This is the best potato salad I have ever had

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/red-potato-salad-recipe.html

I'm just going to HAVE to make that potato salad recipe! It sounds great!

The themed suggestions from pillog sound very appropriate! I personally think empanadas sound great, even tepid. And, I too want to try that potato salad recipe.

Here's a few more suggestions:

• Deviled eggs are very popular as a "retro" choice --- but with new riffs and flavor combos. A place nearby does a version with soryiso, avocado, cilantro and roasted corn.
• Small chicken satay skewers (pre sauced, in cupcake liners).
• Pot stickers/gyoza (use commercial wrappers and grind your own chicken as a base). These are OK lukewarm if you pan fry them (not steamed -- they will stick everywhere and fall apart)
• Potato cups made in mini muffin tins, using thinly sliced or shredded potatoes. Use to hold a bit of something tasty, like a bit of bruschetta topping, tabouli or chana masala (chole).

Unfortunately, I do not consider potato salad to be finger food :(. I do not want to involve plates or plastic forks. Deviled eggs would work, however, although I'm not sure how they would keep in the warm afternoon.

I was planning on making the Roquefort mini-popovers as a test - I'll do that this evening, as I was planning on having leftovers for dinner tonight! I was considering spanakopita but decided that my unknown neighbors are not worth the effort that goes into making that. And who wants hot dogs after eating spanakopita - not me! I'm really not trying to impress anyone, as I have been to the barbecues that they have at the Centinela Adobe, and the food they have there is terrible. The Adobe may be open during the party, as it is in the middle of our neighborhood, and it has grape vines with very good grapes, although I imagine that they are gone by now.

I might dig some pickled vegetables out of the fridge that people can use as relish for the hot dogs. I gave all my pickled jicama away, as I decided that I do not really like it, although the woman I gave it loved it (Her family is from China). I might just dig all my pickles out and get rid of those. I can bring toothpicks for serving them.

If I were a host of the party, I would do something more elaborate, but I consider myself a guest and just want to contribute my part. So, I'm looking for something cheap and easy. I may go ahead and make the hush puppies and hope they are okay at ambient temperature (which will not be cold or even cool).

I was thinking also of making mini-sandwiches with homemade bread, but that doesn't seem like a side dish. There may be another party after this one (like next year), and I can do something more elaborate then, if I think it is worth it. Some of my neighbors are nice, and some are a bit reclusive, but I expect the reclusive ones not to participate. I felt like I had more in common with my neighbors in Venice than I do with the ones in Westchester, but maybe I will meet some interesting people anyway. Of course in Venice there were parties every week-end, and Westchester is very quiet by comparison.

I find skewers are usually very popular, what about fruit intermingled with some cheese? And a basil or mint leaf or two.

Cheap and easy and good: scallion pancakes, with a dipping sauce; hummus with assorted crudites, good bread with pimento cheese spread, biscuits with ham and marmalade- assembled, hot soup- which could be quite popular if it is cool enough. provide cups.

I thought of gyoza also, since I make that on a regular basis, but that is also beyond what I consider the scope of this party to be. Also, I generally serve those with dipping sauce, which I want to avoid. Potato cups sound interesting, however, and those would be easy to make and not too messy. I think I could make empanadas with the sauce inside. Generally I make Mexican style with masa filled with cheese and vegetables (sometimes called quesadillas), but I've also made Argentine style with flour crust and potato inside. I guess those would be okay cold. They are sort of like Pierogi. I might make a braided calzone, as that is easy and can be made ahead of time.

I do have basil and mint in my yard. Skewers are popular at the Thai festival in Thai town, and pot stickers are popular at the Lotus Festival in Echo Park. I do not have any skewers, however.

There are several Indian families in the neighborhood (and they are the reclusive ones), as well as a few Japanese, but it's mostly European.

I wonder if hummus would be good in a potato cup. Maybe if I put an olive on top. I have lots of garbanzos and in fact made chana masala (my version of it) last night.

For a party, use bamboo skewers. They have them at every grocery store and they're disposable. :)

Why not put something like chana masala in the potato cup? I don't think I'd like the flavor of chummus, with the potato, but masala would be good. If you're worried about the beans rolling out, you could rough chop after cooking just enough to bind. Or how about the mini pita from TJ's (if they still have them) filled with chummus? You could just pipe them and maybe add a little slice of pimento or red bell pepper or olive.

But if I were a guest, I'd love your pickles! If you meant by "get rid of them" that you actively want to clear out your fridge, do that! They're good as finger or toothpick food, and on the hot dogs.

I'd like the empanadas too, but they sound like a lot more work than the popovers or potato cups.

I wonder if the "reclusive" neighbors just aren't sure of their welcome? You could knock on a door and ask them to join you. I think it's one particular neighbor, the one who organizes things, that makes for a social neighborhood. Once it gets going, if several keep it going and new ones take a turn, it feels like it's the people, but it's one of those things where a good push is needed to get it going. You said there was another one planned. Maybe you can add one of your own. Fourth of July?

