I’d bring antipasto on a stick. I worked in a lab with a bunch of foodie guys… I brought antipasto on a stick for one of our monthly foodie lunches and they disappeared. I used long picks and remember making them with random mixes of grape or cherry tomatoes, salami, cheese, black and green olives, fresh basil leaves, artichokes, etc.

Stuffed mushrooms sound good too. :)

Charcuterie board

Rumaki sound good, but for those who may not eat chicken livers (which I love but DH doesn’t), Angels on Horseback are yummy. They’re stoned prunes stuffed with a small piece of cream cheese, then wrapped in bacon held in place by a toothpick then cooked in the oven until the bacon is done to your liking. Soooo good.

I like party_music’s suggestions of the antipasto sticks and/or stuffed mushrooms. There’s always fun/cute charcuterie cups that can be simpler than shown here. (Paper cups from Amazon.)

Angels on Horseback as I know them are bacon-wrapped oysters. I think they are divine! But not everyone is an oyster lover.

IMO Angels are oysters and prunes wrapped in bacon are Devils both delicious but yes not everyone likes oysters.

I'm thinking mini marinated mozzarella balls. I'm making it up in my head, but I'm seeing a margarita version. A margarita marinated mini mozzarella balls.. I can't be the only person thinking of this... Looking up a recipe. Yep. This.

https://itasty.net/easy-marinated-mozzarella-balls-perfect-appetizer/#tasty-recipes-14716-jump-target

Wow, many ideas I wouldn’t have thought of! Time to cogitate!

It's true that pizza's filling so you need a light starter. How about verrines? You could do something like a layer of guacamole, topped with a tuna mousse topped with a layer of tiny cubes of marinated cucumber. Or whipped cream cheese, chives and diced smoked salmon topped with a tomato salsa.... endless possibilities. easy to eat on a sofa and not messy.

I completely agree with Islay. If the main course is pizza I wouldn't want a starter that repeats any of the pizza ingredients. So no bread, mozzarella, tomatoes or salami if those are featured in the pizza. Something light fishy, veggy or fruity would fit the bill.

Deviled eggs are always a hit.

Re bacon wrapped anything, the version I’ve seen served here has always been bacon wrapped scallops.

Bacon wrapped dates are good too.

Eaten last week in Majorca. Despite appearances they are not burnt.

These Jalapeno popper wonton cups are always a big hit when I make them for football game watch parties. Pretty easy to make as well. You can make them at home and then bake them at the host site.

Plllog, your minion has it right for this location. . You can’t swing a cat here without hitting a pizza and wings joint, and both seem to be served at every gathering. Eta: the pizza and wings are served; not the cats. :)

These baked jalapeño poppers are very good. I cheat and use a 8oz pack of Sargento shredded Mexican cheese.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pepper-poppers/#RecipeCard

Some form of pepper poppers and chicken wings would be great.

ETA: LoneJack, I saved your Jalapeno wonton recipe, looks good

Interesting about the pizza and wings. I've always thought the combo was about upping the protein and providing an alternative for the ones who don't or can't eat pizza, And a use for the fryer which many pizza joints have but under-utilize, or can easily slot in, whereas, many only have pizza ovens for the actual cooking.

re: Jalapeño wonton cups. Looked over the recipe. I think you could eliminate one step by using phyllo cups. They are so easy to use, hold their shape so you can bake them on a cookie sheet (the kind with 4 sides) instead of a muffin tin, and they are a one-bite size (if you are a dainty little thing, it might be 2 bites 👧)

My grocery carries Athens phyllo cups. There may be other brands.

Same as floral - more cheese or bread or meat seems like overkill to me.

I like the idea of a tasty dip(s) with veggies &/or fruits to contrast with the pizza.

You can NEVER have too much cheese!

“I like the idea of a tasty dip(s) with veggies &/or fruits to contrast with the pizza.”

This made me think of a whipped feta dip with pita and veggies we had recently…so good!

Head hung in shame, I confess that I ended up having SWMBO bring a cheese plate with crostini.

I was at the triplex working with the electrician and didn’t have time to do anything :-(

I love a good cheese plate…and I’ll bet everyone else did too!

Work first. I'm sure they understand.

No shame in that, I'll bet SWMBO did a great cheese plate :) In this case does that make you HWMBO?

A good cheese plate works: I love cheese!

Maybe HWM(N)BO . . . . colloquial title: "house elf".. . . SWMBO likes doing cheese plates, hardly needs a nudge. She found an interesting sheep D'affinois to go with Camembert, regular D'affinois, truffle gouda, and another cheese I can't recall.

It was a "get together for UCLA alumni" where everyone was reminiscing fondly about the blue and gold, various places on campus, etc. I went to UCLA for just my freshman year, spent all my time studying physics and don't recall making any friends. I was tired a lot and invented a way of walking and dozing at the same time (you check the sidewalk is clear for the next 30-40 feet, then close your eyes and doze briefly while walking, then open your eyes and check again). Later I went back for grad (law) school but grad students never have "school spirit". So I was ineffably bored and spent my time talking with the host's husband, who I've known for a long time, about vintage bicycles and his eBay business. I expect I'm now on a UCLA list and will receive fundraising appeals.

“…(you check the sidewalk is clear for the next 30-40 feet, then close your eyes and doze briefly while walking, then open your eyes and check again).”

Thanks for the chuckle!

Lovely sounding cheeses ! What was the pizza like? It's very fun to follow your threads, makes me laugh and think. Per Dobby in Harry Potter, if a house elf gets a sock he's free, hahaha my kids grew up on that :)

The pizza was okay, not memorable. It was from a local place I hadn’t heard of, four varieties, pretty meh.

