Finger and party foods easy to prep far in advance

May 10, 2013 11:54 AM

We'll be having a reception of about 60 people at the church hall after Peanut's baptism in June. I'm looking for recipes for finger and party food that will withstand the June heat and that I can prepare over the next few weeks in advance.

I'm a pretty handy in the kitchen but easy is a must since Peanut is 6.5 months old and there's only so much I can get done when she naps.

Additional tips and advice for prep are always welcome; suggestions of Costco and ilk are out of the question as I live in Rome, Italy. Ethic ingredients (pita bread, tortillas, wonton wrappers, cheddar, sour cream etc.) are also any combination of unavailable or difficult to get, expensive, and inedible.

posted by romakimmy to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

These Cheese Wafers are easy, use common ingredients, and freeze well. And they are very tasty!

*Edit ~ Oops, I see you might not be able to get good cheddar cheese, sorry.
posted by susanaudrey at 12:04 PM on May 10, 2013

Barbecue ribs was one of my standard items for taking to potluck dinners as a military wife. For potlucks, I cut them up into individual portions before cooking them. They always disappeared. You need to make sure people have access to paper towels to clean up, but this is a rare case of both "finger food" and main dish. Most main dishes require fork, knife, plate, etc and don't do so well at parties. Even hot dogs and hamburgers are more complicated to serve and consume.

I would assume you can freeze and reheat. I probably did this the day before on occasion.
posted by Michele in California at 12:05 PM on May 10, 2013

Best answer: Depending on how long and how hot you are talking about, hummus stands up pretty well. Chickpeas should be no problem, I don't know how available tahini would be for you. Cut up veggies could go with it, and pita bread if hard to find, is very easy to make and freezes well.
posted by hrj at 12:06 PM on May 10, 2013

I'd be surprised if you couldn't make the wafers with a different cheese.

How about candied or herbed nuts?
posted by wintersweet at 12:14 PM on May 10, 2013

Best answer: A variety of cookies might work. Cookies can be anything from savory to sweet and basic to fancy. You can either prepare the dough and freeze it in cookie-sized balls to bake the day before or you can bake them, cool and then and package them well between sheets of waxed paper in an air-tight container. Most cookies actually freeze pretty well for up to a few weeks.
posted by tenaciousmoon at 12:15 PM on May 10, 2013

I think you could adapt this figs, stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in bacon recipe. Make ahead of time, refrigerate, then just set out before the ceremony (in a covered dish) instead of reheating. You could also just soak dried figs in some tasty liquid for a week or so, then serve at room temperature. (Wine, say, but maybe you don't want that if there will be young children in attendance.)
posted by homelystar at 12:27 PM on May 10, 2013

Bruschetta is awesome at 'room' temperature and a great spring/summer dish.

Baked pasta dishes are easy to prepare in advance and heat up wonderfully. Lasagna, Ziti, etc.

Do a tray of salami, cheeses, olives, peppers etc. Super easy and everyone loves that stuff.

Fried ravioli with a nice dipping sauce (garlic aioli or marinara). Fry ahead of time (or oil them up well and bake in the oven) Then freeze. Reheat on party day.

Skewers of fruit. A crudete tray.

A few cool pasta salads.

Chicken Dijon, made ahead of time and served cool. Make a base of dijon mustard, tarragon and olive oil. Whisk together. Toss with raw chicken, roll in bread crumbs. Spray oil on pan and on chicken. Then bake. It's good hot, but AMAZING cool/cold. Yum!~

Congratulations!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:29 PM on May 10, 2013

Best answer: It doesn't seem to me that these answers are really geared towards a few weeks in advance. To me this implies food you will need to freeze things and either defrost or reheat then for your event. Is that right, and do you have a freezer that will work for a large amount of food?

Meatballs and potato balls can be made in advance and frozen. Bean salad can be made the day before. Antipasti can be made that morning, and you can pair Croccantini with something like a fig dip that would be less typical but complimentary.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:02 PM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]

Given the abundance of awesome Antipasti, fruit and bread where you are, it would be kind of a shame to serve US typical stuff like re-heated previously frozen cookies or ribs or some such. Maybe you can make italian Antipasti yourself - artichokes, eggplants, zucchini, peppers, olives and dried tomatoes, in oil or brine made in afvance and then serve it up with salumi, fresh fruit and bread?
posted by The Toad at 1:14 PM on May 10, 2013

Best answer: Gougères are shockingly easy to make, and they freeze pretty well. Just pop them in the oven to reheat on the big day. (They will be slightly drier, but still plenty tasty.)
posted by duffell at 1:40 PM on May 10, 2013

Best answer: A friend of mine just did an event at her house with the following items that may meet your needs plus some items made by local grocery stores and restaurants.

Roasted Rosemary Cashews (Barefoot Contessa) - make a few days ahead with whatever hearty herb and nut you like
Carmelized Onion Tartlets (Patrick O'Connell) - see ahead preparations and some last minute but I think would hold well at room temp for a couple hours
Gougeres (Barefoot Contessa) - freeze beautifully, use whatever cheese you want and "pipe" from a freezer plastic bag
Sundried Tomato Dip (Ina Garten again) - make a couple days ahead, serve with crackers or veggies, serve in vegetable containers like red peppers
Cheeses and Meats and Olives - this must be easily available
Greek Orzo Salad - or other cold pasta salad easily made day ahead
Steak sandwiches (Giada) - make the spread a few days earlier, buy some roasted peppers or less wilty greens like arugula, make whatever easily available meat 2 days ahead and buy the bread fresh. Make on large or long loaves then set on a large cutting board with a knife for people to cut the length of sandwich they prefer they want.
Another food that freezes very well is small crab cakes baked then frozen then heated in the oven and can hold well for a couple hours.

Dessert - already doing a cake perhaps? I think this is an area to buy unless you like to bake.
posted by RoadScholar at 4:59 PM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Guacamole is dead easy, and there are quite good tortilla chips in the supermercati (even if, for a Texan, they might not meet your exacting standards, but your European guests won't notice).
posted by aqsakal at 7:58 AM on May 12, 2013

Best answer: And, given that the weather should be warmer by then, some cold pasta salad or tabulé with cuscus is dead easy to prepare in advance and should go down well. And some large quantities of lemon sorbetto, which a helper can spoon into those one-off waxed paper espresso cups at the last moment.
posted by aqsakal at 8:09 AM on May 12, 2013

Chiming in to second Gougères, great crowd pleaser. I'd add that it should be frozen piped out, but unbaked, on parchment paper. Once it's frozen you can pop them off the paper, bag them and toss them back in the freezer. Bake frozen at 375º until golden. They'll keep quite a while in the freezer if you seal them well.

These are fantastic with fresh herbs(thyme, black pepper, and gruyere) or spices(red chile flakes, cheddar, jack) or even sweet, sweet bacon(minced cooked bacon, blue cheese, and chives).
posted by nenequesadilla at 6:27 PM on May 12, 2013

Response by poster: Awesome suggestions all around - this thread has been very helpful in jogging my brain in a "Oh right, DUH" fashion as well. I guess I've got a worse case of baby brain than I thought ;)

The cheese crackers I'll try with maybe Gouda on a different occasion. BBQ ribs are yummy but I have to make my own BBQ sauce and unlike my patented Bastardized TexMex Burchadas*, I haven't perfected my ingredient subbing method for it yet.

I'm inclined to avoid the bruschetta and finger sandwiches for this time, since the baptism is at 11am and I think that even preparing them the morning of (riiiight) I'll end up with soggy breadstuffs.

Cheers to you all :)
posted by romakimmy at 5:01 AM on May 14, 2013