Do you grow rosemary? I love that for skewers.

How about kebabs with tortellini, salami, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, etc. You can marinade it all in a vinaigrette. Another idea could be olivada and some good crackers, even homemade ones. Once I did some red-wine crackers with olivada and that was nice. One of my favorite finger foods to take to a party is red lentil kofte because they are cheap, easy and healthy. I use the recipe from the Almost Turkish site but use millet in place of bulghur (making them gluten free). Sometimes I include a yogurt sauce, sometimes not. They hold at room temperature quite well.

I do grow rosemary and have plenty that could be used as skewers, but I am not going to do a meat dish - they asked for side dishes. If I make braided calzone, I might put meat in that, but that would be as far as I would go in the meat department. I also do not want to spend a lot on cheese. Mini-pitas with hummus might be good.

I met my next-door neighbor today - he and his wife have been living next door to us for three years, and we've never really talked before. I was afraid that he might be a rough biker type, but that turns out not to be the case at all, and he truly seems to want to be friends with us. I invited him into our back yard because he is in the middle of doing some landscaping, and I wanted to show him what grow well in the poor soil that we have, which is not much. He said that my pergola reminded him of Venice, and he used to live there also, although not as long as I did. Anyway, we seem to have a lot in common, and he said he would be happy to look after our yard when we are in Italy next year. His wife is trying to get him to go back to Italy with her - he has not been there yet.

How about that old favorite pickle wraps?....Dill pickle wrapped in cream cheese and then thin sliced dried beef, sliced. Cheap, easy, stays well without refrigeration and most like them.
How about garlic bread sticks? pretty much Ann T's bread rolled into skinny sticks, rolled in garlic butter and baked....

If you did the devilled eggs, you could serve them from a tray with crushed ice in the bottom (and perhaps a layer of cling film over the top of the ice to keep the eggs dry) to keep them cool. They would be good "eyeballs".

Keeping with the eyeball theme you could do as a dessert-y thing fruit kabobs with the fruit cut out with a melon baller. Both ideas cheap and cheerful and not a lot of work :-)

PS To the potato salad lovers, try using kipfler/fingerling potatoes. The best IMO.

Garlic toast is a good idea because I still have garlic that I got from Katie, and I have not yet made garlic butter with it. Garlic toast is good cold as well. I will definitely make some of that, and I have some sourdough bread that I bought on Sunday that I can use for it.

A very popular thing here is "cake salé". Great when feeding a lot of people either as something to have with an apéritif or an extra with a salad.

Very simple and best made the day before.

Cake Provençal

180g flour

3 eggs

100ml olive oil

100ml milk

100g grated cheese

I tin tuna in water

Zest of a lemon

A handful of fresh thyme

a sachet of baking powder - 11g

salt and pepper

Heat our oven to 180°C (360°F?)

Drain the tuna and flake. Chop the thyme.

Butter and flour a loaf tin.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the oil and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and bake for about 50 mins. Allow the cake to cool a bit before turning out of the tin.

There are lots of variations once you have the basic recipe.

Cake Nordique : replace the tuna with chopped smoked salmon and the thyme with dill.

Roquefort and walnuts

Feta and herbs

Chilli and parsley

Lots of options. You can cut it into cubes so it goes a long way.

I have nothing constructive to add, Lars, but just wanted to say I'm glad your neighborhood is having a "block" party for two reasons. I'm getting inspired by reading everyone's creative ideas. And, many years ago Emily came home from preschool and told me that she had "made a new friend today" -- your description of meeting your neighbor made me smile at that memory and also smile for you.

Cathy in SWPA

I wasn't sure what lentil kofta was, but I found this recipe, and it reminds me of my falafel recipe because I also use Bulgar wheat, but I used that just because I had it on hand and needed something to absorb extra moisture. I could also make falafel, but I think that is more effort than I want to expend for this party.

Cake salé looks good also, and I'll make that for myself first. I'm not sure what is exactly meant by a "loaf tin" - I have almost no pans that are tin, and the ones I do are tin plated. My loaf pans are Pyrex, except for my Pullman pan that I use for Pan de Mie, and it is larger than my other loaf pans. Tin is highly reflective, and so I think that may have an effect on how something turns out that is baked in it. I had an old metal loaf pan, but it was rusted, and so I got rid of it when I got my Pullman pan.

I would bring a salad... like 3 bean salad, coleslaw, potato salad, etc.

You want to bring something to eat with fingers and requiring no dipping... how about making antipasto on a stick? I brought it to a party once and it was snapped up. I used sandwich picks (or long toothpicks) and randomly alternated a subset of choices from salami, pepperoni, cheddar cheese, provolone, green and black olives, grape tomatoes, roasted red peppers, fresh basil leaves, etc., then drizzled with a dressing just prior to serving.

Since many residents have been there since the 50s how 'bout a 50s appetizer ... Weed's Surprise Cheese Balls? They're good with green olives or whole pecans. Also good warm or room temp.

