A housewarming party-nibbles and drinks ideas

We had a a fun night on Sat for our housewarming party so I thought I'd share some of the finger food/appetizers and drinks we did for the party in case you are thinking of having a party or wanting to bring some nibbles to someone elses!


Food

COLD

* 2 x crostini- I bought a bag of crostini already made but if I was doing them again I would try and make them myself in advance, the ones we bought were too small and way too crunchy we both thought, although they all did get eaten!

Our crostini toppings...

- Olive tapenade with chopped up cherry tomatoes and shaving of parmesan
- Sundried capsicum tapenade with little square of feta and basil leaf

Cheese ball and crackers, crostini

* Cheese ball and crackers-I made my first ever cheese ball after seeing Vanessa's on her blog ages ago- it was yum and nice and easy too thanks Vanessa!- here is her recipe http://thebubbalinokitchen.com/2013/06/cheese-ball

*nibbles platter- Lisa's kumara and pumpkin dip, chips, pita bread crisps, bagel bites, green stuffed olives, capsicum slices

*Blini's- cream cheese, salmon and dill blini's- you can buy blini's frozen at Nosh or the supermarket if you don't want to make them yourself- we bought them and they were great

HOT

* 'Scrummy Scroodles'

These are tasty little savoury muffin type treats that a friends mother in law gave me the recipe for. I made them on Friday and they just got heated up in the oven during the party. Here is the recipe

1/2 cup chopped bacon    
2 cups grated cheese
1 pkt onion and bacon soup
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
500g sour cream

Mix all ingredients. Bake for approx 20 mins in mini muffin pans at 180deg.  Freezes well.

It made me at least 36 mini muffins but I don't think I put quite enough filling in each muffin hole so next time I would put more mixture in so would probably get about 24-30 from this recipe.

*Samosa's and spring rolls

I didn't get a photo of these but we served these Shore Mariner vegetable samosa's and spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce- these are always a popular thing to serve at a gathering! They're at the supermarket and Nosh, there are other brands that do them as well but this brand was recommended to me.

* Sundried tomato and feta dip with chilli and lime wedges- we were going to do these later in the evening as well but didn't in the end...

We also had a few friends bring some delicious nibbles- my sister did pork belly cut up into bite sized chunks which was a BIG hit, and another friends hubby Andy made mini caesar salads on those little serving dishes which were really tasty- cute idea too to make an appetiser from a meal! Wish I'd taken a photo but they sort of looked like the mini caesar salads below but he served each one on one of these little serving dishes -I couldn't find them online in NZ but these are the exact ones Andy used http://plasticcontainercity.com/black-plastic-mini-tear-drop-dish-10-per-pack.htm




Drinks

* Bubbles, wine and beer-I set up our dining table with glasses with a few bins underneath for empties.

* Apple, ginger and cranberry mocktail for the drivers/pregnant ladies- I used this recipe without the vodka http://www.whatkatieate.com/recipes/apple-ginger-and-cranberry-vodka-cocktail. To keep the cocktail cold without it going watery I made ice cubes out of the apple juice and the cranberry juice. I added a few sprigs of mint as well.

* Vodka Jellies- these are always a fun thing to bring out later in the evening- I made some and my friend made some too- here's my 'recipe' for them

1 packet jelly
One and a half cups boiling water
Half a cup vodka

Mix the jelly and the boiling water, when cooled add the half cup of vodka then place in the fridge to set. If you want to make them stronger use 1 cup boiling water and 1 cup vodka.

Makes approx 22 30ml jellies (you can buy the plastic shot glasses from the supermarket)

So there you go, some ideas for your next gathering :) Have a great week!
Megan