Kitchen

[ahoymate]

Beautiful lolakimonio! Love a wonderful presentation! Tasty bits that R healthy. The quinoa bites (I think this is what they R) and the cruidte in individual glasses. Spring rolls are wonderful addition as well

[ahoymate]

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

Beautiful lolakimonio! Love a wonderful presentation! Tasty bits that R healthy. The quinoa bites (I think this is what they R) and the cruidte in individual glasses. Spring rolls are wonderful addition as well

Keep it coming, they all look wonderful. I love sushi for finger foods!!!!! Easy to make.

Whoever you invite as guests are lucky!!!!

[JustJules]

Lola, those pics all look so delicious. I think the "diploma roll ups" are such a cute idea!!! Those would be so easy to make and lots of fillings to choose from. I almost suggested to Isaboo the Mexican Cream Cheese Roll-ups, but she could put anything in a tortilla... turkey or ham, swiss or cheddar or jack cheese... could even get some already made seafood salad to spread in some for variety. Just roll 'em on up and tie a green scallion around them... such a great idea!!!

[JustJules]

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

Beautiful lolakimonio! Love a wonderful presentation! Tasty bits that R healthy. The quinoa bites (I think this is what they R) and the cruidte in individual glasses. Spring rolls are wonderful addition as well

Keep it coming, they all look wonderful. I love sushi for finger foods!!!!! Easy to make.

Whoever you invite as guests are lucky!!!!

I love sushi too!!! But it is costly and time consuming to make, and very expensive to purchase for a large crowd.... I think the OP is looking for practical suggestions to feed a group of people for her niece's graduation party. I can only presume since she asked for ideas of food to make, that she is trying to make it wonderful herself.... otherwise she would just get a caterer.

[ahoymate]

On 5/24/2014 Jules5280 said:

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

Beautiful lolakimonio! Love a wonderful presentation! Tasty bits that R healthy. The quinoa bites (I think this is what they R) and the cruidte in individual glasses. Spring rolls are wonderful addition as well

Keep it coming, they all look wonderful. I love sushi for finger foods!!!!! Easy to make.

Whoever you invite as guests are lucky!!!!

I love sushi too!!! But it is costly and time consuming to make, and very expensive to purchase for a large crowd.... I think the OP is looking for practical suggestions to feed a group of people for her niece's graduation party. I can only presume since she asked for ideas of food to make, that she is trying to make it wonderful herself.... otherwise she would just get a caterer.

California rolls, vegetable rolls, even tuna nigiri are not hard to make nor expensive. Pretty easy. I guess it depends on what you consider hard and/or expensive.

Makes 48

Carrots

Celery

Scallions

Red pepper

6 sheets Nori

1.25 lb sushi rice

pickled ginger

Wasabi paste

Mirin

Sushi dipping sauce

[JustJules]

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

On 5/24/2014 Jules5280 said:

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

On 5/24/2014 Skylands said:

Beautiful lolakimonio! Love a wonderful presentation! Tasty bits that R healthy. The quinoa bites (I think this is what they R) and the cruidte in individual glasses. Spring rolls are wonderful addition as well

Keep it coming, they all look wonderful. I love sushi for finger foods!!!!! Easy to make.

Whoever you invite as guests are lucky!!!!

I love sushi too!!! But it is costly and time consuming to make, and very expensive to purchase for a large crowd.... I think the OP is looking for practical suggestions to feed a group of people for her niece's graduation party. I can only presume since she asked for ideas of food to make, that she is trying to make it wonderful herself.... otherwise she would just get a caterer.

California rolls, vegetable rolls, even tuna nigiri are not hard to make nor expensive. Pretty easy. I guess it depends on what you consider hard and/or expensive.

Makes 48

Carrots

Celery

Scallions

Red pepper

6 sheets Nori

1.25 lb sushi rice

pickled ginger

Wasabi paste

Mirin

Sushi dipping sauce

Hey, I'm just going off the OP's own comments that she isn't very good at organizing... and making sushi does take some organization, not to mention the proper ingredients. Where I live now, finding most of those ingredients, especially sushi grade tuna, would be time consuming and expensive.... when I lived in a big city, no problem. I don't know where the OP lives, just went off her original post. *shrugs* I love sushi, but the way I understood the OP's topic is that she was looking for some simple goodies for the party.

[ennui1]

lolakimono likes to make me feel lazy.

Chips and salsa. A tray of sandwiches from Costco. A platter of shrimp and cocktail sauce (also Costco).

[Hoovermom]

On 5/24/2014 ennui1 said:

lolakimono likes to make me feel lazy.

Chips and salsa. A tray of sandwiches from Costco. A platter of shrimp and cocktail sauce (also Costco).

This is my style also!! We love their pinwheels and their sandwiches (croissant). Costco also has delicious potato salad that you would think I made it LOL. Their artichoke and spinach dip is TDF. Any of Costco's pastries (sheet cake, tuxedo cake) are delicious. I always get compliments on my "parties" and Costco is my caterer of choice.

[Classique]

If you are having a punch bowl, a good way to keep it cold that looks pretty is to make an ice ring. They are very easy and you can Google search for various recipes and ideas if you don't know what they are.

Basically all you need do is take a round jello mold, fill with various fruits and or flowers and freeze them in water. When you unmold the ice ring, insert it in the punch bowl and VOILA! Cold punch for hours. Then if you use edible fruits such as beautiful fresh strawberries or chunks of pineapple, cherries, melons, etc. they can be placed in the punch and eaten when the ice melts.

The only trick is making sure the ring will be the right size for your punchbowl and it is probably better to partially freeze the water and then add whatever, cover with water and freeze. Do this well in advance at least 24 hours in advance so you'll have less to fuss with on the day and will know that it is good and frozen. Then I think you would remove from the freezer 30 minutes or so before placing in the punchbowl so it will melt just enough to remove easily. I don't have a recipe so sorry to be this general. Be sure to Google search if you want to make one. There probably are tips on getting the ice to be clear as well but I think they are nice with just regular opaque ice.

[Classique]

If you need refrigerator space and are planning to serve other cold drinks, ie. canned sodas, you can get a Styrofoam ice chest and place pre-chilled (if possible) drinks in it along with ice cubes or other containers that have been pre-filled and frozen with ice. You can use anything like plastic water bottles or jars with lids and then place them on the bottom of the chest and wherever you can fit them in and then just put ice cubes on the upper part if you want to.

The larger containers of ice at the bottom will last longer than ice cubes which usually have to be replenished if your party lasts some time.

The key to a good party is really being able to relax when you are the hostess and enjoy your company which isn't hard to do as long as you've prepared everything you can in advance and keep things simple.

It is nice to have candles in holders on the table along with fresh flowers there or out elsewhere. Carnations are nice for graduations and come in various colors as they can be tinted.

It is very nice of you to offer your home. Congratulations and just act like you are the "hostess with the mostest" and don't worry if all you have is the cake. That is more than enough and what we had. Then after the reception at home, we and our dates left to attend a dinner dance that was at a very nice country club sponsored by our school.

Most schools sponser some sort of "grad night" and I remember a cousin whose was at Disneyland. Her parents had a reception at their home after the graduation and then she left and took a short train ride to Disneyland with her class for the all-night party.

The only reason I can think of for you to have anything more elaborate than cake and coffee, tea and perhaps punch or soft drinks would be if your party was planned to last several hours or more and people would be there during lunchtime or dinnertime.