Or ... proscuitto wrapped asparagus?

Lars, you're overthinking the "loaf tin". That's British for loaf pan. You could use your pullman pan without the lid and adjust the quantity, or a Pyrex loaf pan. A standard loaf pan is cheap, or you could use foil (recyclable). The recipe sounds good for the event. :)

CindyMac, those look very Halloween--but also appealing (i.e,. scary but tasty). :)

Stuffed celery, black and green olives, pickles (as you stated), cherry tomatoes, maybe some cheese cubes, onion slices, radishes. I recommend concentrating on veggies that can be finger food.

Keep in mind they already have buns for the hotdogs and hamburgers so I would make a non bread item, although I love garlic bread!

Another idea for making Halloween themed deviled is to make truly deviled eggs:

Not everyone will be eating hamburgers and hot dogs (notably my brother), and so garlic toast will be a nice addition. I've made breads before for parties, and it was one of the first things to be consumed. I mentioned that there are some Indian families in the neighborhood, and they may not eat meat. Anyway, I like leftover garlic toast, in case it does not get eaten.

A loaf pan may be cheap to buy, but I do not have room to store it - I'm trying to get rid of pans rather than acquire new ones! If Pyrex works, I prefer to use that.

A 50's themed item is a good idea, since my neighborhood is very Mid-Century! It's retained its character very well, I think, although the 1950s are not that distant. Most houses were built 1947 - 1952 and were small but wide with very large lots and huge back yards, making it very easy to expand in the back of the house. Each house also has a garage on one side of it so that there is always a garage separating the houses, which is nice for noise control.

If you're concerned about the reflective finish, you could always line it with foil. :)

I think I could also bake that cake salé in an 8x8" pan - I have one of those in aluminum.

Martha Stewart always tries to avoid having any of her food touch aluminum foil (she will cover things with parchment before adding foil), but I am not that fanatic about aluminum. Tin is less reactive than aluminum, but tin is difficult to find. I particularly like tin as a metal, and that is why I may seem obsessed with it. I went to one plater here in Los Angeles who did a lot of tin plating, and the items were really beautiful, but it's a difficult sell in the high end furniture market, as tin has a "cheap" sound to it, even though it is a fairly expensive metal.

Bob...great devil eggs!

Lars, it's simply an oblong cake "pan". Mine's made of silicon. I use it for bread, cakes, terrines.......

Whatever you make, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Thanks, Islay! I think I will try the Cake Provençal, but I have to buy some canned tuna, as I do not keep that on hand. Since you use a silicon pan, I think Pyrex would be fine. I was considering an 8x8" pan because I thought it might make more cubes, but I will make that determination when I see how much batter I end up with. I found another recipe for it here, but it uses ham, and I would rather use tuna. I think ham would make it crumbly. Here is another similar recipe that looks interesting.

I made the Roquefort mini-popovers yesterday, and I determined that they will not be that good cold. They were fine when hot or warm but are a bit too eggy to eat cold - the texture would be off. I also learned that you absolutely must use a non-stick mini-muffin pan. I have an old one that I used, and I had bought a new one (which is non-stick) because the recipe calls for two pans of 12. I almost bought two new pans, which is what I should have done, as I will now be recycling my old pan, since the popovers got completely stuck in the old pan, even though it was properly oiled. I had to scoop the popovers out with a spoon from the old pan, but they fell right out of the new pan. I took pictures, but they are not pretty. It is very easy to eat six of these popovers, and we had twelve each last night, more or less as a main course. They are a bit like cheesy eggy waffles - more like a breakfast food, but still good as an appetizer. I would make them for a party at home but not to take out.

I might also still make hush puppies, as they are like cornbread and will be okay cold.

How about posting the recipe for those roquefort mini popovers....I have 2 non stick mini muffin tins and an 8 ox wedge of Maytag blue cheese.

Here is a link to the recipe - I used 1/2 tsp white pepper instead of 1/4 because I used white pepper than was already ground instead of fresh. I have fresh white pepper also but thought I might as well use what was already ground. I ended up with a little excess batter - I may have measured the milk wrong, since I was using reconstituted powdered milk (I never buy fresh milk, as it upsets my stomach - dried milk not so much), and I may have used too much water. I have a 1-1/2 Tbsp measuring spoon, and I used that for putting the batter into the pans - I may have added too much parsley as well - I just used whatever I cut in my yard - it does not affect the flavor that much. I used about 1/2 tsp (at most) of cheese in each cup, I think, but I did weigh 3 oz, and that is the correct amount to use IMO. I crumbled that in with my fingers.

I am considering making something with the turkey Spam that I have. I keep turkey Spam on hand for earthquake supply food, but I use it after I've stored it for a year. I could make a 50's style appetizer with that, but I'm intrigued with the Provençal cake salé. Maybe I could use Spam in one of those.

Thanks, Lars....looks yummy!

Here's a photo of how they looked in the pans:

The popovers on the right fell right out of the pan when I turned it over - the ones on the left stuck like crazy glue.