Hellobee Boards

We have to be so careful, between many vegetarian friends, friends with celiac, children with severe allergies... We always label ingredients and ask about dietary restrictions prior to get togethers.

Go to's are cheese, rice crackers, veggies, fruit salad, hummus and pita.

It depends on the party, we try to make the food match the theme. We've done carnival, fiesta, Italian, all different kinds!

Depends on the party and the time of year.

For LO's birthday we have been doing brunch. Bagels and lox, quiche, salad, yogurt bar, etc. But for football parties it's usually cold out so something like chili, soup and sandwiches, etc.

It depends on the occassion and the guests we're having over.

I usually do sit down dinners, and I try not to serve the same thing twice, but I have found that with desserts especially, I like things that are already portioned out and that I don't have to serve. In fact, I really prefer to do buffet/serve yourself, but our house wasn't set up for it and people often took their food to the couch, which i hated!

What I really want to do is a meatloaf cake, with meatloaf in layers, frosted with mashed potatoes, but I don't know if I can pull it off and if the guests would just think it's weird or clever.

Buffet of food that involves grilling tons of meat (we always have leftovers for a week), egg rolls, variety of chips and dips, hashbrown casserole, some type of roll/bread, various sides, drinks, desserts, and liquor/wine/beer.

I always make this (it gets requests!): http://www.marthastewart.com/312423/cheese-balls-three-ways

then we either grill or get a sandwich platter

And then I'll do some kind of pasta salad (my favorite is ditalini, peas, and cubed extra sharp cheddar cheese with just enough mayo to moisten everything, carraway seed, seasoned salt, and pepper) and maybe a Swedish meatball or chicken wing type of situation. Depending on how many people will be there, we might get a veggie platter or two, as well.

If it's just for snacks:

Pretty much always hummus/pita/pita chips, cheese platter with my faves (goat cheese, brie, and some kind of yum hard cheese) with crackers, something sweet that you can eat with your hands (brownie bites, or cookies, etc), and then one thing more "substantial" like pig-in-a-blankets, or chicken egg rolls, etc.