Conference turris::cooks

Oh - I almost forgot about drinks.  I had planned on making frozen wine
margueritas and sangria.  I have a recipe for the frozen wine margueritas
but need one for sangria.  Thanks.

Easy and Delicios Frozen Wine Margueritas:

1 can lemonade  (use small size or half of large size so it will fit
		 in your blender)
2 cans white wine   (or 1 can if you bought the large size lemonade)
 
Put the lemonade and wine in blender and fill with ice. Blend to desired
consistency. You should not have chunks of ice in the drinks but they should
be fairly thick.

Finger foods are what you make them.  For  instance, small hard-fried/grilled
strips of bacon are good.  Crisp French Fries as a substitute for or adjunct
to potato chips is often welcome.  You might even investigate my "mini-kabob,"
about a dozen notes back.

I often have good luck with thin slices of "Beef Stick" sausage available
from Hickory Farms.  Their real beef jerkey is particularly useful if you
want people to eat slow.

For a sort of semi-dessert, I revomment banana chips.  

Apollonius

Try spreading soften cream cheese over an oval dish. Cover with a can 
of crab meat. Cover that with jar of cocktail sauce. Serve with Ritz
crackers.

I always put out a vegetable platter with a dip.  I use a pint of sour cream
and mix it with a package of Good Seasons Italian dressing.  You can have
all the veggies cut up before-hand and keep re-stocking the plate as you
need to.
Nachos are real easy to make, too, and can be prepared ahead and just popped
into the oven when you are ready to serve them.  You can vary the toppings so
there will be a variety of things.

Have you thought about asking everyone to bring a different dish?  Whenever our
group has a party, everyone brings something so no one has to spend all the time
getting everything ready when there's all that help available.  That also allowsfor more variety as people will bring their favorites.

Cathy

Another cream cheese thingie, which my mother-in-law always serves when people
come over: put a package of cream cheese on a dish (take the foil off first),
and pour Pickapeppa Sauce on it until it runs over the edges. Serve with
any crackers that don't disintegrate when spread with cream cheese. 

Pickapeppa Sauce is a sweet, spicy sauce that comes from Jamaica in little
bottles and may be in the international or gourmet section of your supermarket.

					Val

I have a favorite for recipe for Sangria.  To each 1/2 gallon of wine (use
cheap wine because when you are done you will not recognize a good wine as
being good any more!) add:

	Juice of 2 oranges, 6 limes, 6 lemons
	1 cup of sugar (or to taste)

and

	Serve over crushed ice.

You can use fruit juices, but there is a big difference if you use fresh
fruit.

Jack

You can get some Genoa salami, spread a thin layer of cream cheese then roll and
cut to desired length - really delicious.

Also, there is the standard chicken liver wrapped in bacon but my favorite
is scallops wrapped in bacon.  If you use Bay(small) scallops you can cut a
strip of bacon in thirds and wrap one third around the scallop, hold together
with a toothpick, then broil(turning once) after a few minutes, or until bacon
is somewhat crisp.  This is really super but could get expensive for 30 people.
I dont advise using Calico Bay (Florida) scallops (they are tasteless).  Stick
with a cold water New England scallop.

Dont forget an assortment of cheeses (and crackers).

rick

Another eay bacon nibblie:

stuff pitted dates with blanched almonds. Proportions to buy are approx.
1 lb. dates to 4 oz. almonds. Wrap in bacon slices cut into thirds, hold
with toothpick. Keep in refrigerator until ready (no more than 1 day) and
then broil. 

These are crunchy, sweet and salty. Great combination.

Tamzen

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far!!  In response to some of the
replies:  I have had the cream cheese w/ PICKAPEPPER sauce and it is 
delicious!  Thanks for reminding me of that!  I had also planned on having
veggies and dip - another suggestion for a good dip is Maries Blue Cheese
dressing - it comes in a jar, not a bottle and is delicious.  A variation
on the bacon, dates and almonds is to stuff dates with water chestnuts and
wrap in bacon and broil ( this is really yummy - I can't wait to try it 
with almonds! )

Keep 'em coming!!

Mary

One variation on the dip for veggies is to use yoghurt instead of sour
cream.  Perhaps this should go in the low-cal receipes note.

