cocktail party how tos

[cindyr]

My best friend from childhood just got engaged and I want to throw her a little cocktail party. I have some wild and rare lounge music, but that's about all. eegads, what are the basics here? p.s. given the warm weather and my Martin Denny vinyls, this could go Tiki.

[little ms foodie]

The basics....decide what you want to serve and start cooking (or buying)!

I love cocktail parties! great music, a few fun cocktails, yummy nibbles.

What do your friends love? pick something that will reflect them and just go for it. Plan on 4 to 6 bites per person. Set a start and end time. Fun!! You are a nice friend for doing this.

[Marlene]

Welcome to eGullet!

If you have a bbq, there are lots of things you could do on the bbq. Grilled shrimps, grilled bruschetta, mini kebobs etc.

Make a few cheese balls ahead of time and freeze them. The day of the party, let them sit at room temp for a few hours, then roll them in finely chopped walnuts or pecans. The one I make has three cheeses, cream cheese, blue cheese and sharp cheddar cheese.

Honey garlic meatballs are easily made a day ahead then gently re-heated the day of.

Melon balls and prociutto are a nice cool nibble on a hot day.

Deviled eggs if you're so inclined.

Asian wings (from the Frog Commissary book) are easy to make ahead and re-heat. You can PM me for details on those.

I've made all of the following and they are simple yet tasty. Most of them you can make ahead.

Blue Cheese and Chive crisps

bacon cheddar toast points

Garlic peppercorn cheesecake (savoury not sweet)

sweet sausage rolls

have fun! I love cocktail parties.

[Marlene]

Oh and cookies, brownies and squares (particularly Butter Tart Squares are also easily made ahead!

[LindaK]

Cocktail parties are fun, but nibble food (aside from putting nuts or chips in a bowl) can take some prep time. Some things to consider:

- what time slot do you have in mind? If it's anytime around dinner, I've found that many people will show up assuming that they can graze and make a dinner out of the nibbles. Wendy's friends must eat a lot less than mine, I always plan on 6-10 pieces per person.

- think about pure finger food vs. something that needs a plate. Not sure how many people you will invite but plates, silverware, and wine glasses can be an issue.

- cold v. hot foods. do you want everything done ahead of time? then items that can be served cold or at room temp are the way to go. Hot foods may need to be finished at the last minute or need the aforementioned plates/silverware.

Some favorite items:

-skewers of any sort. meat, shrimp, veggie etc. easy to eat without plates, cook ahead and serve at room temperature. low prep time. depending on what you make, some dipping sauce on the side is nice.

- rolled anything. from greek grape leaves to vietnamese spring rolls, these are also great for parties. You can do them ahead of time and room temp is fine. Downside: they take some prep time but they have a high "wow" factor.

- pasta or grain salad of some sort. Lately I've been doing things with the large-grain Israeli couscous and leftover grilled veggies, fresh herbs. easy to make ahead of time and somewhat filling for those who want something substantive. downside: require plates and forks.

- it's hard to go wrong with a platter of charcuterie or Italian cured meats.

- ditto crostini of various sort. make your toppings and toast your bread ahead of time, let folks serve themselves.

There are also some appetizer threads around various eGullet forums if you do a search, or maybe other readers here can post a link. Marlene puts me to shame here, as well as reminding me that I always forget about the dessert. I'd never miss it, but if your friends are like mine, have at least one sweet item around.

have fun and good luck!

[mizducky]

Heh. It's always majorly important to have food at a cocktail party--it helps to absorb some of the booze--but of course you also have to think about the booze!

To figure out how much and what kinds of booze to have on hand, start with your guest list--not only the number of people attending, but their typical preferences and behaviors around alcohol. Some people just prefer wine or beer to hard liquor, even if the event is billed as a *cocktail* party. And it's nice to have non-alcoholic alternatives, not only for teetotalers but also for people who want to pace themselves. Decide how many drinks per person you want to provide (this not only has to do with your guests' drinking behavior, but on how soused you're prepared to let them get. ). I've seen some guides suggest having enough supplies to provide two cocktails per person; I'm a bit more generous and tend to have enough for three per (plus I'm of the nothing-succeeds-like-excess school of party provisioning--not only do I hate to run out of stuff, I also think it looks more like a party when there's the proverbial groaning board).

