I'm having 10 friends over for Xmas drinks.?

Question

Although I don't want cook a large meal - does anyone have any suggestions for easy to prepare food, that can be served buffet/canape style that will help to soak up the alcohol being drunk!
Was thinking about going retro with sausages on sticks/vol-au-vents/cheese and pineapple etc.... but would quite look a modern take on this.

Answer 1

Go shopping at Iceland! They have an amazing amount of finger foods to cater for all tastes. And it's not expensive!!

Answer 2

Many supermarkets including Tesco, M&S and Waitrose sell pre-prepared bite size snacks in boxes of 12, 18 or 24. You can get either hot snacks (eg. mini-pizzas; brie and redcurrant pastry parcels - they take about 10 minutes to heat up a pack) or cold ones (eg. ham and cheese wheels). I usually get a few of each and then some bigs bags of crisps, some carrot, celery and cucumber sticks, and some dips. I put the cold stuff out before guests arrive but then put a tray or two of the hot snacks in the oven every half hour or so and then offer round a tray of hot snacks (and a pile of paper serviettes!). And the smell of hot food cooking all evening is lovely!
PS If the 'fresh' snacks range is a bit pricey, look in the freezer section. They are mostly just as good and can be quite a bit cheaper.

Answer 3

Cheese, crackers, chips, and lil' smokies in bbq sauce have always been party favorites where good alcohol is involved. Having some of the sausages cold and some hot is also a good way to mix it up. You could also try bbq meatballs, also served warm and cold. Just avoid open flame warmers and sharp utensils since you can never be sure how drunk guests will handle themselves. Don't use toothpicks or skewers unless it specifically fits in to your style. The more intoxicated you become, the more likely you are to choke on these because of splinters. All you have to do is make everything easy to pick up with the fingers and put them out in small portions on serving plates (small bowels and pie saucers work well). Make sure everything is laid out on a nonskid cloth so nothing slides off of the table. Otherwise all you have to do is pick a theme and some contrasting colors to make the food look more presentable. I like basic black serving dishes for cheese, crackers, and most finger foods; silver or stainless steel works well for most dark meats like sausages. Using matching serving plates is easy if you just keep to a set color scheme. Hope your party goes well!

Answer 4

Suggest you buy some good bread - or some of those part baked rolls so the house will smell all warm and cosy!

Put out bread, a big cheese board with some fresh figs, passion fruit and dried apricots, some cooked meats on a platter and a seafood platter. Bowls of salad, olives, crisps etc
Sausages - drizzle with maple syrup and red wine vinegar then put in oven - serve on sticks.
Get cherry toms and diced feta, put a tom and a lump of feta on a stick - garnish with a basil leaf.
Get some strawberries, put on the end of a long skewer and dip in chocolate
Pate - buy some from shop, then take out of packet, mash in bowl with some butter, cream, brandy fresh thyme and pepper - put into a new bowl and call it home made.

Answer 5

Could be cold so a nice bowl of homemade soup when they arrive...have some baked potatoes in the oven - various fillings can be part of your buffet selection so they can also be eaten on their own. This way you have no cooking to do on the night but substantial dishes that will really soak up the booze. Don't forget to have lots of soft drinks available so people can alternate them with the alcohol.

Answer 6

How about fondue? Cheese fondue is fantastic with little sausages and breads, and will soak up alcohol beautifully. And your pineapple would be yummy in some chocolate fondue, along with some poundcake cubes and strawberries. And it has that retro feel without you having to thread a million sausages onto sticks!

Good luck with your party!

Answer 7

I really like your retro idea, though it sounds a little time consuming, no? You might want to try something really simple like store bought hummous or spinach dip with warmed pita bread cut into little triangles.

Cut up a baguette into med-thick slices, and mix together mayo, parmasen cheese, garlic, thinly sliced onions, paprika, and butter, and spread the mixture on baguette slices, and heat in oven until the spread is nice and bubbley. This recipe is to die for, sounds very fattening but it tastes divine.

Set out a tray of fancy olives like the kinds stuffed with almonds or garlic. Take a regular frozen thin crust pizza (California Pizza Kitchen and Red Baron 3 Cheese is surprisingly good), bake as usual but cut into dainty peices that you can just pop in your mouth.

For dessert, buy a pound cake, slice it a little thicker than a bread slice, place in oven and warm until it gets 'toasted' like regular bread would. Top the toasted poundcake with your favorite icecream and fresh berries.

HTH!!

Answer 8

Hi. I hope your party goes well. I tried the retro thing with some people recently..... hmmm... quite a lot left particularly cheddar and pineapple cubes. Might just be my friends. The sausages went very well though, I basted them with a honey and sesame seed sticky covering.

Answer 9

You can do a cob loaf.They are yummy and not much washing up after.Its just a big round loaf of bread(cob loaf) hollowed out and filled with a cooked mixture dip of philidelphia cheese/cream/and chedder and onion bacon chives.The top of the loaf is then used as dip crusts and as this runs out the guests can tear off the sides piece by piece using that as dip crusts...........there are a few variations of this but its sooooooo yummy

Answer 10

Lots of great ideas and I really like your retro idea also. Try and keep it simple like make aheads so you just pop them in the oven. Or cold apps. Here is a great website with tons of ideas for you.
http://www.foodandwine.com/