What can I serve at my housewarming drop in?

Can you go to Costco? or Wall-Mart.

Check out the frozen Hors D'oeuvres, small quiches, stuffed mushrooms etc. Keep warm in a serving dish.

You can also make some super shrimp bites with already made puffs (check out foreigh/imported foods in stores like World Market. Mayonnaise, drained and rinsed small shrimp in a can, green onions Pouf! You have a favorite "bite".

Turn cooked shrimp with snap peas on a toothpick, Bruschetta, cheese cubes.

Check out Epicurious.com Have fun and good luck!

Store made things are always more expensive and hardly ever taste as good as homemade.

For something that will last only 1 hour between the lunch and dinner hours it can be really simple and need not be filling.

Rule of thumb is that the more things you present, the more people will eat. In other words, a small variety of things will go just as far as a large variety. People often want to try "a little bit of everything".

I think the cheese and fruit idea is a nice one. Simple and easy to do. Cheese can start to add up depending on what kind of cheese is interesting to you.

You could also consider providing something Mediterranean like 2 or three different kinds of hummus with pita chips (easy to make yourself) and fresh veggies for dipping. A few marinated olives on the side and you're all set.

Here are a couple of recipe ideas:

Hummus

½ lb Chickpeas, cooked

½ cup Tahini paste

1 teaspoon Garlic, chopped

¼ teaspoon Cumin

¼ cup Lemon juice

½ teaspoon Salt

Cayenne pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons Olive oil

1 teaspoon Fresh parsley, chopped

1. Combine the chickpeas, tahini, garlic, cumin and lemon juice in a food processor; process until smooth. Season with salt and cayenne.

2. Spoon the hummus onto a serving platter and smooth the surface. Drizzle the olive oil over the hummus and garnish with the chopped parsley. Serve with warm pita bread that has been cut into quarters.

I like to make pita chips by cutting in wedges and separating the halves. Toss with olive oil and a bit of salt if you want and bake on a sheet in 350F oven until toasted - about 12 minutes.

You can make a roasted red pepper hummus by purchasing roasted peppers in a jar or roasting some yourself. Omit the cumin and add the roasted peppers to the recipe above until the flavor is what you'd like it to be.

Great veggies for dipping in hummus are:

cucumber sticks

carrot sticks

grape tomatoes

zucchini sticks

yellow (summer) squash sticks.

mushrooms

Marinated olives are usually easily found at any deli.

Presentation goes a long, long way. Simple food can look stunningly elegant when presented properly. Bring out your best, get creative and have a couple of vases (they can be for single stems) of flowers around. When I've been on a budget pinch, I've even purchased just a few single roses, ripped the petals off and scattered them on the table or serving area. Looks great!

Lasagne always goes down a treat!

You can make a big batch, garlic dough balls/garlic bread, a salad and salad dressings.

Satisfying and tasty!!

Just find a nice simple lasagne recipe (perhaps a family recipe) and make sure you find out if anyones a vegetarian so you can make a portion of veggie lasagne.

If you aren't the greatest cook you could buy in ready-made lasagne and mess it around a bit for a homemade effect..melt cheese on the top..add basil..you get the picture!

Simple, cheap and they'll love it!!!

Hope all goes well :)

xox

at that time of day, people are inbetween lunch and dinner and won't expect "meal" food. I would suggest making some muffins, and putting out fruits, cheeses and crackers. If you want to be out of the box, get a big wheel of brie with several kinds of fancy crackers and serve it with grapes. Put out some wine if you prefer. To save money on wine, buy it by the box. You can hide the box and serve the wine out of your own carafes.

If you don't go with wine, you could set up a coffee bar.

Buy some premade chicken salad and crab salad. Ma ke finger sandwiches, along with a relish tray, cheese board and crackers.

You can make it seem quite elegant with a cheeseboard and fruit. Have some moderately priced wine and it will be a huge hit, I'm sure!

1 hour?

Make a Cheese Ball and have white and red wine.

Put out a bunch of grapes.

Lumpia!

sandwich dip