# party menu help



## laurieh (Aug 3, 2008)

I'm a professional baker, not a caterer, so I hope it's ok that I post here. I just thought caterers might be better able to help me.

I'm on a fundraising committee at my church, and I'm in charge of a party for our most generous donors. We're doing a chocolate & wine/beer tasting, with hor d'oeuvres. I have some ideas for hodos, but could definitely use suggestions.

Here are the specifics: We expect no more than 20 people. The party site has lots of fridge space and 3 (yes, three!) microwaves, but no oven or cooktop, so everything will need to be served cold or room temp.

So far, I'm thinking:
Choux puffs filled with apple pecan chicken salad
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with dill & chive cream cheese
A nice cheese board with 3 or 4 cheeses and a selection of crackers & flatbreads
Amaretto chocolate truffles
Something fruity…maybe tiny fruit tartlets

I need a few more hodos to round things out. Any ideas? I would really like to keep everything pretty simple, as I'm doing the cooking by myself, and have minimal help for setup.

I really appreciate any advice about menu, how much to make, garnish ideas…whatever you guys think of, I'm happy to hear about it! Thanks for the help!
L


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Welcome Laurie.

If your event is a small wine and chocolate tasting, let the ingredients speak for themselves. Keep it simple if what you are doing is side by side tasting.

Beef &/or Fish/shellfish.......if you were in the midwest serving tiny bites with no red meat or shrimp the crowd would feel like they havn't eaten.

Nuts, hot toasted nuts....pecans, almonds, cashews......with or without herbs or spices

Vegetable something or other without the cheese....we make seasonal vietnamese springrolls.

wild shrooms always a nice addition

The items you selected seemed gearred for a ladies lunch rather than a "generous donor thank you cocktail party"......

I'm unclear about the chocolate/wine tasting aspect.


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## chefallen (Jan 4, 2009)

If these fridges have freezers in them which I know a lot of churches have residential fridges. so my suggestion is get some assorted sorbets and make some angel food cake bowels. I make the bowels by by cutting my angel food cake into squares and taking my trusty garnishing kit and carving a nice indentation into the squares. then right before you serve them take 0.5 to 1 oz. of a sweet ice wine and drizzle into the bowel before you place the sorbet into it, you can use a standard shot if you want to. This is a option I do at this point ,but what you have will be good all by it self if need be; anyways after I have the sorbet in the bowel I will make a silky, white chocolate sauce to drizzle over the sorbet. Usually I garnish with mint leaves or the fruit that coincide with the sorbet. Sometimes I will make a fruit coulee that matches the sorbet and drizzle the plate with it. You could possibly make this but know this I am not a baker........lol.....so my angel food cake is usally store baught, because I do not feel like making it from scratch. As far as the chocolate sauce goes, you could keep it hot by using an electric fondue pot or even in a pinch make steam warmer by filling a croc pot 1/2 to 3/4 full with water and then placing a bowel larger than the diameter on the top of it and turning your croc pot as high as it will go. I hope this helps.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Mushroom Girl gave some good ideas. Only thing I might add since you say chocolate? is a Choco Fondue with, marshmallows , strawberries, dip cookies, pineapple chunk. apples all on skerwers let them dip. For only twenty guest better fewer and nicer then a lot and mediocre. ( Ladies, Beer ????)


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## laurieh (Aug 3, 2008)

Wow, those are some great ideas, guys! I think I'm going to add a big bowl of pickled shrimp, a tray of anitpasto, maybe some tiny homemade rolls with beef tenderloin and horseradish.

I'm definitely going with the fruit tartlets. I can do most of the work ahead of time, and assemble the morning of the party.

Feel free to keep the suggestions coming, if you like. You guys are the best!


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Laurie, what do you bake?
how about including some of your special baked goods.....


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