The party is over - the results

12 years ago

Sorry I dropped out of sight after getting all the wonderful ideas/suggestions for finger foods for our holiday party. We had a death in the family and had to fly to MN, then there was shipping presents to family back east, getting ready for the party, and getting through it. Then collapsing to recover for a few days. ;)

Anyway, the party was wonderful although we had quite a few people no show on us - actually close to 1/3. :( But we had a good time and the people who did come enjoyed it too. I had requests for several recipes.

Here's a summary of what we served. I had so many great suggestion, it was hard to narrow it down. I ended up going with a mix of T&T favs, suggestions from here, and some new recipes found elsewhere. We love to graze when we eat, so all the food was in small portions.

Hot mulled cider was the only beverage we provided. Guests who wanted something else were asked to bring it.

In crock pots:

- Ham balls with cherry pie filling as a sauce. Next year perhaps I'll try the Cherry Ham Glaze posted by caliloo.

- Sweet and sour turkey meatballs

- Honey teriyaki chicken wings

Savory eats:

- Mini quiches - broccoli cheddar and chicken apple sausage

- Proscuitto pinwheels (proscuitto wrapped in puff pastry then sliced and baked)

- Marinated mozzarella cheese balls (a variation on a recipe posted tricia)

- Baked brie with mango chutney in puff pastry; served with fresh homemade baguette

- Crudites with Roasted Pecan Blue Cheese Dip and Dill Dip

- Potato chips with Alton Brown's Onion Dip from Scratch

- Italian pepperoni cheese puffs (thanks, Lindac)

- Artichoke nibbles (thanks, jkom51) For whatever reason, these seemed to be the least appreciated offering on the table

Sweet treats:

- White chocolate raspberry stripers

- Spritz Christmas trees

- Brownies (I shoulda made Ann's - I was disappointed in the recipe from Cook's Illustrated)

- Mini apple pies

- Pecan tassies

- Chocolate chip cookie bars

The favorites seemed to be

Savory - the baked brie, the hamballs, the wings, pepperoni and cheese puffs, the prosciutto pinwheels.

Sweet - chocolate chip cookie bars, pecan tassies, white chocolate raspberry stripers.

With attendance being lower than expected and my excess preparation (I have a strong aversion to running out of anything), we have a freezer full of goodies that should last for quite a while.

Thanks again, everybody for all the input.

Kathy

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Comments (9)

John Liu
12 years ago
Wow. You made, like, 20 different dishes! Just wow.

You must be ready for a bubble bath! Looks beautiful and delicious.

How many hours did you spend in prep and cooking?
dedtired
12 years ago
What a spread!! Everything looks delicious and very pretty, too. Good for you.

Sorry about the death in the family. Sounds like you have been crazy busy.

Don't you just hate no-shows? For Pete's sake, if you say you're coming -- come! Wish I'd been there to fill in. Congrats on a job well done.
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bettyd_z7_va
12 years ago
WOW!! Nobody went home hungry for sure!

I missed the original post. Would you please consider sharing your recipe for the ham balls with cherry pie filling sauce or post a link to recipe?

Everything looks so yummy.

I'm glad everything went well for you. I hope you've gotten some rest. I got tired just thinking about all of the work you had to do!

Betty
annie1992
12 years ago
Oh my, those little apple pies looks amazing, I'd love one right now with coffee!

I'm so sorry abourt the death in your fmaily, my condolences to all the family and friends who lost someone they cared about.

Like you, I have a horrible aversion to running out of food, but I'd have been happy to come and help eat that stuff up, it all looks delicious.

Happy Holidays!

Annie
Kathy F
Original Author
12 years ago
Any of you who live in the SF Bay Area, I'm up in the North Bay and I'd love to share some of the leftovers. I swear, my pants fit better before I started cooking for this party! :)

Yes, I made a lot of different things, and I still have a folder full of recipes I WANTED to make too. But my freezer is only so big...

Thanks for all the kind words, everybody, both your condolences and the kudos on the food. The latter coming from this group feels like high praise indeed. So many of you inspire me.... I really have fun getting ready for parties like this. Trying lots of new recipes, using old favorites, and getting to graze to eat.

johnliu - I honestly don't know how many hours I spent on all this. LOTS! :) I started about a month ahead, making and freezing things (quiches, desserts, etc) as I felt like it. I don't work and it's something I truly enjoy doing.

dedtired - yes, I hate no shows. A few people let me know they couldn't make it cuz they were sick, but the rest... GRRR! But the way I see it - they missed out and I have all the leftovers! Other than a few more raw veggies than I could finish before they started getting gross, everything left over was eaten quickly or either still in the freezer or freezable.

betty - I'll dig out the ham ball recipe and post. It wasn't in my original thread which I've linked below.

annie - (assuming you're the same Annie on the Harvest Forum) the apple pie filling was using the NCHFP website recipe. If you didn't help me with that, I know you helped me with other canning things. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your salsa! I would be more than happy to send you some of the little apple pies if I thought they would get there in an edible state.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Original thread asking for input
chase_gw
12 years ago
Kathy, what a wonderful spread! I am exhausted just reading your post. I am sure those who attended must have enjoyed out thoroughly and to heck with those no shows Ã¯Â¿Â½

You given me a couple of ideas for an open house we are having
Kathy F
Original Author
12 years ago
Betty - here's the ham ball recipe. It's not the one DH grew up with, that one got lost, but he says it tastes like he remembers. He remembers his mom using a combo of ground pork and ground ham; many of the recipes I found when I was searching include ground beef.

We have found over the 9 or so years we've been making these that some butchers will happily grind the ham for us - and some won't do it at all. Our blender did an okay job on some pre-chopped ham the one year we couldn't find a butcher to help.

Iowa Ham Balls (from recipeusa.org December, 2002)

Hamballs
- 1 lb ground ham
- 1.5 lbs ground pork
- 2 cups soft bread crumbs
- 2 well beaten eggs
- 1 cup milk

Glaze
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 c vinegar
- 1/2 c water

Mix the ham ball ingredients together and form into 1" balls. Place in a 9" x 13" x 2" pan (if you line with foil first, clean up is much easier).
Combine glaze ingredients in saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over ham balls.
Bake in 325F oven for 30 minutes covered, then 30 minutes uncovered.

He also didn't have a recipe for the cherry sauce that was traditionally served with the ham balls; he's been satisfied with canned cherry pie filling. But we may just try the cherry ham glaze caliloo posted in the link below.

Enjoy!

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Cherry Ham Glaze
mustangs81
12 years ago
What a great Party Report...it is appreciated. I'll bet your guest voted you the "Hostess With The Mostess" and I hope your no-shows hear about what they missed.
westsider40
12 years ago
It looks so delicious and so pretty and so festive!

I, too, send my condolences on the loss of your family member.

Everything looks like made with love. Your love for cooking and sharing.

Another thing I will steal is your placecards which identify the food on the plate. That is helpful for a lot of reasons, esp. with so many who are now gluten free.

The party is over - the results

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John Liu

dedtired

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