Do I get a fork?

In order - Per your criteria, roam around

Crudites

Raw spiraled

Bento

Hot whole

casserole

Hot spiraled (find these very easy to overcook in keeping warm)

1) crudites 2) vegetable casserole Don't know what you mean by spiralized serpentines.

Bento inspired

Crudites

The others are uninteresting to me as presented. :-(

Yes! Blfenton, you get a fork! It's one handed eating, but forks aplenty. Just not enough surfaces for anything that needs to be cut with a knife and vigor.

Photos of Spiralized Vegetable Serpentines at link.

Rhizo, no worries! I asked because I wanted to know.

Morz, good point about the hot spirals. I haven't done enough to know but that makes great sense.

Crudités or bento. The others sound like they might be hard to eat standing so I'd probably avoid them.

1. Bento

2. Kugel, but more bite size than a brownie

3. Hot serpentines with warm sauce

One of my favorites was at a wedding: mini latkes with a choice of sour cream or pile sauce

mimi bagel with cream cheese, lox etc

Another favorite (although not kosher) is asparagus wrapped in proscuitto

Crudités would be my preference over the rest.

I would worry about mess and keeping the temp right for hot items and, (this is just my personal thing) if I can't immediately identify what something is (bento, serpentine) I'm more likely to shy away from it.

I don't want to be a bother by asking someone to identify it.

Thank-you for all your responses! They're really helpful. As is the advice to keep it small. I can't do all one bite, but I can manage two. :) (Or one if you're a teenage boy. ;) )

Texas_Gem, there will be signs!

Keep 'em coming! I'm interested in what everyone has to say.

Crudites for me. I like rather plain things.

Crudites or Bento style for me. Also I am right there with everything that Nanny98 said. I don't mind spiral cut vegetables as part of a casserole type dish or salad. However I see it more of a fad that will soon pass rather then a taste treat in any other form. At least I hope so. ;-) Not a fan of making everything look like pasta.

Since people are making suggestions, I'll add that my favorite veggie finger food is a little rice paper wrapped bundle. Assorted chopped vegetables such as carrots, cukes, radish, sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, or avocado are combined and wrapped in rice paper. Provide dipping sauces.....sweet chili, spicy, hot, etc.

One or two bite things that don't require a fork or dipping would work best to me?

I can't stand hummus and unfortunately it's not always identified when in a roll up, then I end up with a bite in my mouth that I am forced to swallow and hopefully not have to run to the restroom. I so wish things like that identified the ingredients especially with so many food allergies.

I would eat the raw veggies. I would also enjoy something on a small cracker like a piece of cheese or a little shaved ham or turkey , and nuts. For hot I like those tiny quiche.

Because so many people have Afib, I would stay away from any items high in Vitamin K, such as hummus.

Thank-you all for your responses!

True about the spiral fad. I just figured I might as well do it before it's over. :) And the kids love the strings. :)

WalnutCreek, thanks for the Vit. K warning.

Everything will have labels!

Thanks for the suggestions. They're making me think in other directions. Finger foods are so easy except when it comes to the vegetables. Salads aren't finger foods (unless rolled in rice paper!), and people don't really like soup shooters.

So far the crudites (easy! if same ol') and bento treats seem to be winning, with a caution for good signage. If I do the bento rolls, I'll probably make spirals for them to stand among. The kids can take some if they want to them eat/play with. :)

Crudités. How about setting up small glasses like juice sized ones with a dollop of dip in the bottom. Then your guests can fill the glass with their choice of veggies, cut long and slender to fit the glass and can double-dip to their heart's content.

crudites

bento

I'm not sure what you mean by vegetable casserole. Do you mean like an Artichoke cheese square? I do like those and they're easy to eat.

I know you did not ask for recipes but I wanted to share this one in this topic in case anyone is in need of something like this. Very easy and good. If worried about nut allergies top with something else or nothing.

Blue Bites

1 box (15 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated
pie crusts, softened as directed on box

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (2 oz)

3 tablespoons half-and-half

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup walnut pieces or halves

1/2 cup small fresh parsley
sprigs(optional for garnish)

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove pie crusts
from pouches; place flat on work surface. With 2 1/2-inch round
cutter, cut 12 rounds from each crust. Press each round in bottom and
up sides of ungreased mini muffin cup.

In medium bowl with electric mixer,
beat cream cheese and blue cheese on medium speed until smooth. On
low speed, beat in half-and-half, salt and egg until well blended.
Spoon 1 scant tablespoon mixture into each crust-lined muffin cup.
Top each with 2 walnut pieces or 1 walnut half.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until filling
is set and crust is light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from
muffin cups. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm.

Well, Raven, recipes are never unwelcome. :)

FlamingO, great minds! I have "bomber" party cups -- as in for Jager bombs -- which have a 1 oz. well in the middle of a 4 oz. cup for that very purpose. I'm not sure whether we'll pipe the dip into them, ahead of time -- probably just for ease of service, and maybe put out some for refilling if they all go fast. But then people can put their own crudites and chips around it. And double dip, drip, etc., to their hearts' content. I also have walkaround plates with cup holders.

