We're having a surprise open house for my mom's 80th on Sunday. An open house, so appetizer type things rather than meal. I've ordered food from local grocery - deli meats on mini-croissants, deli salad (egg, ham, chicken) on ****tail rolls, a veggie tray, fruit and cheese tray, and cupcakes. My son will make a 'real' birthday cake for blowing out candles. I'm making gluten-free brownies, and GF meatballs in spaghetti sauce. Brother is bringing soda and coffee, and I'll make ice tea. I have plates, flatware, cups, tablecloths. Have candy for bowls on each table, might pick up flowers for more decorations.
What else do we need? Should we have more side-type things? Chips? Caprese skewers? Chicken bites (if the GF batter/ breading works)? I don't want people going hungry, but I don't want a mess of food left, either. (Just a rough guess of how many might show up, but we can always make runs to the grocery if things start running low.)
I was determined to not get stressed about this party, so I went with my sister's suggestion of buying rather than making, but I feel like there's something just out of sight that will hit when it's too late.
I think it looks good, but I would have some chips and dips, not tons of choices. but maybe tortilla chips and salsa and potato chip and a dip for them.
I am with your sister DO not stress just enjoy and your plan of a quick trip to grocery store if needed is better than ahving tooo much food enjoy the birthday!
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I think chips will be a great way to help you stretch the food if a lot of people show up. Sounds like it will be lovely and I hope you make it through without too much stress.
I agree with the others; I would have extra bags of chips and containers of dips on hand jic you run low on anything, as they are good fillers and keep people occurpied while talking. They will keep if unopened and you can use them again in the near future.
I might add some decorative candles to the flower arrangements.
Do you intended to have any kind of BG music? Maybe a CD of songs associated w/your mom's youth?
-- Edited by iluvsuomi1989 on Tuesday 11th of March 2014 12:25:45 PM
Thanks for the suggestions - I will pick up chips, dips and peanuts. Ice water is good; I should have thought of that. I'll check out candles to arrange with the flowers.
Mom's friends are talkers, so I'm not sure music would even be heard. I may be able to sneak out some of the CDs she made from her old records - I really don't want to buy Bing Crosby CDs. We will have a flash drive hooked up to the TV showing pictures. I haven't seen all the pictures yet, my sister's stash goes a lot deeper than mine, so she should have some real oldies, too.
I keep thinking of people I should call to invite - most of it's been 'please pass the word' as Mom has 3 groups of friends, with some crossover, and they're all pretty casual and just a bit crazy.
I think that sounds fine as long as you have enough for the amount of people you are expecting. Are there going to be any young kids? If so you might wanna have some goldfish or hand or some kind of cracker type thing. But kids love fruit usually so I think you are pretty covered.
winds, i was thinking about this while driving home from errands (yes, i have no life. why do you ask?). i think Caprese skewers would look gorgeous on the table, but.....you knew there was going to be a "but", right? i'd be afraid that the dressing would drip when people were trying to eat them. and they'd be an awful lot of work. the goal is to give your mom a fantastic party, but also get to enjoy it yourself. much more important to celebrate this milestone with your mom than to wear yourself out. and they wouldn't last as leftovers.
i know i suggested the peanuts, but you could also go with bowls of snack mix. i like the idea of something, anything, salty in a bowl along with the candy. truth be told, i'll go for something salty before something sweet, especially when mixing at a party. whichever one sounds best to you....
I was going to suggest water bottles. Sounds like you have everything else covered pretty well.
Don't forget sugar, sweetener and milk/creamer for the coffee. Is the iced tea sweetened? If not, maybe a simple syrup? Don't forget a few tea bags. Most of my older relatives prefer hot tea over coffee.
I am sure you thought of these but here is a reminder list anyway:
Napkins. Lots of napkins.
Forks, knives, spoons, stirrers.
Serving Spoons. I get mine from the dollar store for parties.
jlbear, Yeah, I hit up the local party supply store and got pastel plates, cups, flatware and napkins, and serving pieces. My thought was to make things feel a bit spring-like. Tonight my mom said she was ready for spring, so I called that one right. :)
jha - I hadn't considered the dressing drip - good point. Snack mix is out - tree nut allergies, and just rice and corn chex with peanuts instead of mixed nuts doesn't sound too appetizing. (And GF pretzels are pretty bad and darn expensive.)
BA - 2 toddlers. At Christmas they ate what the adults had, so all good there.
Party was a big success - thanks for all the suggestions. The chips and salsa went well also.
We pulled off the surprise. A lot of her friends came, and my niece from California came with her family, and my son who she hasn't seen since last summer.
Close to the perfect amount of food, only two sandwiches left, the meatballs were a huge hit. A lot of cupcakes left, but I'll take those to work and they'll be gone in a flash.
enjoy the birthday!
(Actually, any leftover party food makes a great breakfast.)