This is the recipe I have made in years past. Very good, easy, doubles easily.

Hot Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken, chopped
1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts
celery salt, to taste
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 ounces chopped pimiento, drained
salt and pepper, to taste
1 small can French fried onion rings

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients except French fried onion rings; put in shallow greased baking dish. Cover with onion rings and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Serves 4.

note: sometimes I put crunchy chow mein noodles on the top toward the end of the baking time, in place of the onion rings.

Teresa, Thanks for the recipe. It sounds yummy. I would like to test a couple different ones before the shower.

Any other ideas for shower food? Has anyone been to a shower lately that the food was fantastic?

When I think of chicken and warm/hot, salad really doesn't come to mind.
Are you thinking along the lines of something with lots of veggies?

Here is one from my aunt that is a casserole, I have had/made it for parties such as showers and it works well.

Alpine Chicken Casserole

3 c cooked, diced chicken
2 c chopped celery
3 c plain croutons
3/4c mayonnaise
1/4 c finely chopped onion
3/4 c milk
8oz grated white cheese (jack, mozzarella or swiss)
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Transfer to casserole dish and bake 35-40 minutes at 350F

My aunt's note: I prefer jack cheese in this. For extra tang, Miracle Whip can be subbed for the mayo.

Well I just posted this soup recipe on another thread....but I haves erved it for bridal luncheons and showers as a starter...in a stemmed glass, garnishes with a slice of cucumber twisted like a slice of lemon. Then a chicken salad with a melon slice and a few strawberries on the plate and a muffin or a roll.
Dessert is usually a mini wedding cake...unless it's a baby shower!
Soup,chilled cucumber
I call this Bridal Luncheon Cucumber Soup, because I have served it at several bridal luncheons. The card says it's from "Cooking Across the South" a cookbook of my daughter's.
2 large cucumbers
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tsp dry dill weed
1 cup lemon juice
2 8 oz cartons of sour cream (to save calories, you can sub 1 carton of plain yogurt for one of the cartons of sour cream.)
2 cups half and half (and also to save calories you can sub one cup whole m ilk for one of the cups of cream)
And milk to make it thin enough
Chopped chives and cucumber slices for garnish
Peel and seed the cucumber and puree in a blender.
Pour in the sour cream and 1/2 and 1/2 and mix well....add milk as needed to thin if desired.
Chill and serve garnished with chives and cuke slices.

And here are 2 chicken salad reciepes
June Cox's Chicken Salad supreme
4 cups cut up cooked chicken
1 can water chesnuts ( doesn't say what size)
1 lb green grapes
1 c sliced celery
1 1/2 cups toasted almonds ( think I would use the slivered ones)
1 1/2 cups mayo ( I know June always used Hellmans)
1/2 tsp curry powder ( June was careful not to add too much! LOL!)
1 T soy sauce
1 # ( I don't know what that means!) can pinepple chunks drained ( 8 oz can)

Chicken salad coronation
The recipe was invented by Constance Spry and served at the coronation luncheon of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. I first tasted this dish at a catered dinner party in a private home one Christmas and as it was so good knew I had to find the recipe and try it myself.
Here's the link to the BBC website with the British version of the recipe using metric measure and amounts for 8 servings.
Below I've adjusted the quantities for four servings:
Coronation Chicken - Serves 4
2 1/2 lbs chicken (I use skinless breast) diced (1.150 kg)
1 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 TBS curry paste (or 1 TBS curry powder)
1/2 TBS tomato purée
1/4 cup (50 ml or 2 oz) red wine
1/2 bay leaf
2 TBS lemon juice
2 finely chopped apricot halves
1/2 cup mayonnaise (1/4 pint or 150 ml)
1/4 cup whipping cream (2 oz or 50 ml)
salt & pepper
watercress to garnish
1. Place the skinless, diced chicken on a grill pan or oven broiler tray and grill until cooked.
2. Heat the oil in a small saucepan, add the onion and cook until softened, about three minutes.
3. Add the curry paste or powder, tomato purée, wine, bay leaf and lemon juice.
4. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until well reduced.
5. Strain and leave to cool.
6. Purée the chopped apricot halves in a blender or food processor or with a sieve.
7. Beat the cooled sauce into the mayonnaise with the apricot purée.
8. Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold into the mixture.
9. Season, adding a little more lemon juice if necessary.
10.Fold in the chicken pieces, garnish with watercress and serve

Just another idea. If a cold chicken salad would be okay, this one is fabulous!

Chicken Salad
Ina Garten (posted 8/09 by Annova)

2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (1-1/2 lbs)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup walnut halves
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves, divided
1 cup green grapes, cut in 1/2
Lettuce leaves, for serving
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool.