Plllog, I would never have pictured you as someone who had a collection of bomber cups, lol. I love it!

LOL! Rhizo, I have to be honest. I have tons of stems and tumblers. The bombers are disposable party cups bought for the dipping. :) Shots aren't that popular here because everybody is driving.

What's a bomber cup?

I like having veggie sticks and dips, and cold "bento style" roll up apps. Hot: stuffed mushroom caps (just nuke). Never heard of "spiralized serpentines" - from seeing the photos, never had them at a party I've been to, and they sound messy for finger or toothpick food.... Warmed vietnamese style spring rolls -- with that lighter wrapper, not that deep fried heavy thing. Chilled shrimp and dip. Cheese platter. Smoked salmon wrapped around cream or goat cheese, with capers. Endive leaf boats with goat cheese, flakes of smoked salmon, and capers stuffed inside (one of my favorites!) Hot veggies would be good (although I simply don't like carrots...) Okay, this isn't all veggies...

So, then novelty companies came out with beer mugs that have molded in shot glasses so you could finish the beer without getting bonked on the nose by the shot glass as you tilted the mug. They caught on because they work, and bars began using them. That extended to "bomber glasses" which are like Rocks glasses with the built in shot glass in the middle.

There are all kinds of bomber drinks nowadays, including non-alcoholic. There really isn't any magic here. The Depth Charge is just a one handed Boilermaker showing a great confidence (or lack of consideration) for the cleanliness of the outside of the shot glass and bar top. The Jägerbomb potentially can add flavor to the experience of drinking the beer, but the move to the smaller Rocks sized glasses is to enhance the experience of the liqueur, rather than having it all become a lightly stirred beer cocktail. The idea is to mix the two flavors in your mouth, rather than diluting the flavor of the shot. Most of the newer versions of bomber drinks aren't really about flavor so much as entertainment. They look cool. :)

So. Fill the shot with dip, and put the veggies and chips around the sides. :) My space doesn't lend itself well to dips placed around the room. They're hard to get at and hard to see. Doing it form the buffet works better, but then there are people trying to scrape up a blob of dip from a cocktail plate and it's all awkward. I haven't tried the bomber cups with a large crowd, but it's sure to be an improvement.

As I read through this post what came to my small mind was bite size pieces of fruit or nuts, maybe small pieces of candy like mints.

t

Well, sweets are nice too. :)

Armed with the poll results -- Thank-you All! -- I consulted the oracle, who intoned that while things like mini carrot souffle muffins might be enjoyed by the company, those who would eat them would be the same people who would otherwise be happy with raw carrots. So I'll hope that the baby rainbow carrots will be available for pretty's sake, but there will be no labor intensive vegetable cooking here! This is for the middle of December. Tonight, I made five dozen flat chickballs and they're in the freezer. Flat so they don't roll of the plates. :)

I also appreciate the suggestions and recipes, but I can only deal with one new thing. :) I'll keep them in mind for later.

Working menu -- The proteins are all "balls" because I'm seriously short on help, and people will eat them:

Guacamole & tortilla chips

Chumus & pita or pita chips

Sour cream & onion dip and potato chips (all chips will be bought)

Crudites -- baby carrots, multi color bell paper strips, celery sticks, tiny tomatoes, colored cauliflower if available, sugar snap peas, and whatever else looks good. Also, maybe lightly steamed matchstick asparagus.

Bento box inspired roll ups, tbd depending on experiments (I have to taste these first), probably three varieties: Possibles, carrot and almond butter rolled around jicama baton. Yellow squash with cheddar around broccolini. sweet potato with wasabi sweet potato puree around snow pea. Cabbage with parsnip puree around water chestnut. Cucumber with dill chevre around ... something.

Chicken flat balls with red pepper sauce

Turkey "balls" logs with barbecue sauce (gluten free)

Bison "balls", probably flat squares, if they work in the mold, with marinara (gluten free)

Quinoa "ball" cones with roasted butternut sauce (vegan, probably gluten free)

Bourekes (cheese filled filo triangles--our fried item)

Choux paste puffs with vegetable filling

Herb roasted fingerling potatoes -- or maybe latkes if I get to them

Bite sized brownies, gluten free if possible (may buy)

Sufganiot (jelly doughnut balls, probably will buy)

Chocolate pumpkin cake (will make)

Cut fruit

Infused water, sodas, coffee & tea, wine, whiskey for the three guys who want it, ale on request.

As a backup plan, I could do Costco, but that's why I'm getting a jump now, while I'm feeling okay (touch wood and tell the faeries). The turkey balls were added because I have the ground turkey (which was supposed to be something else) and I can churn them out tomorrow. If I can get all the balls in the freezer pronto, and plow through a single pound of filo worth of bourekes, and get them all in the freezer, I'll already be ahead of Costco. :)

Thanks, again, for your answers. Your preferences have simplified things!