party food – Bangers & Mash

Grana Padano cheese straws with Prosciutto di San Daniele

November 10, 2016January 14, 2017Posted in Meat, RecipesTagged cheese, party food4 Comments

The season of home entertaining and dinner parties is nearly upon us and cheese straws really have to be one of the loveliest homemade nibbles you can serve to your guests when they first arrive. They’re oh so easy to make (because I cheat and use shop-bought puff pastry) and if you’ve got kids you can probably get them in on the act too.

As with all simple foods, success is down to the quality of the ingredients. To make good cheese straws, you must start with really good cheese. Continue reading “Grana Padano cheese straws with Prosciutto di San Daniele” →

The festive Family Foodies round-up

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015Posted in Competitions and challenges, RecipesTagged children, Christmas, family food, Family Foodies, festive, Hanukkah, party food8 Comments

It might seem strange bringing you a round-up of festive foods at this time of year, but it just wouldn’t be right to wait until next December. So you’ll simply need to bookmark this post for when you start planning your party foods for the next festive season. Although saying that, I think you’ll find there are plenty of tempting treats in this Family Foodies round-up you’ll be keen to try out whatever the time of year. Continue reading “The festive Family Foodies round-up” →

Easy filling ideas for party vol au vents

December 20, 2014June 10, 2017Posted in Meat, RecipesTagged apple, chicken, cinnamon, cream cheese, egg, Family Foodies, ham, party food, smoked salmon, soured cream, vol-au-vent, yoghurt6 Comments

Right up there with mini cocktail sausages and cheese and pineapple chunks on sticks, vol-au-vents are the epitome of 1970s retro chic when it comes to party food. Continue reading “Easy filling ideas for party vol au vents” →

Floral honey party sandwiches

May 30, 2012Posted in RecipesTagged birthday party, children's party, floral, flower, honey, hundreds and thousands, Le Frufru, party food, recipe, sandwich7 Comments

Sometimes I am unashamedly girly and I make the most of the fact I have two young daughters as a good excuse to play with pink, fluffy, sparkly, flowery things.

When I happened upon Le Frufru’s beautiful blog recently, as I traced the source of some pretty pictures I’d come across on Pinterest, I fell in love with her sugary sweet sandwiches for children’s parties. I had to give them a go myself. My photographs are nowhere near as beautiful as the originals but you get the general idea.

I haven’t had the opportunity yet to actually make them for a party. I simply made them to give to the girls at tea time. And you can imagine how much they enjoyed them. Especially the way the hundreds and thousands clung to their lips as they took a bite.

Le Frufru’s blog is written in Italian and so I’m not entirely sure how she made her sandwiches but it doesn’t look complicated, does it?

I made mine by firstly trimming the crusts off white bread. Next the slices were cut into small squares and spread with butter. Using a flower-shaped pastry cutter, I cut out floral holes in half the squares and spread the remaining squares with runny honey. Finally I topped the honey slices with the floral slices and sprinkled into the hole a generous amount of hundreds and thousands.

Despite there being no baking involved, I’m entering these dainty little sandwiches into the Tea Time Treats blog challenge organised each month by Lavender & Lovage and What Kate Baked. This month Karen at Lavender & Lovage is hosting and the theme for May is Floral Flavours & Flowers. I thought my girly nibbles might (just) fit the bill.

Whether you make them for a girlie birthday party, a Jubilee street party, a dolls’ tea party or just a plain old back-from-school treat, I hope you enjoy! And of course you can use any shaped cutter you fancy, and use chocolate sprinkles instead of the classic hundreds and thousands.