Having a party theme is not only fun, it also helps narrow down your choices in both food and drink. It's much easier on the bartendress, especially if she's a newbie, to have a set "menu" of a relatively few cocktails rather than trying to set up a bar that can mix anything for anyone. Tiki-themed parties are lots of fun, definitely! Some of the cocktails typical of that theme can be a bit on the convoluted side, so you might consider pre-mixing a few pitchers-ful of one of the complex drinks, and then just pour and garnish when ready to serve. Pick your preferred cocktail recipes and provision accordingly--for a Tiki party, you will most likely be buying a bunch of different types of rum (light and dark), plus appropriate liqueurs.

If you do go with the tiki theme, you can order a whole bunch of funny and silly cocktail/tiki decor and accessories cheap from Archie McPhee.

Drinks and food that fit the tiki theme: basically anything ever served at a Trader Vic's (but impress your guests and mix the drinks from scratch rather than a mix, even if you make pitchers-ful in advance). At the very least, I feel ya just gotta have Mai Tais. I especially like these when the bartender puts a dark-rum float on top; you could mix up most of the ingredients by the pitcherful in advance, and add the float on each individual glass at the last minute.

For more ideas on the Tiki party theme, check out this page from the old Hotwired "Cocktail" archive (even though this archive's no longer being updated, it's still my favorite on-line cocktail resource). "Cocktail" also has a Mai Tai recipe, but I actually like my Mai Tais kitschier and more convoluted than theirs. Hey, if you're gonna go tiki, you might as well go for the gusto!

Edited July 26, 2005 by mizducky (log)

[eje]

For deconvoluting the cocktail part, I don't think you can do much better for a starter book than David Wondrich's "Killer Cocktails : An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking".

Punches are nice for summer parties, especially since they can be made ahead. Something like a tequila spiked watermelon lemonade or Brazilian Daiquiris can be made ahead, chilled, poured over ice in a collins glass, and garnished for elegant and refreshing drinks.

Just remember, if you are the bartender and host, especially since it sounds like you are not that experienced with cocktails, it becomes your responsibility to keep an eye on your guests' intoxication level. If you are going to really do it up, it is best if you make it a sleep over.

-Erik

[JAZ]

When you say "small," what size group are you thinking about? Making drinks for six guests is a lot different from making drinks for 15. I find that six is about the limit for mixing individual cocktails -- more than that (unless you have a bartender or a friend who can step in). More than that, and you'll probably want to go with a punch or pitchers of drinks. As mentioned upthread, you probably want to stick with one or two drink choices.

I also think it's important to have an interesting non-alcoholic drink to serve to those guests who don't or can't drink alcohol. Plus, as the evening wears on, you can gently urge your drinking guests to switch to it, so they stay more sober.

As for food, my advice is to strive for food that can be eaten in one or two bites without plates or utensils of any kind. For a cocktail party, you don't want your guests to have to put their drinks down in order to eat. Balancing a drink, a plate and a fork is impossible, and if your menu requires that, you might find that your guests simply choose not to eat, which means a) you'll have gone to all the trouble with your food for nothing and b) you'll end up with a bunch of very drunk guests.

One of my most successful class menus, especially with "neophytes," is a Southwestern/Mexican one. It's easy; most of the work can be done ahead of time; and it's pretty universally liked, but not ordinary. It's also good for summertime.

For drinks, you can mix pitchers of Margaritas. I find the Margarita to be the "universal donor" of cocktails: it's the one drink that most people will accept as their only cocktail choice. The nice thing about it is that although it's pretty accessible for guests unaccustomed to "serious" cocktails, if it's well made, it will still please more advanced cocktail fans. Plus, many people have never had a properly made Margarita, so you'll be educating them as well. And it works well made in batches.

For a non-alcoholic drink, I serve Faux Margaritas. (If you want to make your party prep even easier, you can actually add tequila to the Faux Margarita mixture for a pretty good cocktail.)

My standard food menu is miniature smoked turkey quesadillas, phyllo "chile rellenos," bite-sized tostadas, and chips and salsa (either homemade or purchased). I don't have the other recipes entered into RecipeGullet, but I can post or send them.