from the bottom of the pan, the oil should be hot enough. Using tongs, place spring rolls in oil, allowing them to fry about 1 minute on each side.
8) Spring rolls are done when they turn golden-brown. Place on paper towels (or a clean dish towel) to absorb the excess oil.
9) Serve spring rolls while still hot with Thai chilli sauce, or your own dipping sauce (recipe above).
Hope I helped and hope you have fun too!
I had tapas and sangria for my jewelry party and the food was a huge hit.
Appetizers I had:
bacon wrapped dates
paella salad
rosemary cashews (Ina Garten's recipe)
spicy cajun shrimp (Paula Deen's recipe)
chorizo bites with green sauce
goat cheese and sundried tomato dip with pita chips (Charlie Trotter's recipe)
red sangria
and then some chocolate brownies and pastries
You could find recipes for these or something similiar on the internet. It was all fun finger foods that people munched on throught the party.
Make the sherbet punch.Frozen can of pineapple juice,lemon-lime soda,pineapple sherbet.Just pour the soda over the sherbet and juice,the juice keeps it cold.You can spike it up with some Parrots Bay Rum.Then I would do chips and dips,cheeses(chunked and pretzel sticks to grab them)veggie tray with ranch dressing,Crackers spread with a variety of cream cheese spreads,a fruit tray,and put out a lot of cookies, they are easy to handle and easy on the budget.Have a great party.Hope this helps.....
I may be being presumptious, but I am assuming that you have to work on Tuesday. If that is the case I would suggest that you take a lot of help from the supermarket and make things ahead that you can. I tend to do this with dips! A dip can many anything taste a little bit better.
A veggie tray always goes over well. Buy baby carrots, already cut celery, grape tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower flourettes. That way you only have to cut the cucumber. You could even decide not to have this. For the dip you can buy it or make it ahead. A really great recipe for dip is:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
3 shallots
1 head of garlic
Cut the garlic in half width wide. Sprinkly with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in tin foil for about 45 minutes on 350. Peel and roast the shallots in olive oil, salt and pepper for about 30 minutes on 350. The garlic should just squeeze right out of each clove. Mash the garlic and shallots up together. I like to do it in a food processor. Mix it with the mayo and sour cream. This will last in the fridge for about 5 days.
Most people like seafood. Buy a few pounds of shrimp and season with chinese 5 spice. Broil or grill for about 5 minutes. They don't take long. The dip for this is similar to the one they have a Benihana in NY.
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
Mix the onion, ginger and lemon juice in the food processor or blender until it is somewhat smooth. Then add the vinegar and soy sauce. Mix it until it comes together.
Asian Lettuce Wraps. There are a lot of recipes on the internet. Pick one that suits you. I like those with the chinese bbq sauce in them. Make sure that you buy the peanut sauce. It is a pain to make and it rarely stay together.
Hamburger skewers
A few days before you can mix the burgers and place them on a cookie pan. You can use whatever burger recipe you like. I like to add sauteed onions and peppers cooled to my ground beef, worchestire sauce, and seasoning salt. Bake the burgers the day of on 425 for about 5 minutes a side. Make sure you let them sit on the pan for about 5 minutes before you skewer them. Put them on a skewer with sliced bread, a small piece of lettuce, and a small slice of tomato. You can serve this with traditional ketchup or make your own dip.
1/2 c. mayonnaise
3/4 c. ketchup
2 - 3 finely diced dill pickles
1/3 c. finely diced onion
If you're feeling particularly adventourous you can place the skewers in decorated foam from the craft or florist store. That way they stand up!
I also would suggest mixed salads with crackers or bread. Tuna salad, egg salad and chicken salad all go over well. It's just important to make the recipes really well. For example make sure the tuna salad has more than just tuna. Add olives, pickle relish, onions to make it yummier. With the egg salad make sure you add a little bit of mustard, onions, and celery. With the chicken salad you can go anywhere from adding grapes to cornichones. Just pick some recipes that you find interesting. These can all be made in advance and can be served with lettuce leaves as well for our low carb friends!
My final idea is to cut cucumber, spread a little alouette or any herbed soft cheese on it and a small piece of smoked salmon. I don't like them, but they always go quick.
Buy some hummus and spice up your own baked pita. There are a lot of recipes for this on the internet as well. Just choose one you think your guests would like. Also, buy Knorr vegetable soup mix. There is a spinach dip recipe on the back that always goes over extremely well. Serve with a nice sourdough bread.
As for a "punch" I would make a sangria. There are a ton of recipes on the net. You know people who drink spend more money. If you want a more traditional punch go to the international food aisle buy four cans of different types of tropical juices, mix it with four litres of ginger ale. Make an ice ring out of canned tripical fruit mix. I believe Del Monte makes this. Freeze it in a bundt pan. The day of mix about 1/2 cup (or 2 limes) fresh lime juice and a handful of mint in a blender. Mix that with the juice - soda mixture and cool with your fruit ring. You can't make the lime mint mixture early, it gets brown. Belive me : )
chips and dip, maybe even finger foods cheese and crackers and maybe a tray of mini sandwiches.
Red fruit punch with gingle ale