I am not that much of a pizza person. I’ve obviously eaten plenty of it, made it, will grab a slice if I’m hungry, but I only know a few pizza places whose pies I really enjoy. Two are in Berkeley, “The Cheese Board” and “Zachary’s”, the latter makes a great deep dish pizza. Another is a few blocks from my house, they make an unusual cornmeal crust and have just terrific toppings. DD was working there as a prep cook before her last stay in Marseille, and is covering shifts there now until her cafe opens. Prep cooking is tough! It takes two prep cooks six or seven hours of non-stop fast paced cooking to make all the toppings and crusts that the evening crew will assemble into pizzas when the restaurant opens.

When I make pizza myself, it is usually for a big-ish party. I make thin crusts, parbake them, cook all the toppings, then when the party is on it takes five minutes to grab a crust, add toppings, and produce a fresh pizza.

@lat62, a house elf wins his freedom if he receives any kind of garment from his master. Harry Potter tricked Lucius Malfoy (Draco’s father) into freeing Dobby by handing Malfoy a sock he had just removed. Malfoy disgustedly threw it away and Dobby caught it, and so was a free elf.

Yes, I’m a Harry Potter tragic 😂

SWMBO gives me clothes but my house elf binds still hold. What evil wizard is so powerful? . . . Voldemort?

Power doesn't prove she's evil. Have you noticed you're too tall to be an elf? Have you found it hard to dissaperate? I posit that you've found a benign keeper who finds you useful, even if you're human. ;D

Smoked salmon.

dcarch

I cold smoked 3.5 lbs of Costco salmon ($12.00 a lb). Not a lot of work.

Very popular for the holidays.

dcarch

Hmm, I have never smoked anything. I don’t actually understand how it works, how the meat gets “cooked”. I’ve made gravlax and ceviche from salmon. But not everyone likes that.

I'm way too late here, and would have suggested a cheese plate or wings, only because so many people are doing the low carb/high protein thing and there are people like my daughter who are celiac or sensitive to gluten and that gives them an option too.

Annie

Annie, I wanted to make wings! It’s been a while and I really like doing that. But I just didn’t have time. I don’t seem to have much time lately :-(

I’m going to a meeting tonight where the invitation stated that they”ll have pizza and we should feel free to bring snacks to share. I immediately thought of this thread. :) I have no idea how many people will be there, but I’d expect at least 25, so I decided on deviled eggs. Like Annie said, it’s gluten free, low carb, has protein, and is easy to eat finger food. I debated putting them in paper muffin cups, but they packed perfectly into this oval dish.

party, those look great! Good choice…deviled eggs always seem to disappear fast.👍🏻

Thank you, chloebud! I was afraid I overdid it — I thought about garnishing with candied and pickled jalapeños, but I went with smoked paprika and parsley instead. :)

PM, that dish looks perfect!

Traditionally, we served eggs with salt water at Seder, for a number of different symbols. Devilled eggs work just as well and people like eating them more. But then there's storage in an over full fridge--until I found these from Classic Cuisine (currently $12 for two at Amazon)--good for here in the fridge or to carry to wherever. Each holds 18 halves, they don't take much space and they can be stacked. It's that time of year. :) Just thought I'd post it for those without the perfect dish.

I love devilled eggs, but they're not really a big thing here. DH's family almost always serves hard boiled eggs at family picnics. I'm not that keen on them as I find them a bit dry and boring, but they all get eaten. I once took a plate of devilled eggs, but as they remained largely untouched, I didn't repeat the experiment.

Thank you, plllog! The eggs were a huge hit! I was shocked because more than a few people made a point of telling me how good (or ‘fantastic’) they were!

I'm not surprised because as you (and Annie) said, they fit in a lot of diets, and you bothered to make them tasty. A lot of people just add mayonnaise and a light sprinkle of paprika on top, which is often old as well, and you can't taste it. Congratulations on the huge hit! It's not how hard it is that counts, but how well the people like it. ;)

Ever since my grandson was a tyke, I've taken deviled eggs to every school potluck event and people would practically knock themselves over when I'd arrive to set them on the food table. I would make a LOT of them, lol and there was never one left. His high school doesn't have those type of events but he's on their swim team, which has an end of season dinner/pot luck. Neither of his parents cook, so I offered to make deviled eggs for him to take and even though he doesn't eat them, he was happy to take them. Since it was a new crowd and more ethnically diverse than his former schools, I was unsure whether they'd be appreciated. He said everyone loved them and there were none left. I kind of think teen boys will make short order of any kind of free food!

Potluck is happening again in a couple of weeks and he wants to take them again. I don't do anything exotic, just mayo, yellow mustard and dill pickle juice. I sprinkle with a little Lawry's Seasoning Salt instead of paprika (I'm not a fan).

Yes, “I love deviled eggs” was heard repeatedly last night! And they are the perfect thing to bring for a crowd*. I bought the eggs the day before and was worried about problems peeling them, so I used a huge bowl of icy snow with some water to chill them. It worked perfectly. :)

* as long as it’s not colleenoz’s DH’s family crowd. :)

@party_music50 I know everyone has their favorite "foolproof" way to hardboil eggs so they are easy to peel, but I just have to put in a plug for steaming them. I put them in the top of my stovetop steamer....like a double boiler but with the steamer pot on top. I put the eggs in the steamer, turn the water to boil on high and once the steam is rising I cook them for around 14 minutes. I then plunge in cold running water (because I never have ice and my well water is very cold) until they are cooled. I can peel then or place in fridge until I need them. The shells slip right off...doesn't matter how fresh they are. Never fail. Link: Steaming eggs