Anniversary Garden Party?

I%26#039;m co-hosting a 25th anniversary garden party this coming June.





The location is on a lake, there will be a large capony with tables, white linen with yellow accents, big white bows, bowls of citrus fruits and small white flowers for center pieces, live jazz quartet, etc





We are anticipating around 200 guests, we want to serve a variety of cold, make-ahead appetizers that are fairly easy to prepare and not over-the-top expensive! Any suggestions??





Thanks!

Anniversary Garden Party?
It will be hot , so do chilled stuff


Sliced cucumber topped with a variety of things, smoked salmon, shaved ham, halved cherry tomatoes, chicken salad or pimento cheese





fruit kabobs on about 3-4 inch picks





veggie kababs , same size, can marinate in Italian dressing over night





those little pastry cup in the freezer section, heck fill em with anything
Reply:I hate to say this, because I don%26#039;t particularly like her, but Martha Stewart has a great cookbook for Hors D%26#039;ouevres. The link is below.





Outside of that, I%26#039;d stick to veggies and avoid mayonnaise dressings (because of the heat). If you%26#039;re serving seafood or meats, make sure you have LOTS of ice on hand. Given the time of year and the risk of heat de-naturing the food, I%26#039;m with the person who recommended the caterer. If you%26#039;re doing this for someone else, you can still hire a caterer and foot the bill....think about your how much you value your time and labor. (Unless of course you%26#039;re a chef - but then why would you be asking US???) :-)





Good luck!
Reply:Shrimp cocoktail you just buy the 2 lb. bags of pre-cooked peeled shrimp which serve 25 people for $12.00 around here from a big box store. About 75 shrimp per bag. Lots of dips such as spinich, onion and clam with interesting vegetables, fruits, breads %26amp; crackers. Black and green olives, pesto torte is a god way to serve cheese. Simply mix together cream cheese with parmesan cheese and black pepper. Mold into a bowl shape in a plastic wrap lined bowl. fill with purchased basil pesto cap with some of the cheese mixture and chill for a day or two. Top with sun-dried tomato pesto. Great with very thinly sliced baquettes brushed with garlic butter and toasted in the oven.. This can be done ahead of time. A couple of the spiral sliced hams will go a long way. Lots of fresh fruit in season that is grown locally.
Reply:If you don%26#039;t mind using pre-made ones, you can always go for mini-quiches. They%26#039;re lovely cold as well as hot, so you can%26#039;t go wrong.





You could also serve cold marinated vegetables (such as roasted peppers/mushrooms/zucchini (courgette), with a nice cheese like feta, or buffalo mozarella (both can also be marinated).
Reply:hire a catering that would be better and let them server people



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