Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with partyfood

What shall I feed the playful masses?

itesser — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:45:32 -0800

I need more ideas for "game night" food! I've done curry and chili in the past, and am tossing around lasagna and gumbo as possibilities in the future, but want more options. Since every cooking question is special, there is Every so often there happens to be a gathering of 5-7 people in the house I'm living in. Not every one shows up at the same time, or eats at the same time, so it's not quite a dinner where I can expect every one to sit down and focus 20 or 30 minutes on "meal time".

Curry and chili were smashing successes because I could spend an hour hanging around the kitchen, adding more ingredients, tasting and spicing. I stuck the bread in the oven (naan and corn, respectively), and when it was done whoever was hungry grabbed a bowl and served themselves.

I experiment and improvise a lot when I cook. The curry was based on several recipes and vague memories of how my husband does it. The chili was based on several recipes and what sounded good.

basic criteria:
- flexible, forgiving, scalable.
- reheats well/makes good leftovers
- doesn't rely on meat* or exotic ingredients (the spice selection is limited)
- doesn't need side dishes (bread/rice/basic pasta are fine)
- don't need food-processor/blender or electric mixer/kitchenaid

* sometimes a vegetarian shows up, sometimes not. I can use TVP in place of ground beef, and chicken when she's not around, but want to avoid recipes where each person gets their own steak/chicken breast/piece of fish

Bonus points:
- doesn't need constant attention
- includes garlic

Have food, Will travel

beccaj — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:48:06 -0800

I have a few couple holiday parties coming up and I'd like a great dish to bring. I'd like it to be not to difficult, not too expensive, possible to make/assemble ahead, and travel well. It can be main dish, app or dessert (or other I guess). Fancy looking a bonus but not needed.

Make ahead appetizer ideas?

smalls — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:12:26 -0800

Looking for some good make-ahead appetizer recipes for an upcoming afternoon get-together. We're having a small get together of ten people, and I am looking for items that can be made a day or two before, and just be put out when it's go time. Things that we can bake just before putting out are okay, but cold or room temperature items are preferred.

We're not really into the olives/spiced nuts/cold cut platter type of things, and are trying to avoid items that are heavy on the dairy. Bonus points if you happen to know of any high-carb/low-fat recipes.

So far I've come up with some maybes:
Shrimp cocktail
Cherry tomatoes w/roasted garlic filling
Homemade bread with some type of spread (ideas welcome)
Parmesan, rosemary, and walnut shortbread
The requisite fruit/veggie and dip platter

Eat the Humans!

wanderingmind — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 19:30:45 -0800

So let's say, hypothetically, I wanted to throw a party of some kind, themed around monster movies. The twist, though, is that we'll be rooting for the monsters. To this end, I want to find human-shaped food. [crunchy bits inside]