Help me with my Pizza Menu.

[Deleted]

Long story short. We're having people over Friday night for a farm appreciation dinner.
We usually go out to a bar/grill sort of place, let the people eat and drink on us. However, most of us have little kids and it's become a giant PITA to go out. So we're having the party at our house so the kids can run/play/fall asleep as they please.

All of that said, I need to jazz it up at home then.
H and I decided on pizza but now I need some fun apps to go with it. H asked for chicken wings and I got that covered. What else is there?
I have a veggie tray and fruit tray on order as well.
There's no vegeterians or food requests, so that's not a problem. Anything goes there except salad. The greatest majority could take or leave it in this case or that'd be my go to.

Also, anyone tried any beer/simple drinks in a bottle lately, they love. This is not a complicated cocktail sort of crowd but something fun would be nice.

[tarheels]

My favorite food for a crowd is dixie/Texas caviar. A salsa/chip dip with black eyed peas, black beans, peppers, jalapenos, onions seasoned with red wine vinegar, cilantro, salt, Tabasco. Lemme know if you want me to post the recipe.

Now, if this post were on TN's Entertaining board, I'd be telling you about balanced meals and all that, but I know you, and this is a farm crew, so I'm just gonna throw out some of my favorite nest-trashy party food

Um, in the interest of providing even more cheese , this is fantastic. pinterest.com/pin/198932508512813219/

And this is insanely good. You'll never want store-bought again. pinterest.com/pin/198932508512096709/

And OMG. You've had this, right? I could eat the entire 9x13 pan all by myself. allrecipes.com/recipe/sex-in-a-pan-i/

It's still snowing up there, right? I have a [southern] friend [transplanted] in Minneapolis screaming/crying on FB every day about how awful it is. So maybe you can't use this yet with the cold weather, but it's SO GOOD. Skip the fussy floating fruit - doesn't add much flavor, just looks. pinterest.com/pin/198932508509758662/

[spankswife]

Sounds fun!! Put me in the happy-at-a-house-bc-I-have-a-kid crowd

Buffalo chicken dip (I put in a small crock pot to keep warm) allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buffalo-Chicken-Dip/

Antipasta-esque tray (sticking to Italian theme) - crackers, cheese, ham, salami, pepperoni, maybe some olives

Maybe a rum punch? Something you could fix in a pitcher people could just pour

Something for dessert - cookies/cupcakes/brownies, easy to serve

DH (from IA) says - pigs in a blanket, chips and salsa, or seven layer dip. Beer is good. and milk - ha ha..

[njnester319]

My go-to appetizer is spinach artichoke dip. Here's the recipe I follow, it's awesome. restaurant.food.com/recipe/copycat-applebees-hot-artichoke-and-spinach-dip-111797

Or if you want to make it a little lighter another app I do is take Italian bread, slice it thin and put it in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes to get it a little crispy. Then just cut up tomato slices, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. Layer it on top of the bread (tomato,cheese and basil on top) and lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar. You can make this in the morning and just cover and put in the fridge I just recommend not doing the balsamic until you are ready to serve.

[sierramist03]

Velveeta rotel and hamburger dip with tortilla chips are always a hit here

[Deleted]

Thanks girls! I'll think on some of these. They all sound good.
And LOL. Tarheels. That about explains it. I'm usually all about well balanced and decently classy but this has turned into a "come on in after chores at 8pm" sort of event. It's also low key, casual and relaxing so I'm not at all worried about what flows. My normal dinners do I promise! Can you post that recipe for me please..sounds about up this party's alley.

[peach]

This is definitely Klassy with a K, but I love it!

tastykitchen.com/recipes/appetizers-and-snacks/bacon-wrapped-smokies-with-brown-sugar-and-butter/

[peach]

This is definitely Klassy with a K, but I love it!



tastykitchen.com/recipes/appetizers-and-snacks/bacon-wrapped-smokies-with-brown-sugar-and-butter/


And these are  super easy and yummy!

dancingbranflakes.blogspot.ca/2012/10/brie-and-apple-crescent-rolls-and-word.html?m=1

[sjh722]

Apr 23, 2013 21:08:26 GMT -5 peach said:

This is definitely Klassy with a K, but I love it!

tastykitchen.com/recipes/appetizers-and-snacks/bacon-wrapped-smokies-with-brown-sugar-and-butter/

These are delicious. They always get devoured at our parties. Butter is totally unnecessary. (and, word to the wise, line your pan with aluminum foil.)

Bacon wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese are always yummy.

Google beer bread - I think one of the first links that comes up is a food.com one. It's super easy. I cube it and put it out with dip - last time I did a cold dip with a sour cream/cream cheese base and added green onions/garlic/lots of fresh dill.

[thewop]

I was also going to suggest jalapeno poppers (bacon wrapped, cream cheese stuffed jalapenos).

Greek salsa always goes over well(like I can't go anywhere without it):
5-6 roma tomatoes seeded and diced
2 avacados diced
1 med red onion diced
4-5 oz crumbled feta
1/4-2/3 cup Italian Dressing (to taste)

Mix it all up in a bowl. Add more or less of whatever you like. Serve with tortilla chips.

[tarheels]

Combine all. Serve with Tostitos or Fritos.

2 cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2 cans white shoepeg corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced roma tomatoes, drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 jalapenos
3 drops Tabasco
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper
Cilantro


For seasoning, this is one of those things that you taste as you're mixing. Let it sit in the fridge for a while, come back and taste it again, doctor it, repeat. I've never had it turn out too salty, but it's easy to overdose on pepper, cilantro or Tabasco, all 3 of which in too high amounts totally ruin the mix, so add them slowly.

Fresh cilantro is better than dried for this, but it's easy to overdose on the fresh and change the flavor profile for the worse. So if you're using dry, you can be more liberal, but add fresh cilantro slowly.

DH loves this so much we just keep it in a bowl in the fridge all summer long.

[magdala]

If you are dealing with an under 3 crowd, pick up a loaf of French bread and slice it thin. Plain bread was the biggest hit at our last party because the little ones would eat 3 or 4 slices each.