Find solution
What is a good 80s themed party food?

Ideas for Thanksgiving-themed cocktail party food?

  • I am hosting a Thanksgiving cocktail/housewarming party on Wednesday evening, and I need ideas for festive, on-theme recipes that can stand up to sitting out for a few hours while people graze. This is the fourth annual "Family-Free Thanksgiving" party, but I usually do the standard spread of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, casseroles, etc. In past years, it's been a pretty traditional dinner-party setup, with 12-15 guests eating at the table. For many reasons, I decided to expand the guest list this year and make it a more informal, open-house-type party. However, as the RSVPs have started to roll in, I'm realizing that my normal menu isn't great for this type of party. Therefore, I'm looking for Thanksgiving-inspired finger food that can either be served cold or won't suffer too much from sitting out on the buffet for a few hours. Alternatively, ideas for keeping food warm while it sits --- I did get a couple of those disposable buffet trays with the sterno underneath, but I've never used those before and I'm kind of unsure about them. Warm or cold, I would like the food to be minimally messy to eat off a paper plate that you're carrying around. I'm a relatively experienced cook with a full kitchen, a range hood with warming lights, an embarrassing amount of cooking equipment including a large crock pot, and all of next week off work, so not too many constraints other than the fact that I can't think of anything to cook. Specific recipes and general ideas both welcome. Make-ahead recipes a plus.

  • Answer:

    I think this one does require baking at the last minute or you'll loose the crispyness of the edges, but this http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/11/crispy-sweet-potato-roast/ is a much prettier composition of a sweet potato dish I've been making for years, and it is perfect for grazing. This http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/12/creamy-brussels-sprouts-mushroom-lasagna-food-lab-recipe.html looks amazing, and I think would work fine in bite-size bits at room temperature or in the chafing dish. I think your best bang for crock pot buck is mashed potatoes (http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-mashed-potatoes-in-the-slow-cooker-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-212550 is made entirely in the crock, no boiling required), as long as you're going to have plates and forks. You can sink a pint glass or similar vessel into the finished potatoes and put warm gravy in it, and it'll keep warm as well.

slenderloris at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

These http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sugared-cranberries-0 are a tasty, sweet little snack you can prepare ahead of time (and if you save the liquid you basically have a cranberry simple syrup, it's great in cocktails). Cheap to make and regular sugar works fine.

troika

Also these http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/11/pull-apart-thanksgiving-stuffing-roll-bread-recipe.html and/or the regular http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/09/easy-pull-apart-pepperoni-garlic-bread-recipe.html. I recommend making several batches, baking them well ahead in foil pie pans but maybe stopping 3-4 minutes shy so they're not really brown yet, and freezing them in the pie pan. Just pull them to thaw the night before, pop them in the oven while it's warm for something else, and then take them out of the pie pan and serve on a plate. You can put them in the oven frozen, but you may want to wrap in foil so they don't burn, until the last couple of minutes. You might plan to make significantly more than you think you need. If they don't get used, you will have instant potluck mojo (or, you know, buns for Leftovers Sliders) in your freezer.

Lyn Never

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/stuffing-waffle-stuff-puppies-stuffins-thanksgiving.html - waffles, muffins, hush puppies. All would be good finger food. Haven't tried it before, but I love charcuterie and I bet you could easily confit a turkey leg and then shred the meat and either serve as-is or turn it into a rillette. For potatoes... little tartlet cups filled with mash and cheese? The caterer for our wedding made these stuffed, roasted baby potatoes that were pretty killer (cut potatoes in half, scoop out a little hole, add filling, roast).

backseatpilot

Beth's Goat Cheese Tartelettes (Easy Thanksgiving…: http://youtube/G2CkcVS8fWE

Fairchild

Potato kabob with yukon and sweet potatoes Brussels sprouts wrapped in (bacon/ham) on a skewer Sugared cranberries, perhaps http://www.tastespotting.com/detail/145812/Sugared-Cranberry-and-Brie-Bites? If you make http://www.thekitchn.com/technique-makin-18316 you can put all sorts of things in them - mashed potatoes, sweet potato with a mini marshmallow, diced green beans and mushroom sauce with an onion on top, pumpkin pie, pumpkin mousse. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/885634/mini-turkey-and-cranberry-pies

aimedwander

Bacon-wrapped brussels sprouts on toothpicks Mini turkey pot pies Potato leek soup shooters Stuffing bites (bake stuffing in mini muffin tins) Caramelized butternut squash bites or butternut squash and sage flatbread Cranberry compote w/ goat cheese crostini Pie bites (use puff pastry shells or pie crust in mini muffin tins; make pie filling as usual) In the crock pot I'd do mulled cider or wine. Many of these will need to be warm-ish. I like to have my baking sheets ready to go and then stagger pulling things out of the oven every 20 mins or so. You can also have some stuff cool-ish, but put something like hot gravy in a crock pot (make sure you supply bowls): e.g., cold/cool stuffing bite, dip in hot gravy = warm stuffing and gravy bite.

melissasaurus

A crockpot of turkey cocktail meatballs but made with cranberry sauce instead of grape jelly.

gatorae

JackBurden

Puff pastry tarte works well as party food. For a thanksgiving theme, maybe thinly sliced sweet potato and carmelized onion? Bit of crumbled goat cheese and thyme?

Diablevert

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.