Our friends are awesome. Last night, in addition to getting out their finest tuxes, feather boas, chiffon dresses, tiaras and stuffed parrots, they braved a "snow emergency" parking ban (start time 2pm) and actual snow (start time around midnight) and proceeded to make me proud by getting through pitcher upon pitcher of manhattans and martinis, and the occasional hand-rolled cosmo and gin-and-tonic, and *demolishing* the following:
60 deviled eggs
2 pounds of cocktail shrimp
2 pans of sweet-and-sour cocktail wieners
most of a cheese plate
a bunch of grapes
2 trays of celery stuffed with blue cheese
a baked camembert with garlic-pimenton toasts
1 recipe of stuffed mushrooms
3 hefty stacks of tea sandwiches (ham-n-pickle, olive cream cheese, and cucumber dill butter)
2 trays of pigs in blankets
1 tray of salmon canapes on pumpernickel with horseradish sour cream
1 batch spicy pimento cheese and a platterful of crackers
64 scallops wrapped in bacon (in literally SECONDS)
most of a double batch of Chex party mix
a huge relish tray of sweet pickles, cornichons and stuffed olives
A tip of the hat to the lovely and talented Mr. Lauderdale, who invented the ChocoHoliday concept 20 years ago, when he strung Christmas lights along the ceiling, mixed pitchers of Tom Collinses, and fed undergraduates in formalwear ridiculous amounts of Belgian chocolates from silver trays. I just swapped out the chocolates for suburban American savories, and turned it into a bon voyage party for the lovely and talented JBar. (Bye! Have fun in Chicago!)
Notes to self:
Fingerburningly hot trays of scallops in bacon cannot safely be left unattended for 2 minutes -- people will brave any danger to get at the trafest and most enticing of treats. When you come back and find the empty tray, you will laugh and laugh and laugh.
Stuffed mushrooms are the ideal companion dish for tea sandwiches, because you can use the ends of the Very Thin Bread loaves for the breadcrumb filling.
Pigs in blankets are the easiest party treat ever. LOVE!
Mild hangovers can apparently be cured by drinking a glass of water, taking 2 ibuprofen, and eating blue cheese mixed with cream cheese on crackers.
The best dance music of all time was probably made in the 1980s.
Posted by foodnerd at January 11, 2009 07:59 AM