So…where I now work there’s apparently a monthly potluck meal. This month’s one will be on the 20th, and the theme is “your favorite hors d’oeuvres.” I’m not really big into appetizers to begin with, and my favorites are either too time consuming to make a bunch of, too expensive, or too impractical to share with a big group…
So, if you were going to bring in hors d’oeuvres for a group of 36 people, and had limited ability to reheat them, what would you suggest that would be a crowd pleaser? Throw in the complication that since I won’t be at work until the day of the gathering, I won’t get a peek at the list of what anyone else is bringing too. I assume someone else will have common things like pigs in a blanket/pastery wrapped lil smokies and a veggie platter covered.
To be honest, I’ve only a vague idea of what the term hors d’oeuvres even covers. Are there such things as cold ones?
While I love any type of finger food/party food and really love the real, homemade stuff, I would suggest you hit up a Sam’s or something similar and go for the pre-made, frozen tiny quiches. If the reheating would be gross (like, it would sit in an office for 10 hours then reheated in a microwave) you can always do a fruit bowl with some sliced melon, grapes, pineapple, apples and a sweet dip. When a situation calls for some immediate snacky foods you can always count on those and some rolled and sliced wraps filled with spinach, salami and provolone. Finally, there are frozen petit fours that can spend the day thawing in the company refrig and be ready. I love those. They aren’t really an hors d’oeuvres but I find that when people have “hors d’oeuvres type food” they really just mean little stuff you can snack on with your hand or walk around with.
Thanks for the suggestion, but baby shrimp is one of the few foods to ever make me throw up, so I think I’ll be avoiding making anything with it in the future.
I’ve suggested it before, but my favorite potluck nibble is a good smear of cream cheese and a pepperoncini ring on a salami slice, rolled up and toothpicked.
A dip of cream cheese, chopped orange and red peppers, chopped nuts, scallions and drained crushed pineapple served with a box of Club Crackers. Make it a day or so ahead, take it in, and you’re done. No having to make sure it’s warm or to keep refilling the plate. You could even use red and green peppers for Christmas, but the red, yellow or orange seem to have a sweeter or milder flavor.
How about fresh fruit, such as berries, served with chocolate dip? Alternatively, I was once the hit of a potluck for bringing ready made crepes, nutella, strawberries and bananas, and letting people roll up their own dessert “crepes.”
And for shear ease, you really cannot go wrong with a bowl of tortilla chips and salsa.
Dill pickle roll-ups. They’re kinda messy but easy, and can be done the day before and refrigerated. They’re extremely popular around here.
Spread cream cheese on a slice of dried beef. Don’t get the “good” dried beef – it’ll fall apart – use Buddig’s or Oscar Meyer. Place a dill pickle (splurge here, use Clausen’s) at one end and roll it up. Slice into rounds. (I slice off the round ends and eat those as I go.)
You won’t need a toothpick to hold the roll-up together, but take some along for serving purposes.
If you like, you can mix some sour cream into the cream cheese to make it easier to spread.
Just bring three traditional American, creamcheese, nut studded cheeseballs and a couple boxes of crackers.
There are many different recipes out there, from total lacto-vegetarian, to ones that are made with a mix of cream cheese and Braunschweiger. You can get very creative with nut rollings and garnishes too if you wish to make it a bit more personalized… Pistachios, Walnuts, Cashews… Festivius Flair- Green Herbs, red Spices…
Great for a crowd, and it is buffet… or help yourself style. It will probably run about $15- 20 for the quantities.
Got a crock-pot? Make a big batch of meatballs and sauce. There’s a hundred recipes on the web, anything from swedish meatballs to meatballs & marinara sauce. Always a crowd pleaser.
I am not sure this exactly fits this the definition, but one of my favorite things to bring for a pot luck is nuts. Get the ones in the shell and pick up a couple cheap nutcrackers at the dollar store. It always seems to go over well. My little cousin recently made some snacks that everyone liked. Take cream cheese, shredded cheddar, and a pack of taco seasoning, mix well and spread on tortillas. Slice into rounds. Tasty and easy, travels well, and can be served at room temperature.
I went to a holiday party potluck and made Chex Mix. I made a sweet one, with Pumpkin Pie spice, and it was amazing and snarfed up by everyone. It’s sort of low-brow perhaps, but does actually require a bit of effort, and who doesn’t love Chex Mix?
The cool thing about potlucks is the variety of things people bring, and everyone’s interpretations of a request like hors d’oeurves. Have fun with it!
