Food and drinks for a bridesmaids get-together?

June 11, 2004 8:13 AM

My fiancée is having a get-together for her bridesmaids next weekend. I've been tasked with preparing food and drinks for the occasion. [more inside]

My personal taste leans towards red meat and scotch over ice, but it is neither the time nor the place. So, I'm looking for girly foods. I'm not a master chef, but I can certainly follow a recipe. I'm looking for finger-food type appetizers and at least one really girly drink.

Any ideas? Preferences would be towards something simple to eat while discussing dresses, and the drinks should be something served cold (Texas in the summer, and all)..

posted by jmevius to food & drink (13 comments total)

Mini-quiches, taken from the frozen package and heated according to directions. Cut into quarters if more than a mouthful.

Mini-sammitches. Tuna is good for that, as is egg salad.

Celery, rinsed and cut up. Also carrots, likewise. Crud-ites, in other words. Serve with an obscenely rich dip that you tell them is no-fat, low-calorie.

Homemade cinnamon buns, in widdle pieces.

Drink: sweet tea. Not girly (in fact, truly a warrior's drink), but yum.

OR: stuff with lots of beans and cabbage and a nice big bowl of French onion soup, so as to encourage them to make up their damn minds already.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:31 AM on June 11, 2004

Pasta Salad (Got a recipe if you want one), Mini meatballs
posted by tonelesscereal at 8:52 AM on June 11, 2004

sweet tea is kind of cloying.. a nice refreshing iced tea that I make all the time in the summer is Tazo's green ginger tea.

Everything you make should be small and finger-food-esque, or light and easy to eat. An unsual pasta salad, cucumber, or crab salad might be nice. Cookies are always good. Vegetable and/or fruit dipping trays are really nice.

and although it's not a bridal shower, definitely look for bridal shower recipes -- it fits the occasion you describe.
These look pretty good.

good luck and let us know how it goes!!
posted by j at 9:01 AM on June 11, 2004

It's a bunch of women, who are gathering to discuss a wedding, including what everyone will wear, so image will be heavily on the mind. To wit:

- Avoid carb-heavy foods, like the aforementioned cinnamon buns. They will be stared at and commented upon, but not eaten.

- If you do go for sandwiches, don't pre-assemble them.

- Crudites and dip are a good idea, as is fruit salad.
posted by mkultra at 9:06 AM on June 11, 2004

veggie trays with dip
cheese ball
lil smokes ( throw them in a slow cooker with some mustard and a jar of apricot jelly)
hummus with pita bread
stuffed grape leaves
olives
stuffed peppers
meatballs
COCKTAIL SHRIMP (king of all finger foods)
fresh fruit
posted by corpse at 9:23 AM on June 11, 2004

Chocolate and Ice Cream
posted by bondcliff at 9:28 AM on June 11, 2004

Devilled eggs. Perfect finger food, can be made a day in advance, and almost everyone likes them.

And... I can resist... if you're going to be present, why don't you dress up in a really bad bridesmaid's dress for the event?
posted by orange swan at 9:48 AM on June 11, 2004

There are great recipes for food and drink from the Liqour Control Board of Ontario - it always looks great in the magazine. I'm not sure if it's appropriate, but if you're looking for an alcoholic girly drink, try a cocktail with Hpnotiq. You can't get more girly than that. Besides, it's blue.
posted by KathyK at 11:06 AM on June 11, 2004

the drinks should be something served cold (Texas in the summer, and all)..

Inside or outside?
Outside - few woman in Dallas don't drink cold beer. What brand does your fiancé drink? Maybe have some whine on hand like the square cardboard gallon jugs.

Being in Dallas - if you want a simple meal on the bar-b-que suggest kabobs - close to finger food. They have those marinades you could use; herb & spice, teriyaki, ect...

Buy a fresh pineapple to serve too.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:04 PM on June 11, 2004

My wife (ok, me too) is really partial to Bellinis as a drink, frozen or on the rocks. The basic proportions are:

2 parts champagne
1 part peach nectar
1 part peach schnaps
maybe 1/8 part lemon juice (really just add a little bit. Not too much).

Chill this real good and serve it with ice. It's really great frozen. We use a small ice cream maker to make frozen drinks, ours is fairly small and will make perhaps a liter of frozen bellinis, which is really only enough for perhaps 6 medium sized drinks. You could use a margarita machine to make these too.

We had them at our wedding and they were a huge hit. We also stocked plenty of beer, hard cider, hard lemonade, red and white wine. If you're not a wine connoisseur, then I recommend shiraz for red and maybe pinot grigio for white. Most people seem to find those reasonably drinkable. My wife and I like yellow tail shiraz, very reasonably priced. I don't love pinot grigio so she usually picks it out.
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:51 PM on June 11, 2004

I realize it's Texas and all, but be sure to check if anyone is vegetarian/vegan. There is nothing worse than being veggie at a meat house and having *nothing* to eat.
posted by dame at 7:16 AM on June 12, 2004

- Avoid carb-heavy foods, like the aforementioned cinnamon buns. They will be stared at and commented upon, but not eaten.

Ugh. Unless you're aware that all of the women are in the cult of anti-carb, please don't presume that they are and therefore skimp on something sweet and dessert-like. It's a party, that's a time when some rules are relaxed, even for those who are on a big time diet. And those who aren't shouldn't have their choices limited in deference of those who are.

Also, carefully vett whatever you make for its messmaking factor, especially if you're making hors d'oeuvres or finger sandwiches with a mayo-based ingredient which will leave an icky grease mark if it drips where it ought not.
posted by Dreama at 11:06 PM on June 12, 2004

Oh -- here're a group of hors d'oeuvres recipes from a Food 911 episode on the topic and if I may be so bold as to self-link, a dozen tried and tested appetizer dishes from my own collection.
posted by Dreama at 11:15 PM on June 12, 2004