Party Style: 4 Fabulous Food Ideas

Whether you're cooking up a storm yourself (well, with a lot of help from your friends, relatives, and so on) or hiring a caterer to take care of your menu, fabulous food is a party essential. Here are some of ideas for feeding your crowd with style.

Just Desserts
Of course there will be cake, but why stop there? If your party's late in the evening and you're not planning on having a dinner, treat your guests to a dessert buffet (just let them know the plan on the invites so they don't come too hungry). You can include whatever sweets you see fit -- just don't forget to offer some milk to wash it all down.

A great way to tackle a buffet? Ask family members and relatives to whip up a few batches of whatever their specialty is -- cookies, cupcakes, you name it!

Another way to make your dentist cringe: Fill glass jars or vases with favorite candies, and give guests cellophane bags so they can take some home. If you choose pretty candy that matches your color scheme, a trio of these can do double-duty as centerpieces.

The hottest desserts going: Upscale versions of popular junk foods, like Ho-Hos, Ring Dings, and Sno Balls. After tasting them fresh baked, it may be hard to go back to the vending machine variety.

And of course, the craving for couture cupcakes continues onward -- you might even consider serving stacks of them instead of a regular layer cake!

Mini Meals
When it comes to food, mini-anything is hot right now, and these bite-size versions are perfect for parties -- guests can grab 'em and go (to the dance floor, that is). The coolest foods to cook up in mini versions are home-style comfort foods, like mini burgers, single-serving size cups of mac 'n' cheese, even cocktail weiner-size corndogs!

Stick to comfort foods that are easily contained -- dips and sauces might be delicious, but no one wants to wind up with it on their collar. Try eats like mini club sandwiches (cut the crusts off the bread, then cut the bread into quarters to wind up with the perfect size) speared with toothpicks adorned with colorful ribbon or mini Cuban sandwiches served up in finger rolls.

Think about your presentation and making your food work with your theme. Having an ultra-girlie affair? Stack those mini burgers and dogs on frou-frou cake stands. And how about those French fries? Dish 'em out in paper cones that match your party's colors.

Ethnic Eats
In case you haven't figured it out yet, plain old chicken or beef is passé. The new basics are anything but. Whether you're honoring your family's heritage or simply opting for cultural cuisine that you love, look to other parts of the globe to inspire your menu. And you don't have to stick to one type of food, either -- the trend is actually more toward mixing things up a bit.

If you're serving home-cooked dishes, fill the gaps in your menu with ready-made or ordered food. Head to Costco or BJ's to stock up on heat and serve appetizers, or augment your offerings with (for example) orders of wontons from your local Chinese place or beef teriyaki skewers from a Japanese restaurant. That way, you won't have to master multiple cuisines to give your meal some international flavor.

Think about serving a meal with "action stations," which are sort of halfway between a buffet and a seated meal. Guests are usually served an appetizer and/or a salad at their seats, then they can find seats at the different stations and try different fare all night long. Most party planners choose to theme their stations by cuisine, so just think -- sushi at one, tapas at another, Indian next -- you get the picture.

Fun Food
Clearly, it's not going to make up the whole meal, but here's another food trend that's fun (literally). Carnival-style eats (like fresh-popped popcorn and cotton candy) aren't just delish treats, they're also fun for you and your guests.

Look into renting a small party machine -- like a popcorn popper or a sno-cone maker -- that a family member can run.

Offer guests a yummy late-night snack, like chocolate-dipped pretzels or fresh doughnuts, to keep the party going into the wee hours.

Chocolate fountains -- actual fountains of flowing chocolate that guests dip fruit, marshmallows, or pound cake into -- are particularly popular right now. If your caterer can't offer you one, they can probably refer you to a place that will rent you one (not to mention a spot where you can purchase all that chocolate.) Yum!

 

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