Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Ideas needed

This Saturday we are hosting a Housewarming/Birthday(mine)/Anniversary party at our new house. We should have a pretty decent turnout and I'm excited for everyone to see the house. We went to Costco this past weekend to stock up on beer and meat, since we plan to use the new grill and other odds and ends.

I really want to make some little finger food/appetizers to munch on but am having a hard time coming up with any ideas and I have no motivation to scour through cookbooks and websites. So I'm wondering if anyone has any quick, easy recipes for some good appetizers for around 20 people or so. Or if you have any links to some recipes I'll take that too.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Dude... totes have to make my mexican layer dip. Always goes over well.

layer in this order:
Fritos bean dip
guacamole
1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream with 1/2 packet of taco seasoning mix
cheese
salsa
lettuce
tomato
olives (if you want tem)
sprinkle more cheese on top
chill for one hour, serve with tortilla chips.

carrie1 said...

I have no idea what these are called, but my Mom makes them at every party.

Flour Tortillas

cream cheese (softened)

jar of salsa (add more or less)

mix together the salsa and cream cheese

spread over the tortillas and roll them up

cut into bit size pieces.

Lexilooo said...

deviled eggs!

Kristen said...

I have done jalapeno poppers a few times:

Jalapenos halved and seeds removed (wear gloves for this, trust me I learned the hard way)

put a little cream chesse in the middle

Wrap with 1/2 slice of bacon, and secure with a tooth pick.

cook at 350 for 10 or so minutes (until bacon is cooked, I usually just keep an eye on it)

Serve :-)

VERY EASY and they always go over well!

Heather said...

Bruschetta is super easy and a good vegetarian choice.

Robbie said...

Here is one of my favorite party recipes. Prep takes a little bit of time, but it is so worth it!

Get a round Hawaiian Bread bowl. Cut out a one inch top from the center, set aside. Pull the bread out of the bread bowl, being careful to not have holes in the sides or bottom. Set bread aside. In a medium mixing bowl, mix: One 8 oz container sour cream, one brick cream cheese (softened), one 2 cup bag of shredded cheddar cheese, one jar of dried beef cut up, and worcestershire sauce to taste. Mix well and pour into bread bowl. Replace top that you cut out, and wrap the whole thing in foil. Set the oven to 425 and bake for 90 minutes. Serve with crackers, and you can also pull apart the bread you pulled out into strips and toast in the oven for dipping.

Robbie said...

Here is another one: I call this Crack Dip.

Brown and drain a pound of sausage. I like the mild or maple kind, my friend likes the hot. Let sausage cool, then crumble it into a microwave safe bowl. Add a softened brick of cream cheese and a can of Ro-tel. Again, I like the mild ro-tel, my friend likes the hot. Put the bowl in the microwave and set it for 3 minutes. Stir- repeat until it gets all melted and gooey and mixed up. Usually takes about 2 sets of 3 minutes and stirring. Serve with fritos :) You might want to buy extra ingredients for this, because it will be gone in just a few seconds :)

Robbie said...

And one more- Can you tell I love party planning?? :)

Get a frozen container of Sister Schubert's rolls. Don't thaw. Take them out of the container and cut the WHOLE thing in half lengthwise- so you have a big top and big bottom, kind of like a big bun. In a bowl, mix dijon mustard, poppyseed dressing, worcestershire sauce to taste, and 1/2 a block of softened cream cheese. Spread onto both sides of the rolls. Get some deli sliced ham, tear into strips, and place on one side of the rolls. Cover generously with shredded cheddar cheese. Put the top on the rolls, and place them back in to the foil pans, and bake in the oven at 375 for about 15-20 minutes, or until it's all gooey and cheesy and melty. You can also use turkey instead of ham.

Robbie said...

Here's an easy dessert one. Turns out great if you do it exactly like this:

Get a disposable foil baking pan, with a lid. Layer the bottom of it with Ice cream sandwiches. One box should do, and you might have to break some in half to completely cover the bottom. Its cool- won't matter later on. Cover the sandwiches with Cool whip, and sprinkle with Heath Topping. The kind from the Baking Aisle. Not brickle, or just chips, but the real heath kind.
Place in the freezer until you are ready to serve it. Just slice it like you would a cake, and the most important step is Do NOT THAW. If you want to add candles or anything to it, then freeze for about 8 minutes, and then add the candles, and put back in the freezer until you are ready to serve it.

Robbie said...

Just thought of this one:

Get a foil baking pan. Spread two blocks of cream cheese across the bottom and top with shredded cheese. Add a layer of chili- I like homemade chili or chili without beans, but whatever kind of chili you like will work. Add another layer of shredded cheese, and then a layer of Ro-tel or chopped tomatoes. Take a half of a brick of cream cheese, and mix it with Rotel and shredded cheese, and spread that on top. Bake at 350 in the oven for about 20 min, or until it's bubbly. Serve with Fritos and watch it disappear.

princessapr said...

Well, depends if you want hot or cold and how many people you want to feed. My crab dip feeds a lot, but crab is pricey so I usually only save that for family get-togethers. Sausage dip is a little cheaper and super yummy, but it's only really tasty hot. I'm a big fan of the guacamole, hummus, bruschetta. They all feed many and can stay at room temperature for a good amount of time (though guacamole goes brown after awhile).

I've made stuffed tomatoes before.

For a cheater's fix, Trade Joe's has a lot of frozen appetizers you bake as well as tons of cheeses and unique little bites for a reasonable amount of money.

We're under the same pressure for a Kentucky Derby party this weekend, but we're serving a lot of alcohol and are trying to think of a cheap way to serve the masses food. Do let us know the final menu!

Meg said...

I make a rocking spinach dip that everyone raves about. It is actually on the back of the Nora's Vegetable soup (dry) mix. It is so yummy, so easy and I serve it in a pumpernickel bread bowl--dang, now I want some!