Baby Shower Menu Ideas Please!
I am cooking for a baby shower party @ 5:30 aprox. 35 people, $ not a issue, it will prob be hot out so I am thinking lite dishes but it's still dinner time. Any ideas will be greatly welcome- Thanks.
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13 Comments:
I went to a great Jack and Jill baby shower that was so basic and simple. Everyone loved it. It was cold cuts, pizza, wings, beer and soda. I realize this is not for everyone, but it was the most fun I ever had at a shower.
I gave a shower for my SIL, and served the following: boneless chicken breasts marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, S+P; grilled veggies (onions, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini); grilled pita and tzatziki sauce; greek salad w/ feta. Buffet style worked nicely. I par-cooked the chix and grilled veg the day before, and reheated them in the oven for the party.
Make one theme drink with alcohol, and one without, and fill a cooler with diet and regular soda and water. The father and husband of the mom-to-be got a big kick out of playing bartender.
Cupcakes or various pastries cut into small pieces usually go over well. People can have small tastes of a variety of desserts without feeling like they ate too much.
Kerosena at 10:46PM on 07/10/08
I am a huge fan of tea sandwiches. Cucumber with dill, cucumber, radish, a super easy topping is a packet of italian dressing mix mixed with 8 oz. cream cheese, or make your own herb/spice mixture with the cream cheese.
Mini chicken and tuna fish sandwiches. Cheese and crackers, or antipasto. Also agree with the cupcakes and mini pastries or petit fours.
Some fruit salad and sangria, and a non-alcoholic drink as suggested above.
I'm big on the KISS (keep it simple stupid) method, make it light and enjoy yourself!
bobcatsteph3 at 11:47PM on 07/10/08
Cupcakes are always a hit, you don't have to cut them, and leftovers stay fresher longer.
beth1 at 12:03AM on 07/11/08
have to agree with bobcatsteph tea sandwiches are great, i also like making little puff pastry cups, i use mini muffin tins, and those make a great way to serve things like chicken salad, even a green salad tastes decadent in those. just whatever you decide have a great time!
huneybumper at 7:29AM on 07/11/08
Count me in as a vote for tea sandwiches. Mini quiches. Cream puffs, mini cupcakes. Anything that can be eaten in 1 bite works. Less chance for the "dropsies".
izatryt at 9:12AM on 07/11/08
All of the above sound great! Tea sandwiches would be great. I just mentioned this in another thread for the outdoor wedding reception, but I love salmon mousse piped onto endive leaves for a party. It so easy to do and looks great! (I'll be happy to share my mom's recipe, if you like.)
Also, izatryt mentioned cream puffs -- you could also make the same choux pastry but add savory cheese (I love gruyere) to the dough and make gougere. They're also easy but really elegant and people love them. You can serve them as-is or split them and fill them with meats or or chicken salad.
CookiePie at 9:38AM on 07/11/08
I think people don't expect that baby showers are about the food so much, and undestand that there's enough going on and being balanced with the gifts, cake and picture-taking. I like to make foods that don't necessarily need a fork (other than say fruit salad or pasta-type salads) and can be hand-held.
I'm with the others that roasted chicken salad, done exquisitely (toasted pecans, grapes, celery, maybe some apricot chutney mixed) on mini-croissants or cheese muffins would be grand. Maybe some little empanadillas (stuffed and baked with say, sausage and raisins and nuts and spinach) would also be nice. An array of salads and crudites, a lovely cake and punch and you're on your way!
moibec at 10:45AM on 07/11/08
Pretty little cupcakes!
LadyMarmalade at 10:55AM on 07/11/08
Ripped from the headlines! I was recently at my cousin's baby shower so here is a food review from what I can remember:
Setting: Outside (Appetizers)
Pumpernickel bread bowl hollowed out with dip
Hummus with pita chips
Grapes
Inside (Meal)
Overstuffed wraps and sandwiches:
Triple-Decker rye with turkey, coleslaw, and pastrami (which all of the old ladies descended upon and ate whole, without taking apart)
Chicken and balsamic veggie whole wheat wraps
Veggie and mozzarella spinach wraps
Shredded green and yellow squash salad
'Regular' salad already dressed in vinaigrette (cucumber, tomato, black olive)
Pasta salad with oil-based dressing
Dessert (also inside)
Very nice, elaborate mixed fruit salad--watermelon, honeydew, blueberries, blackberries, star fruits
Chocolate cake, white buttercream frosting, pink icing and pink flowers
Chocolate lollipops with baby designs
Chocolate Hershey's kisses in a bowl
Plus drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic
HeartofGlass at 12:44PM on 07/11/08
@HeartofGlass - that triple-decker sounds amazing. I would have swooped down and devoured that sandwich as well, along with the fruit salad and an alcoholic beverage or three. I'd leave those appetizers and sweets for the youngins. Us old ladies know what to hone in on - experience pays off in spades, my dear! ;-D
PerkyMac at 12:52PM on 07/11/08
My two cents would be to skip the traditional big cake and serve petit-fours for dessert. If you do not bake, better bakeries make them and sell by the dozen in a baby theme.
There is one bakery near me that does them as double-deckers with a choice of filling and frosted in white confectionary glaze with pink, blue, green or yellow (you can pick your color/s) diaper pins, foot prints, booties, teddy bears pacifiers and so on on top. Photos are here:
http://lubeleysbakery.com/Bakery%20Pages/Occasions/Baby/FL000005.jpg
and here:
http://lubeleysbakery.com/Bakery%20Pages/Occasions/Baby/FH000003.jpg
and here:
http://lubeleysbakery.com/Bakery%20Pages/Occasions/Baby/FL000004.jpg
Couldn't be cuter! Also these are great because they are easy to eat and nice for the guests to take home if there are any extras! And trust me . . . you do NOT want a half of a sheet cake sitting around the house begging to be eaten!!!
Mizbee at 12:54PM on 07/11/08
^not to be a naysayer, but speaking as someone with a really, really good slice of that sheetcake in her freezer,she has been picking at, I must beg to differ. Also it is nice to have a 'cake cutting' for the mom-to-be!
The big cake, because it was good cake, actually worked really well.
Other things that worked were the triple-deckers (ah, Perky....) because it gave a sense of 'abundance' that is nice, rather than too much of a 'tea/finger food' feel that is endemic to showers. Ditto the fruit and veggie salads for those on restricted diets. A veggie sandwich without cheese would have been nice, though, and the pasta salad was kind of too 80s and unnecessary.
The non-alcoholic drinks should have been bigger--the bottles of water were toddler size, and I need more than 2 ounces of water to digest a meal! There also could have been a greater variety of tastes--lots of very 'oily' stuff from the deli, which gets to be a bit much after awhile
HeartofGlass at 1:32PM on 07/11/08
Okay this is really cheesy, but you HAVE to do it!
Carved watermelon baby carriage for the fruit salad. {hides face in hands}
Seriously, everybody loves it -- I've always gotten raves for it! Just search on the web, and you'll find lots of plans for them. They're easy to carve and assemble. Just make sure you put it in a low, wide bowl that will catch any leaking fruit juice.
Editmom at 2:46PM on 07/11/08