I need something to take to the Fourth of July block party, and I’m tired of taking the bean salad.
How much work are you willing to put into it? Sometimes I make deviled eggs. I use the medium sized eggs if I can get them, and they’re a good price. Since they’re smaller than most eggs available for retail sale, they go further, and they’re neater to eat.
I like potato salad, too.
I like just a plain veggie and relish tray, too. You don’t have to cook it, just cut stuff up and provide a couple of dips. You can’t go wrong with French onion and ranch dip, IMO. A veggie tray will balance out the heavier stuff, as well, and won’t sweat and lose its texture like a gelatin dessert will.
I’m willing to put in some work if necessary. However, deviled eggs would be devoured before I could possibly get them all the way across the street. 
I also just like to know what kind of stuff you guys take to these events.
7 Layer dip is a classic and popular.
Baked Mac n Cheese is always a hit as well. And you could jazz it up with some finely diced Jalapenos and some bacon for a “grown up” version.
I make a corn casserole that people beg for. Super-easy, too.
Dump all of this in a bowl and stir it up:
2/3 c. flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
3 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
(alternatively, skip all above ingredients and substitute a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix)
2 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 can kernel corn, drained
1 can cream corn
Dump into a dish and bake at 350 for an hour.
Deee-licious.
This is a Weight Watchers recipe, but I’ve taken it to two picnics this summer to rave reviews. Everyone wanted the recipe.
Apple-Carrot Salad
Take 2 red apples and 2 green apples and cut them up into matchsticks (so each strip has a bit of skin on each end). Toss them in a large bowl with a splash of lemon juice.
Add the following and toss to combine:
1 10-oz. bag shredded carrots
A handful of slivered almonds (my addition)
4 oz. feta cheese crumbles
Some chopped fresh chive
A splash of olive oil
A sprinkle of sugar
Salt and pepper
It’s best when very fresh, so make it right before you go. It doesn’t age well, but leftovers shouldn’t be a problem.
Usually I take a raw veggie and relish platter, both because deviled eggs seem to evaporate and because I want to have something there that I can eat with relatively little guilt. I think that the veggie platter is quite enough, especially if I put radish roses and plenty of olives on it.
I always like to make the “Man Food”.
Meat Dip
Take about 3 lb of ground beef and cook it. Throw it in a crock pot. Add a brick of Mexican Velveeta. Turn pot on high until cheese melts. Stir in a jar of taco sauce. Serve with tortilla chips.
Cocktail weiners
Get a package of cocktail weiners and a package of bacon. Cut bacon in thirds, wrap around weiner and hold in place with toothpick. Arrange on cookie sheet and put in 350 degree oven until bacon is done. Arrange on plate covered with paper towel.
Now that the man food is taken care of, lemme put forth the girlyman food.
First, pimiento cheese done right:
-Put a clove or two of garlic in the food processor.
-Add a dash of cayenne, a bunch of paprika, and some cumin.
-Whirl it together.
-Add some cubed extra-sharp cheddar and some cream cheese. Whirl.
-Add a big spoonful of mayo and a couple spoonfuls of pimientos. Whirl.
There you go: it’s done! It’s especially good warmed.
And my latest favorite, a totally delicious tofu salad. If you dislike tofu this won’t convert you, but even if you’re neutral to tofu, this is wonderful. I’ve eaten a batch and a double-batch of this in the last five days. Lots of Sriracha, garlic, and ginger gives it a bite; the carrots give it a fresh sweetness; and the tofu and sesame oil make it nice and fatty on the tongue. Good for a hot day when you want a cold meal! Here’s the recipe.
I made this the other day for a cookout. I was especially impressed with how fast and easy it was to whip together.
Asian Salad
You could add chicken or mandarin oranges etc. if you want.
ETA: I used closer to 1/2 or 1/3 cup of oil… as many others suggest in the comments as well. Seemed reasonable and tasted good.
Gumbo.
