Looking for warm, hearty food to serve guests?

Question

Having a birthday party for a little boy in October, inside and out. We plan on having hot apple cider and hot cocoa, but don't know what to serve as food. Casual party with family and close friends. Any suggestions or recipes are welcome. THANK YOU!!!

Answer 1

What about making a big pot of soup, stew or beans and serving salad and bread? The birthday cake and ice cream would make a perfect dessert. All the foods are simple and inexpensive to make. Plus, it is a very traditional sort of fall meal.

Answer 2

I'd forget the salad and do what many other suggested - different soups and a variety of warm crusty breads. If your budget allows, some hot sandwiches as someone also said, like meatball, hot roast beef or pork, etc. One of the single most BEST foods I've ever had at a wedding was butternut squash soup. It was freezing that day and the soup was out of this world, filling and very warming!

Answer 3

I agree with the soups idea. Plus you could whip up a big pan of spaghetti casserole. Kids love spaghetti!

Just boil the spaghetti, and in another pot brown ground beef, then add a couple jars of your favorite sauce, combine, put into a lasagna pan, cover with cheese, and bake until the cheese is melty!

Variations could be making your own sauce with onions and garlic, maybe mushrooms. Or you could get a bag of frozen meatballs to mix in. Or just dot the top of the cheese with sliced black olives.

Answer 4

If you want to have a bonfire, depending on how old the child is, have a weenie roast. You could fix baked beans and have chips and soday. You could also fix homemade pizza depending on how many people you are having. Hamburgers and hotdogs cooked on the grill would be good too. If you have a charcoal grill, you could even have the kids make smores. They'll love that.

Answer 5

Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cups butter or margarine
2/3 cups all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (secret is to use white pepper)
4 green onions, chopped and divided
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-1/4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
8 oz sour cream

Preliminaries: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Procedure: Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork; bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Let cool. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and set aside. Discard skins (I didn't because I like some pieces in my soup!)

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and is bubbly.

Add potato pulp, salt, pepper, two tablespoons green onion, 1/2 cup bacon, and one cup cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated, and stir in sour cream. Add extra milk, if necessary, for desired consistency.

Presentation: Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese.

Answer 6

Italian wedding soup is good to have. Kids love the little meatballs in it and the tiny pasta balls. It's a nice hot soup that won't over stuff everyone, so that they can still have dessert.

Answer 7

I think that the baked potato soup idea is great. You could have a pot of beef barley soup also, so that people had a choice.

There are great recipes on allrecipes.com

Answer 8

pumpkin stew.. I do not know the exact recipe but I had it once at a fall party...You serve it in a carved out pumpkin and I think it has some cinnamon in it. ... I have also had ginger tomato chicken stew.. it was great too...

Answer 9

Hearty and healthy! ; ) Happy birthday... these meals will make sure you'll have many more birthday celebrations as a family.

Answer 10

Because it is mass catering, I would suggest big dishes of Lasagne or Macaroni Cheese.