Need Finger Food Idea

[cecilia]

My son is getting baptized next month. We need to bring finger food to church for a small gathering after service. I am stumped because we are limited by these criteria:

- preferred to be prepared/finished the day before since we need to leave the house for church at around 10 am
- no reheating preferred as our church has limited facilities

There will be about 60 people in attendance.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[wowimadog]

variations on popcorn. sally schneider has excellent ideas: white truffle, shallot and sage with garlic. listen to her on the 16 december podcast of "the splendid table" here: http://tinyurl.com/2n9jde

[mrsmegawatt]

How about Savory Palmiers. You can get puff pastry and roll them stuffed with a variety of things/combinations: sundried tomatoes, olives, pesto, prosciutto.
Bake them off and keep them in an airtight container. Easy

[E.Kolliopoulos]

Salmon Tartar on new potato slices from foodnetwork site (very "hautey" looking and easy. (may be diff to transport)
chicken liver pate
asparagus spears with lemon tarragon creme (creme fraiche, lemon zest, lemon and fresh chopped tarragon)
gruyere, prosciutto & basil pinwheels
or wrap arugula, raisins and bleu cheese in prosciutto
if you have an oven at the church: roasted olives with orange zest and rosemary (wrap olives in foil, roast at 350 for twenty minutes.

[cecilia]

Wow, thanks to everyone who responded! I can't believe I got so many responses just overnight. Your ideas are wonderful!

Thanks again.

[chef chicklet]

mushroom and onion filling rolled into filo and baked tied with slightly sauteed green onion, can be served room temperature

egg rolls
mini calazones or samosas
good ham wrapped around cream cheese mixed with green onion
stuffed mushrooms
armenian bread smeared with cream cheese mayo,spinach,deli roast beef, roasted red pepper and wrapped in plastic wrap overnight, slice into half inch rounds to serve

cheese twists - puff pastry and parm

[piccola]

I'm all about the pinwheels.

You could also make smaller falafel balls, on a toothpick with some kind of dipping sauce.

I like to make homemade "Ritz sandwich crackers" - I use sesame rice crackers sandwiched with either goat cheese or seasoned cream cheese. Sometime I use spicy peanut butter sauce or hummus.

[personalcheffie]

The shrimp and snow peas sauce is half grape jelly, half dijon mustard. It's fabulous.

[rednails]

So many ideas come to mind, a lot depends on your budget, taste and level of expertise:

Asparagus or grissini wrapped in prosciutto
Devilled eggs-lots of variations other than the traditional filling
Stuffed cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, endive leaves, cucumber cups or baby squash
Smoked salmon Rolls (fill w/herbed cheese, roll/slice in pinwheel fashion)
Marinated shrimp wrapped in snow pea pods (skewer w/toothpick)
Marinated artichoke hearts wrapped in Genoa salami (ditto)
Caprese skewers (marinated bocconcini, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes)
Frittata wedges-heat in the morning before church and they'll be fine at room temp

All but the frittata can be plattered the night before.

[Notorious EMDB]

Swap out the asparagus or grissini and do blanched green beans wrapped in proscuitto.

[rednails]

Mmm, that sounds good too. Also, I was thinking that the grissini shouldn't be done the night before as it won't hold up, would absorb too much moisture from the refrigeration.

[revsharkie]

Oh, here's another Iowa favorite--vegetable pizza:

Take a can of thwock crescent rolls and unroll but don't separate. Press into a 9x13 pan and bake according to the normal directions on the package. Cool.

Mix 8 oz. softened cream cheese with half a cup of sour cream and half a cup of mayo, and add a package of Knorr vegetable soup mix. Spred this over the cooled crust and top with chopped veggies, your choice: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, whatever you like. Chill till you're ready to serve. Then you can cut it in whatever size pieces you want.

[mcel215]

These are easy, and delicious:

CUCUMBER CREAM CHEESE ROUNDS
(very few ingredients but just DELICIOUS)

Filling:
1 cup mayonaise
1 8 ounce cream cheese ROOM TEMPERATURE (important, to keep from having little lumps)
3/4 cup FRESH parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl and chill. This can be done the day before.

Cut bread rounds, using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, out of slices of sandwich white bread (like wonder thin slice). Continue cutting these rounds until you've used up most of the bread. You should be able to get 4 rounds out of one slice if you really cut them closely. Place the rounds in a ziplock bag to keep them fresh. This can be done the day before.

The day of your party, spread some filling on a bread round then place a thin (not paper thin) slice of fresh peeled cucumber round on the top. You'll need between 2 and 3 cucumbers to use up all of this filling and bread. They can be finished 3 hours before serving and stored, covered tightly with plastic wrap, in the fridge.(Can keep overnight in fridge)

These look so attractive on a serving platter and taste just wonderful.

This makes a lot, good for a crowd.

[ncs821]

A tray of fresh veggies with a sour cream dip plus a fruit tray with a sweet dip would be easy. A tray of various cheeses and meats with small rolls already sliced along with mustard, etc.

[torty]

So many options
Thin deli sliced salami or other cold cut simply folded in half & half again & toothpicked (fills up hungry people & no crumbs)
All those cheesey quiche Bisquick appetizers that can be cut in small squares (they come to room temp while the ceremony occurs amd are room temp when eaten)
Small finger sandwiches like deviled ham
Cheese cubes
I am assuming you do not want dips and crackers that require table set up and end up with people grouping around a food table.The types of foods I listed avoid crumbs, are fine room temp and won;t get soggy and are filling.

[WHills]

How about chocolate covered strawberries? You can do both white, milk, and dark chocolate. It's cool enough that you can keep. Just keep it in the cooler. Make it the night before and then refrigerate it.

[revsharkie]

Pickle Wraps! Take some dill pickles and dry the outside of them off. Then spread cream cheese on pieces of dried beef and wrap around the pickles, and slice.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Make lots of them, they go as quickly as deviled eggs.

[Val]

Pinwheels would be one perfect suggestion...you make them and roll them the night before and then slice them down just before serving. Millions of great recipes out there...I always use the hiddenvalleyranch.com recipe if you need a quick reference. Deviled eggs would be easy to make the night before also.