Food Ideas for Self Catering Your Party

Keeping in mind that most homes don't have chafing dishes on hand to keep food at proper serving temperatures, or refrigerated salad bars, you should be selective with the food choices. Anything on the menu with mayonnaise or dairy based can go bad when sitting out too long. You will probably need to use crockpots or electric roasters to keep hot foods hot too.

An at home party can be lots of fun. Full meals aren't usually served due to lack of dining space. For this reason, lots of people opt to have assorted appetizer offerings at their parties. This is my personal favorite because you can serve a lot of different type foods and even the pickiest eaters can find something they like.

Below are some simple food ideas for your next party:

• Finger sandwiches - Ham, turkey, salami on mini crescent rolls with cheese and leaf lettuce (no dressing as this will make the bread soggie and the sandwiches go bad faster.

• Condiments - Keep condiments on the side, preferable on ice. Use a dish, place ice in it and display your condiments. This will keep them from getting too warm.

• Veggies and/or Fruit Baskets - Chefs and caterers have been making baskets rather than platters for years. The effect is much nicer and your veggies stay crisp and cool. Alternately, use a large enough basket that you can add your dip bowl to keep it cool too.

• Cheese ball and crackers - line platter with leaf lettuce and have a small 2 tiered basket filled with crackers next to it.

• Pulled Seasoned Roast Beef or Pulled Pork or Beef BBQ with slider rolls - Use a crockpot to keep meat warm and have the rolls sliced and in a nearby basket for guests to make their own sandwiches.

• Pinwheels - Assorted meat, cheese and finely chopped veggies rolled in a tortilla and sliced. Simple to make and pretty in presentation. Put a layer of ice on your serving dish and cover with linen napkins. This will increase the serving time at the proper temperature.

• Bread Bowl with spinach dip and tortilla chips

• Assorted Cheese Chunks and Grapes - These can be attractively displayed in a basket together, or on the base of a cake pedestal for some height. Lining it with red leaf lettuce or kale adds to the presentation.

• Fondue or Chocolate sauce in Fondue Pot - Load up your fondue pot with your favorite recipe fondue or with melted, semi-sweet chocolate chips and a touch of oil. Place a platter or basket next to it loaded with dipping goodies like chunked breads, pound cake, grapes, bananas, apples, marshmallows, pretzels and the like.

• Assorted Finger Desserts - mini brownie bites, mini muffins, mini cookies, mini pastry cups filled with assorted mousse, assorted homemade cookie bars,  gelatin jigglers for the kids, - all of these can be displayed on tiered racks.

 These are some simple ideas that can be made very attractive by non-professional caterers. And, instead of worrying about your cold foods getting hot or your hot foods getting cold, enjoy your party!