Blog Launch Party Tasting Menu

For our blog launch party, we wanted to have a bit of a tasting menu….lots of little things to try.  We are all about minis right now.  We even sourced out mini clear plastic disposable party wear.  I looked forever for small, square plates and ended up ordering them online from http://www.catersupplydirect.com/  You can view their line of disposable tasting dishes here  The really great thing is that my sister-in-law Jana surprised me and took away the bin of dirty dishes when I wasn’t looking an washed them all, so I can use them again!

We also ordered bamboo leaf cones for the fries from Bio and Chic.  They were super inexpensive and looked great.  Both of these companies only shipped within the US, but the easy clean up was worth the drive across the border!

We used disposable shooter cups from Dollarama for the soups and the aioli for the fries.

We also used small stainless steel dipping sauce bowls from Dollarama to bake the mini lava cakes in.  Don’t discount what you might find at your local dollar store!

If you are having smaller group for your party, you may wish to use “real” dishes.  Both Bed, Bath and Beyond and Pier 1 have cute tasting sets available right now.

We did want real glasses for the cocktails, so Laurel and I both bought three boxes of Entertain All Purpose Goblets from Bed, Bath and Beyond…12 glasses for $14.99!!  A friend of ours also had three boxes, so we had 108 glasses in total!  We’ve decided that we can always borrow each others, so there’s no need to rent!

We did use clear plastic square mugs from Cater Supply Direct for the specialty coffee drinks.

If you are going to do this, make sure that the plastic is thick enough so that no one burns themselves.  We were fortunate enough to have AfterThoughts here making custom drinks!!!  AfterThoughts has been coming to our events since…well, since Jason and my wedding back in 1996!!  There’s nothing like being a guest and ordering your favorite coffee drink for free!  AfterThoughts is a great restaurant in Abbotsford that specializes in dessert, specialty coffees and light lunches, 32500 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, B.C. (604)850-1014

We are talking seriously customized coffees!

A couple of rules of thumb for a tasting party….

• consider the time…will your guests have had dinner?  If so, maybe plan on about 4 pieces per person, if not plan on about 8 pieces per person
• make sure that you have a bit of everything in terms of fruit, veggie, sweet, savory, protein
• if men will be present, make sure that you have enough protein
• consider your oven space…instead of making all items that take 20-30 min. in the oven, you may want to make some things that can be heated on the stove or quickly broiled
• stagger when you bring the food out.  Don’t have everything ready at once as your guests will prefer to take their time eating.  If you bring out all of the hot food at once it will get cold before your guests have a chance to try it all
• think of recipes and  foods that you love and think how you can make them into minis (such as sliders, grilled cheese on cocktail breads, mini lava cakes, mini pavlovas)

Mini pavlovettes

Laurel's flatbread was SO good. Here's a tip....food always looks more appealing when served on white platters!

Crudites are a great healthy option for a tasting party. You can make them more appealing by arranging them in square vases and serving them with assorted dips and hummus. I used a leftover marble tile from my ensuite addition as the tray. I just added felt floor protectors to the bottom.

Denise's pumpkin whoopie pies

Andrea's cupcakes

Photos courtesy of Pinball Photography