Having a baby shower and going to make?!
Having a baby shower and going to make?
finger sandwiches. Any ideas for inexpensive finger sandwiches? Money is an unfortunate issue. Or any other ideas? Having it outside at a park and we're not "cooking out." About 30 people so even inexpensive is kind of costly but really want it to turn out nice somehow.
Answers:
Go w/ store brand bread and thin sliced meat/cheese. Remove crusts, assemble the sandwiches, then cut into thirds.
Also, try other fillings:
Room temp cream cheese, blended w/ a couple Tbls mayo, then add a couple of the following:
Savory - bacon bits, diced green onions, green or black olives, deviled ham spread
Sweet - crushed pineapple, diced maraschino cherries, diced dried fruit
Spread on bread, cut into thirds.
Then, take the crusts, toss w/ melted butter and powdered ranch dressing. Toast in oven until crunchy. Serve w/ jar marinara (red) sauce for dipping.
I threw a baby shower for my best friend a few weeks ago and served several finger sandwiches. Pimiento cheese sandwiches & egg salad sandwiches were a hit. Also, I made cucumber ones. All you do is take pumpernickel bread, spread cream cheese on it, and then lay a cucumber slice on top. You'll want to cut the bread in square shapes without the crust so that it's just a bit bigger than the cucumber slice laid on it.
cream cheese and thinly sliced cucumber
mini grilled cheese sammies cut into finger food bits
sliced grilled veggies drizzled with a few drops of olive oil, or with some hummus
olive tapenade
pate, any kind
PB&J - it's kids food, but hey, it's tasty!
flat bread roll-ups with just about anything except for eggs and mayo, of course, since this will take place outside - you can use tortilla, pita, lavash, yum
hope this helps
This site has some cute cheap favors:
http://stores.ebay.com/designed-2b-sweet...
I do finger sandwiches a lot at showers and one of my favorite tips is to go to the bakery section of your grocery store and choose unsliced loaves. At the bakery counter you can request to have it sliced, and when you do, ask that it be sliced extra thin, for tea sandwiches. It should come out a bit thinner than traditional "sandwich" sliced bread, and you'll be stretching your food dollars. Just be sure to keep the trays covered in plastic wrap, or the bread can dry out and curl up on you.
Also, a good way to differentiate between different types of sandwiches, is to cut them in different shapes (some rectangles, some square, some triangle, etc.). It also makes the platters look more interesting.
Good luck and have fun!
Lots of good ideas here, but no one suggested you go to a bread outlet such as for Wonder Bread or other. You can buy bread cheaper there. Often 2 loaves for the price of 1 in regular store.
Buy white, wheat, rye and various breads or small rolls. You can use any of the yummy fillings offered by the others here.
Trim crusts off the bread, stack a couple of pieces of bread with various fillings several high, then cut into thirds. (nice to do one layer white, one wheat, and top with white with two different colored fillings - and some wheat, white, wheat) Looks nice. You can add pesto to mayo for a green spread, cheese spread for orange and plain or flavored mayo for white. Remember that if eating outside you must keep things well chilled.
You can also use cookie cutters to cut heart shapes out of the bread and meats used. Use pretty platters with doilies on them to make things look more festive. Decorate the platters of sandwiches with leafy lettece or parsley and add grape or cherry tomatoes scattered between stack of sandwiches or mushrooms. ( nice thing to do with mushrooms is to gently peel off the top skin and with a small knife cut swirl or similar on top of mushroom)
Buy some frilled toothpicks and you can add these to the three layer sandwiches to make them look fancier.
You don't have to spend a lot to make a cute party. Platters of the sandwiches, maybe someone can make up a veggie tray with dips, and some yummy finger desserts. Check out Target or similar places for ideas on cheapy decorations or favors.
How about something like these to add to sandwich platter? You can make ahead a even freeze them.
Sausage Cheese Balls
A favorite appetizer , sausage is combined with biscuit mix and cheese.
1 pound bulk ground sausage (mild or hot)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
3 cups biscuit mix
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon melted butter
PREPARATION:
In a skillet, brown the sausage with celery and onion; drain well. Combine sausage mixture with baking mix, egg, cheese, and butter. Mix well; form into balls about 1 inch in size. Bake in a preheated 350° oven on lightly greased or sprayed baking sheets for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes about 36 1-inch appetizers.
Check out this site: http://babyshowers.info/sandwiches.htm...
Have fun and congratulations to the soon to be Mom!
I'd hit the nearest Pepperidge Farm outlet for deals on the bread.
For the toppings, keep it simple.
Thin sliced cucumber with cream cheese on thin Italian or French bread
Tuna salad open face on cocktail rye (2 cans will make enough for more than 30 people)
Fake crab with a dab of cocktail sauce on toasted Italian bread with a little cream cheese (again open faced)
Bruschetta....nothing more than French bread sliced on the diagonal, rubbed with a little garlic and some olive oil and toasted on both sides under the broiler (easily done a day or 2 early...even tossed in the freezer a week before and thawed in the oven that morning). Top with chopped Italian tomatoes and basil.
Win Schuler Bar Scheeze on rye
Even something as utterly simple as cream cheese and cilantro on white bread would be wonderful. You could add a little food coloring to cream cheese to make it colorful and add some onion powder or garlic powder if you'd like.
Here are a whole bunch of recipes for finger sandwiches. I am partial to the ones made simply with cucumbers. They are very tasty and inexpensive.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,fi...