Making Party Appetizers For Friends

It's always party season! You can have a party for any reason at all. In order to make your party great you need to have great food. However, how much do you need? There are some good rules of thumb you can use when you are estimating how much food you will need for your party.

Are you wanting to have a formal supper or finger food? This can change the amount of food you need. For a large meal, the general consensus is to plan for a pound and a half of edibles per person. If you want finger food, you can reduce that to around a pound per person. You may need to adjust this if your friends are big eaters or small eaters. You know them best!

For appetizers, the average guest tends to eat 5 pieces per hour for the first two hours of a party and three per hour for each hour longer that the party lasts. Following this average, you would need about 130 appetizers for a group of ten people hanging out for three hours. If you are also planning a meal, you can cut back on the appetizers a bit.

If you like fondue, this is a great party appetizer. You should plan on a single guest eating about 20 bread cubes that are 1 inch each in size. This is about half of a French bread loaf. If you are serving other foods for fondue, consider that one person can eat 6 ounces of seafood, 4 to 6 ounces of cheese, 4 cookies, or 6 to 8 ounces of meat, fruit, or veggies. Be sure to prepare generously... it is better to have leftovers than not enough.

You can figure that one gallon of punch will give ten people three 4-ounce servings. If you know your guests will drink more than this, prepare more. If you are planning on serving alcoholic beverages, consider that most guests will drink two per hour for the first couple of hours and then one per hour after that. Stock up accordingly, including mixers, wine, or beer, depending on what you plan to serve.

Do not forget the ice! Plan on 1 pound of ice per person if you are serving iced drinks. In the summer weather, you will need to increase your amount of ice per person to keep them cool and refreshed. Do not skimp on the napkins or small appetizer plates.

So plan on at least a few quick easy appetizers to start things off. Your guests will love having a little nibble when they first get there. Most appetizers can be made a day or two ahead of time. Planning and preparation should begin early for your party to run as smoothly as possible.

If you cannot plan ahead because your party was a last minute gathering, keep some easy recipes on hand along with the ingredients. That way you can quickly whip up a few treats as people arrive.

By: Christine Szalay-Kudra

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Easy party appetizers will fill out your party meal perfectly. Many people like to put out appetizer party recipes before everyone gathers for the big meal. These can be as simple as a plate of olives and pickles to more elaborate appetizers that look festive. EasyAppetizerRecipes.net You Make the Appetizers, We Help You Make Them Delicious.