Girl's Night Menu

[isign]

I'm going to do a girl's night at my house at the end of the summer. I want to have some really great food, but not just junk food. Any ideas?

[katmg]

Do you have a theme in mind for the food? If you have something specific maybe we can help better that way...

I tend to like appetizer type foods when I'm just having ladies over. Things that are smaller bites give you the option of tasting more things. I find that women more than men enjoy this kind of "snacking" dinners...

[isign]

Hmm well, kind of a slumber party theme. I'm treating the girls to facials & am telling them to come in their PJs

[Ohana]

Make your own sushi? I used to have make your own sushi parties all the time. Basically, you just cut up all the ingredients and let your guests make their own handrolls. I never did sashimi (too expensive, no stores near me have reputable fish counters), but we did things like avocado, crab, cucumber, teriyaki spam (don't laugh, it's really good), shrimp, etc. Cut all that stuff into matchsticks, cook and season your rice, set out some nori, soy sauce, and Japanese beer and sake, and you're set. It's a lot of fun because people get to make whatever they like, and you can sit around and chat while everyone makes their own food.

[kindermom]

I like finger foods as well. The more you can taste, the better.

Italian:
-Mini meatballs baked and served with sauce to dip in.
-Angel hair nests (cook the pasta, toss with EVO and parm cheese and coil into a muffin tin. bake until golden). great to put the meatballs in.
-Bruschetta
-Chicken parmesan (boneless skinless breasts coated with italian seasons and parm cheese and breadcrumbs. bake until done (I forget how long)),
-Canolli (no ideas how to make)
-Minicheesecakes
-Sauces: red, alfredo, pesto

Basically you can make most Italian dishes and miniaturize them!

More ideas to come. Right now my DD is fussing.

[luvnbeng]

When I have a get-together that doesn't involve actual dinner, I like to serve finger food that is tasty and not too much trouble to prepare. Some of my favorites to serve are:

Shrimp cocktail
Grillled chicken strips (grill boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut into strips) served with dipping sauces (barbecue, honey mustard, thai peanut and ginger-soy are my usual sauces). I usually put the sauces in hollowed-out peppers--looks pretty!
Vegetable crudite with dip
Asparagus spears wrapped with proscuitto (or use any other type of thinly sliced deli ham)
Cheese & crackers

Have fun at your party!

[isign]

Thanks for the great ideas - keep 'em coming :)
I love the sushi idea, but that's not a big thing in these parts. The saki is a great idea too, but we won't be drinking. I thought maybe to get some bubbly grape juice. I'm thinking kind of a decadant night since there's going to be pampering involved, like chocolates & things. I'm wishing I had a fondue set at the moment too. I might look at getting one.

[KrissyCat7]

I agree that finger foods are great.....

Mozzarella Sticks
Mini Quiches
Veggies and dip
Fruit and dip
Cheese and crackers
Little Mini Sandwhiches

[katmg]

I would probably just do a chocolate fondue for dessert. When I've done fondue parties you usually have to have multiple fondue sets for the various kinds of fondue (oil, cheese, chocolate).

I've also had chocolate fondue that we didn't use an actual fondue set - the lady just microwaved her fondue mixture and we dipped out of a regular bowl. It didn't stay hot as long as a regular fondue set would though. Just a thought if you didn't want to go buy a set...

[kindermom]

If you are going rich

For dessert, you can totally melt chocolate chips in the microwave to create a chocolate dip. Then you can have fruits, pretzels, cookies, cakes to dip in it.

[May27JnJ]

I did a little "Googling" for you and I found this website. It has some recipes on page 4, I think, but the whole thing is neat.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBX/is_4_7/ai_71711515

Scroll down, it looks like it doesn't come up. But it's there...

I want to have a girls night but...I don't know when I can get rid of the husband!

I want to do a "Clue" theme. I want all the girls to pick a character and dress like them, have the weapons, and everything! I want to play the game! I think it would be so much fun!

Hope you find something that works for you guys! And HAVE FUN!

[vwinkel]

I love snacking type foods as well. There are some great appetizer threads with ideas. Here are few that came up with a search:
last minute snacks and appetizers? (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=13924&highlight=appetizer)

Appetizers For An Italian Main Dish? (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=10137&highlight=appetizer)

Party recipes (apps and desserts) (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=7260&highlight=appetizer)

Appetizer recipes? (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=4449&highlight=appetizer)

Here are some other ideas that are minimal effort:
Mini croissants with chicken salad
Garlic Shrimp kabobs
Fruit kabobs with fruit dip
Spinach salad with fresh strawberries (similar to this recipe (http://salad.allrecipes.com/az/SpinachandStrawberrySalad.asp))
Cream cheese dip with pretzels (I like windandwillow.com)
Stuffed cherry tomatoes
Spinach dip with hawaiian bread
Small crudite tray
Vegetable Pizza (here's a recipe (http://vegetarian.allrecipes.com/az/VegetablePizza.asp))
Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Or you could make it a dessert party:
Brownies
Chocolate Fondue
Trifle
Cookies
Ice Cream
Cheesecake

If you aren't drinking alcohol, you could always do virgin blended drinks to make it more festive - strawberry dacaris, pina coladas, mudslides, etc.

[karina]

Three words.
Seven. Layer. Dip.

[KGif]

Seven Layer Dip is exactly what I was going to suggest as well :)

And Pitas & Hummus.

[isign]

What is hummus? I've seen it mentioned here but I have no clue what it is.

[wendalah]

Hummus is a delicious spread made out of chickpeas. It's good on pita bread, veggies, crackers, and chips.

I think a soft taco bar would be easy and fun. You could grill up some shrimp and fish, and serve it with warmed tortillas and various salsas and toppings. You could have a couple salads on the side too. And definitely serve fruity frozen drinks. For dessert, I'd make up a big batch of sugar cookie dough and put it out with different-shaped cookie cutters, frostings, and toppings. Everyone can bake and decorate their own cookies.

[TriSigmaNC]

A few things that come to my mind:
Chocolate dipped strawberries
Mini cupcakes or Petit Fours
Sour cream/spinach dip with pumpernickle bowl and bread (use spices/veggie soup mix and the others and mix)
Mini cream puffs (you can buy a box at any store)

[gayle]

Oh for a girls night I would go with something like a High Tea menu. It's inherently feminine and fun.

Little tea sandwiches (cucumber and cream cheese, tuna salad, black olive and cream cheese, sharp cheddar and ham etc, do a search for "Tea Rooms" and you'll come up with lots of ideas.)

A nice fruit tray, cookies, and tiny cakes, a bowl of mints, maybe a chilled soup that could be served in pretty little tea cups.

You could do iced tea if you didn't want to do hot, and even serve champagne if you wanted to spice things up a bit!