| The holidays are fast upon us and that mean parties and parties mean munchies. And oh, how that has changed over the years. I can remember when a party meant pimento cheese spread from a little glass jar, spread on round crackers and the same cheese spread in celery boats. You’ve come a long way baby. However, despite the advancement of our culinary attitudes over the decades, many of us fall into the salsa and chips rut; admittedly better than cheese spread, but none the less, a rut. |
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When I do a munchie spread for a party I try and keep it low on meat products. First, they’re rather expensive and second, they tend to be greasy and in finger food that can be a problem. Again, keeping in mind the finger food aspect, I try to have anything with a sauce keep a low profile. I really don’t want to have to shampoo my carpets the next day. Again, with the carpets in mind, I try to keep things bite size. Also, if gooeyness is kept to a minimum, I can get away with napkins only and not have to worry about plates. And I learned the hard way, not to have more than one or two things that need to be assembled at the last minute or that need to be served hot, unless I wanted to spend my entire time in the kitchen instead of with my guests.
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Also, consider your traffic patterns. People tend to congregate where the best food is. Because of this, I try to place the more interesting dished away from the seating. For example, I have one of those large round bronze trays on a stand that I use for a coffee table. It is in front of the sofa and there are several other comfortable chairs clustered around it. If I put the best food on it, the first guests will plop their butts down on the sofa and in the comfier chairs for the duration and those arriving after them will have a hard time reaching any of the goodies. Also, it impeds the flow of conversation. I usually place the dips and their accompaniments and some sort of savory gorp thing on the coffee table. More substantial and interesting munchies are placed at various stations around the room thus requiring people to circulate. |
This means that everyone gets a crack at the good stuff and that people mingle and interact with each other which is the whole point of a party in the first place.
The recipes for PARTY_MUNCHING_AND_CRUNCHING that I have prepared will fit a large range of economic situations and time constraints as well as accommodating most any level of culinary skill. They range from easy dips and their appropriate accompaniments, to more demanding pâté and salmon filled crêpes. Some require small plates; for most, fingers, toothpicks and napkins are adequate. Most are well within the skills of anyone with a functional frontal lobe and an opposed thumb.
If you are new to party giving, don’t be too ambitious for your first time out, remember, this is supposed to be fun for you too.
Oh, and here is one I am rather adamant about; children. If you bring children to my adult party they will not be allowed to occupy all the seating while adults are standing and they will not be allowed to snarf up all the good stuff. |
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