I 'm giving my husband a surprise 50Th birthday party. The guests will all be wearing white and I need help in

Question

what food to prepare. Since it is in the evening I just wanted to do heavy appetizers. Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of appetizers and the amount of different items I should prepare? There will be about 40 guests. Right now I'm thinking of having shrimp cocktale, meatballs, chicken wings, beef /chicken satay, side dishes potatoe salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, wild rice salad. I could go with this menu but if you have any suggestions on side dishes that would be great.

Answer 1

Since your party is in the evening, when dinner would normally be served, you should be preparing enough servings of your appetizers so everyone eats the amount they would if they were getting dinner.  

I agree with the answer that upscaling the selections sounds better.  Evening should be more elegant.  Think more cocktail party or wedding fare rather than picnic/barbecue.

Why is everyone wearing white?  If I was wearing white, I personally would appreciate not too many red or dark sauces... Try some stuffed mushrooms, filled puff pastry, etc.

Answer 2

Need more info.  If everyone is wearing white, it's being held in the evening & your doing just appetizers - is it an upscale cocktail party?  If so, I would go with *fancier appetizers.  No offense, but so far it sounds like barbecue food.  Since it is his birthday party, I would serve some of his favorite foods.    

*i.e. asparagus wrapped in prosciutto or bacon

Crab stuffed mushrooms

Rumaki

(Mushroom) Pate

Smoked salmon

Melon wrapped in prosciutto

Stuffed shrimp

Answer 3

One thing that would be sure to go fast would be some bbq sandwiches.  It's cheap to get from somewhere like Sticky FIngers and keeps the quests a bit more filled.  You can also buy it by the pound.  I would say you need about 8 to 10 pounds.  And putting out a pan of corn bread with that is great!!