Get a thawed duck and quarter it and skin it, saving the skin. Brine the duck quarters in a pint of pineapple orange juice and 1/2 cup kosher salt for 4 hours. Sprinkle the duck with salt-free cajun seasoning and sear in a pan until brown. Deglaze the pan with water and set the liquid aside. Chop up the duck skin and render it in the pan. Take 1/2 cup of the duck fat (add vegetable oil if you don’t have enough, but you should) and combine with 1/2 cup of flour and make a roux in a big stock pot. When the roux is a nice brown, add a chopped onion, a chopped bell pepper and a chopped celery stalk. (These should be chopped before you start the roux) When the trinity has cooked for a few minutes, add a few crushed cloves of garlic. After about a minute, add two quarts of vegetable stock and the reserved deglazing liquid. Add the duck and bring to a boil and reduce and simmer until the duck falls off the bones. Fish the duck out and remove the bones and shred the meat a little and add it back to the pot. Brown some medallions of sausage (I use kielbasa, but andouille is traditional) and add it to the pot. Serve over rice.
I like to take cucumber salad, it’s sweet/hot: note - make this a day ahead if possible for best flavor
1 cup white sugar
1 cup white vinegar
pinch of salt
stir over med high heat til sugar dissolves. Add some red pepper flakes, set aside to cool.
cucumber ( I use seedless greenhouse type)
large sweet white or yellow onion
some small hot chili peppers to taste
thinly slice cucumbers, onions, chili peppers
pour syrup over veg, chill
seems like I have seen this recipe with chopped cilantro. and this is the basic recipe, feel free to change anything to your preference - different vinegars, add other veg etc.
Taco Dip is a popular choice.
Also, on summer days, fruity sweet desserts are a great idea, like Fruit Pizza.
I take olive dip and stone wheat thins.
12 ounces cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise or light mayonnaise
2 cup chopped (food processor) green salad olives (bits and pieces of green olives in a jar with pimentos)
4 tablespoons liquid from salad olives
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix it all up and let it it sit overnight (it will be a little runny when you first mix it, but it stiffens up some).
It looks really humble but when you take a bite…the tastes unfold. YUM!
Hmmm.
With power available:
Cocktail Weiners - one package.
1 jar of chili sauce - around 10 oz.
1 jar grape jelly - around 8 oz.
1 small onion
Chop the onion really small. Cook it in butter until it starts browning. Throw in the cocktail weiners. Brown them. Throw in the grape jelly and the cocktail sauce and stir it all till the jelly melts and it combines with the chili sauce. Keep it all together in a crockpot or something like that.
Without power availble:
Cheeseball
2 jars Kraft Old English Spread
1 4 oz. package crumbled blue cheese
1 8 oz or whatever size a brick of cream cheese is.
1 small onion, diced.
1 Tablespoon A-1 steak sauce (or to taste - sometimes I used Worchestire which I know I spelled wrong but it works but either way, it’s to taste.)
Put it all together in a food processor or a bowl and use a mixer to mix it all up. Serve with Triscuits.
Sometimes I put a tablespoon or so of crushed pineapple in it. It’s up to you.
If you’re going for finger food, different kinds of pinwheels are good.
Just get yourself several different kinds of wraps or tortillas and go to town with cheese, veggies, fruit, nuts, meat and spread. Some favorite combos are pimento cheese and thinly sliced ham on whole wheat tortillas, cream cheese and olives on spinach wraps, pineapple or mandarin slices, slivered almonds and cream cheese on flour tortillas , bean dip with lettuce, finely chopped tomatoes and shredded monterray jack on sun dried tomato wraps, guacomole and pepper jack on corn tortillas, even peanut butter and jelly on cinnamon tortillas. Assemble, roll and slice. They’re usually gone about as fast as deviled eggs.
The Devil’s Own Deviled Eggs
2 dozen eggs, hard boiled, halved, with yolks removed
6 small cans baby shrimp
2 jar grated horseradish
Mix the shrimp and horseradish. Fill eggs. Throw away the yolks.
If you want something in the entree vein, these Antipasto Squares are great. I followed the recommendations in some of the comments to blind bake the bottom crust for 7 minutes before assembling, and I drained and dried the peppers before adding them. I also use reduced fat turkey pepperoni and reduced fat cheeses, which I think helped keep them from getting too greasy or soggy. I used 4 eggs instead of 3, and reserved about 3-4 Tbsp of the egg mixture to brush over the top crust before baking. I made them for a retirement party last week, and they flew off the table.
If you’re looking to bring a side, I really like Apple Berry Salsa with Cinnamon Chips. It’s not pretty, but it is light, refreshing, and delicious. To make it simpler, you can skip making your own cinnamon chips and buy packaged cinnamon sugar pita chips. They’re not quite as good as the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips, and higher in fat, but they’re a time saver.
Wow, that sounds awesome! I’ve been jonesing for something like this. Thanks!