Hosting a Girl's Night Party - menu suggestions?

[Katigre]

I'm having about twelve girlfriends over for a party later this month. It's been awhile since I hosted a party and I need some help with the menu.

I'm thinking appetizers and drinks (some alcohol but not much bc most of the guests will be pregnant or non drinkers).

Any suggestions on easy to prepare apps and drinks? How much should I have of each?

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[SnuggleBuggles]

What time are people gathering? Do you feel pretty confident that they will have had dinner or do you want dinner type food? If you want dinner stuff, my friend made these once for a party and they were a hit (so much so that I mae them for company too!): http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/reci...ple-tacos.html They were handy bc it was in the crockpot.

I saw this champagne punch recipe the other day and I want to try it:
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/...ampagne-punch/

I have mixed sparkling wine and sparkling pomegranite juice (Trader Joe's) for a super fast, easy drink. And people can just go with the non alcoholic sparkling juice instead of the wine.

I know they aren't fancy but I like veggies and dip. If you have a Trader Joe's, I am big fan of the caramelized onion dip. That plus sugar snap peas are very yummy.

Again, Trader Joe's but I am sure you can get many places...Port Salut cheese, fig butter and crackers= yummy.

Meatballs in the crockpot with some sort of sauce (BBQ, chili sauce plus grape jelly...) tend to be popular.

My black bean and corn dish is popular and easy- 1 bag thawed frozen corn, 2 cans rinsed black beans, 3/4 bottle fat free Balsamic (again, Trader Joe's), basil, salt and pepper.

Grape tomatoes, mini mozzerella cheese balls, basil and balsamic salad is good.

This stuffed baguette was a hit when I made it for a party:
http://www.bakingobsession.com/2009/...ffed-baguette/

[crayonblue]

When I go to ladies nights out, I always hope for veggies and dip! My all time favorite at a recent party was sliced strawberries, watermelon and pineapple with lemon squeezed on top and plenty of Tajin seasoning. I think I ate my weight in that fruit mixture!!!! And the next day I went to the store specifically for Tajin!

Artichoke dip with crusty bread is always well received as are meatballs.

[KpbS]

I love salsas and chips--you could make several and have veggies with dip and the black bean dish too! Those all sound really yummy together.

[Seitvonzu]

i make these once a summer it seems--
whisky smash (in my family called "bourbon Slush")
2 cups bourbon (i just use jim beam)
6 oz lemonade concentrate
6 oz orange juice concentrate
2 cups brewed tea
6 cups water
1 cup sugar

mix all ingredients together and freeze in shallow containers (should take about 10 hours to freeze nicely, more if the containers are shallow). use a fork to break into slushy consistency (rake fork over top to "flake" slush)

we had these tonight for our "school is over, summer is here" party and they were well received as usual

it wasn't a girls night, but when i'm out of entertaining practice but want to have a big dinner or people, i turn to an old standby.... Stouffer's lasagna. it's not fancy, and i never really serve store bought anything when i have people, but i honestly love stouffer's lasagna. yes, i can make a delicious 4 cheese mushroom lasagna that makes toes curl...but... i don' know , i'm a sucker for the stouffer's. tonight i took this to a new level with this menu--
strawberries
potato chips
veggies (brocolli,carrot "chips," grape tomatoes) with ranch dressing (hidden valley packet +sour cream)
stouffer's lasagna
stouffer's mac and cheese (lots of kids present and this was very popular)
Large bucket of fried chicken
"easter salad" (easy salad that is romaine lettuce, chopped celery, green onions, drained mandarin oranges, sliced/roasted/candied (tjs) almonds, simple dressing of italian dressings mixed with some of the orange juice & sugar)

for dessert i made an ice cream sandwich cake. this can be googled but it's basically ice cream sandwiches, cool whip , heath bars, and chocolate/caramel sauce. easypeasy.

all this was very well received, fed 19 people easy (10 adults, 9 kids) i also had a ton of lemonade

not fancy but pretty easy to put together for a crowd. for a girls night i like some of the fancier ideas above, but i thought i might throw this out there. everyone left totally full and happy

[almostmom]

This is my favorite new app, and I'm making it tonight for a party at our house!

Whipped feta bruchetta:
http://barefootcontessa.com/recipes....cipeID=876&S=0

[Sweetsunshine]

Wow that bruschetta looks delicious! I'm going to try that for my next cookout.

[almostmom]

It is so seriously so so good. The flavors are just perfect together, and it's pretty simple to make. Glad it struck a chord with you!

[Tondi G]

I would do a vegi and dip platter

maybe some fruit salad or if you do a cheese plate you can just serve grapes with it

I would do a caprese salad .. mozzarella, tomato (grape work well and are easy), fresh basil ... toss with EVOO and Balsamic, salt n pepper. serve with sliced baguette

Tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole

Hummus (you could do just plain or buy a few different flavors roasted red pepper is my fav. but a spicy option is good too), pita or pita chips, sliced cucumber and bell peppers to dip.

Salami, Prosciutto platter with sliced baguette seems to go over well when we have parties

A pasta salad might go over well too ... maybe orzo?

[acmom]

A summer appetizer that I had at a girls night and have used many times since is a cucumber feta dip. You just mash chopped cucumber with feta and dill and a little salt and pepper. It makes a yummy creamy dip that can be used with tortilla chips, pita chips or crackers.