When the chicken is cool, remove meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Cut the chicken into a 3/4" dice.

Meanwhile, place the pecans and walnuts on a separate sheet pan and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.

For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, 2 teaspoons* salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Fold in half the chopped tarragon leaves.

Place the diced chicken in a bowl, add the pecans, walnuts and grapes. Pour the dressing over the chicken and toss well. Sprinkle the remaining chopped taragon leaves on top and serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.

Annova's note: *Be careful with the salt. Some people think this is way too much. I added whatever I thought I needed as I went along.

Linda

This is the salad I have served at several bridal and baby showers. It always gets good reviews and can be made ahead.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Green-Bean-and-Goat-Cheese-Salad-2037

My daughter's Bridal Shower was mid-afternoon, so we did a Tea Party theme. Fun.

Cucumber Sandwiches, Radish/Butter Sandwiches and Tuna sandwiches. All open faced.
Fresh fruit tray (green grapes, pineapple, strawberries)
Cream scones, clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam.
Pettit Fours, chocolate truffles and lemon crisp cookies.
A variety of teas, punch and coffee.

All served on her future MIL's antique silver.

Flowers were in antique teapots.

I have photos if you're interested!

Deanna

Sometimes I feel like people go waaaay overboard with bridal and baby showers. Make this shower easy on yourself! Your baked chicken salad casserole, some hot rolls, a fresh fruit platter or fruit kabobs and a dessert plus beverages are a gracious plenty for a shower. Most people can't stick around for hours chit-chatting. They have children and hubby to see to, or they have to go back to work, get home to take the dog out, etc. The event is for the bride, to show her your love and support, provide a reason for some gifts, and enjoy a light meal with family and friends of the bride.

If it were me, I would do the Tea Party, but that's just because I love tea parties and the food that goes with them. Gives me a reason to pull out my teapot and tea cup collection too.

I really like the tea party idea too. I will never forget helping host a bridal tea at a church one time. Those invited didn't want it to be a tea so they each went and got them a chair and turned it into a shower. We were there for hours!

I love to entertain and I love a reason for a lovely party...for a reason to pull out all the stops and get out the silver, use ironed linen and china, serve some bubbly wine in a flute with a strawberry in the bottom. Bridal shower seems to be just the right reason, and making it "easy on your self" often doesn't make for a good party.
Whether you choose to have a tea party or a luncheon (sometimes the difference between the 2 can be very blurry)I suggest that you have fun with it, and unless you have other constraints, don't "make it easy on yourself" but make it a great fun party for all attending, and reap the complements of throwing a great over the top party.

Both of these are T & T and both are very good.

Hot Chicken Salad (St. Martins Church)

1/4 C. mayonnaise
2 C. diced cooked chicken
1 C. chopped celery
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 C. slivered almonds
2 tsp. chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
potato chips, crushed
3/4 C grated cheddar

Mix first 7 ingredients together thoroughly. Place in 9 x 13. Top with crushed chips and grated cheese. Bake 400 30 - 45 minutes or until bubbly.
Seves 6 - 8

Hot Chicken Salad

2 C. cooked chicken, cut up
1 C. chopped celery
1/2 C raw rice (cooked)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 T. chopped onions
3/4 C mayonnaise
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 C sliced almonds
1/2 C sliced pimento

Mix ingredients.Put in casserole and cover with 1 C crushed corn flakes mixed with 1/8 C. melted butter. Bake 350 45 min.

The first time I ever had Hot Chicken Salad was at a baby shower for me. That was 37 years ago. The first recipe is closest to the one I had then, but I like the second one equally as well.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful recipes. I'm looking forward trying them.
dgkritch, I would love to see pictures. Anyone else that has pictures I would love to see also.
Thanks again for all the wonderful ideas.
Lakemayor

I have a question about the very idea of a "hot chicken salad". Maybe it is just my Northeast/MidAtlantic mind set, but the whole concept of any salad (to me) implies a chilled dish. If it is warm, it is a casserole. Now I know there are the bizarre things like a Tuna Melt (which in my mind is tuna salad on toast with cheese and run under the broiler to melt the cheese) or even worse, a tuna grinder (gack! whose idea was it to put lettuce and tomatoes on a long roll and heat THAT up!) that incorporate mayo-ish things that are heated up and/or run under the broiler.

I guess I just dont "get" it

A

At this time of year when we have had bridal showers with Chicken Salad it is served cold. We have done it either on croisants or on lettuce. Also serve along with a fruit and cheese platter, a nice punch bowl (and other drinks) and cake. Vegetable platter/dip also if you want. As with Linda, we have done cold soups too to go along with the sandwiches and some cheese (sandwiches, soup and cheese/fruit along with cake). That was all that was needed.