    
    
    re: party suggestions
    
    My first foray into Vaxnotes - figured I'd start with a subject
    near & dear to my heart (and waistline!).
    
    This recipe is one of those versatile, all-purpose ones - freeze-able,
    microwave-able, multiply for a crowd-able-
    
                            HANKY-PANKIES
    
    basic recipe is:
    
          one pound of hamgurger
          one pound of sausage
          one pound of Velveeta
          one loaf of cocktail rye bread
    
    Fry together hamburger & sausage, drain off grease.  Chunk up the
    cheese, add to meat and let melt in.  Add spices/herbs to taste
    - garlic, worcestershire sauce, pepper, oregano, red pepper.
    place slices of bread on cookie sheet, and put a spoonful of the
    mixture on each slice.  at this point, they can be frozen then put
    in bags for later.  or, just put them under the broiler till brown
    on top.  If frozen, they should be thawed first, or baked on low
    long enough to thaw the insides.  viola!
    
    to vary this recipe, you can use spicy sausage, or different kinds
    of cheese - we like half Velveeta and half jalapeno pepper.  haven't
    tried the mexican velveeta, but that should work, too.
    
    a vegetarian friend tried chopping up broccoli and caulifower instead
    of the meat and said it worked just as well.
    
    

    Here one I like for the crockpot.  Kilbasa in the crockpot.
    
    basic recipe is as follows:
    1 stick of kilbasa, sliced up.  Fry the kilbasa in the fry pan, turning 
    once.  In the crockpot put half a bottle of ketchup (enough to cover
    the meat), three tablespoons of brown and 4 tablespoons of mustard.
    Blend these three together and then add kilbasa.  Keep crockpot on low
    since kilbasa is already cooked.  Recipe can be altered according to
    taste.

    I need some suggestions for recipes in this file that I can search.
    I've been trying on my own, but there are too many!
    I'm having a party for about 70 people in a small banquet hall.  I need
    food that can be served at room temp!  I'm really stuck for ideas.
    There is no heating capabilities available (another party going on at
    the same time that has the kitchen booked), very few plugs available
    for crockpots and the like.
    Besides the ubiquitous cold cut platter and salads, does anyone have
    any other ideas?  Just throw out a category, and I'll search through
    the directory for recipes.
    Sarah

    Sarah,
    
    Can you do something like a Taco Bar? Have all the ingred. layed out
    and people can put their own together.
    
    ~beth

If your only concern is the lack of kitchen facilities and electrical
outlets, don't let that restrict your choice to cold foods. Steam trays
and chafing dishes heated by sterno are easy to obtain and handle.

    Doesn't thermos or some other company also have cold or hot insulated
    food dishes?  Seems I saw an add for them sometime ago.  
    
    FWIW a good crockpot will keep food hot for a considerable amount of
    time after it is unplugged.  
    
    I kind of recommend the taco/burrito/echilada casserole idea, as I have
    found that with a minimum of hot pots one can have a fair amount of
    good food.  
    
    meg

    The taco bar idea sounds great!  I'm trying to stay away from chafing
    dishes and the like, since I'd like to enjoy the party myself instead
    of being the caterer : )  Minimum clean-up is also a plus.  Good idea
    about the crock pots remaining warm, too. 
    Sarah

    Stuffed grape leaves are fine at room temperature.  They are
    time-consuming to make, but easy to serve and eat.  I use the 
    recipe in the Moosewood Cookbook.
    
    Dale

    You'll need a package of flour tortillas, a can of diced jalapenos
    and an 8oz tub of softened cream cheeze.  (haven't tried the 'free'
    but the reduced fat is perfectly ok)
    
    The quantity of jalapenos you'll use will depend entirely on your
    personal taste.  Be brave, but don't use the whole can, ok?.  Scoop 
    the cream cheese and the chiles into a bowl and work them with a 
    butter knife until they're fully mixed and spread easily.
    
    Spread the cheese mixture on a tortilla, roll it up fairly tightly. 
    When you're out of cream cheese, use a bread knife to cut them into 
    inch-thick disks and arrange on a plate or platter.
    
    Refrigerate.