What are the most common appetizers or hors d'oeuvres at parties, where you live?

Cooking Discussions
1

Where I live in Ontario, these have been the most common appetizers at parties over the past decade:

Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cheese
Hummus with raw vegetables
7 Layer or 5 Layer dip
Sliders
Caprese kabobs with balsamic drizzle
Baked brie with maple or nuts
Mini spanakopita or tiropita

Things that were popular from 1985-2000, rarely seen now
Party sandwiches (egg salad, cucumber and cream cheese, tuna salad,.etc)
Pinwheel sandwiches
Stuffed mushrooms
Spinach dip in a bread bowl
Cheese Ball rolled in nuts
Smoked oyster sour cream dip
French onion dip

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2

Mainly cheese boards and charcuterie platters.

With smatterings of other things.

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3

Hummus in many different forms and flavorings, including babaganoush with crudites, crackers, pita, etc.
Charcuterie board offerings
Spinach dip in a hollowed out sourdough bowl— how old is that?
Rumaki
Deviled eggs
Pizza Slices or squares
Fondues and bagna cada

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4

Olives
Salsa
guacamole
tortilla chips

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5

Depends on who’s hosting, of course. My apps will differ from other people’s apps.

Seen at parties we don’t host:

  • grainy supermarket hummus in a variety of ‘flavors’ with the requisite crudités
  • prosciutto & melon
  • deviled eggs
  • chips & salsa & guac
  • various cheeses & charcuterie & crackers or bread
  • baba ganoush

Parties we host (depending on general theme/cuisine/mains, of course):

  • baba ganoush, tzatziki, melitsanosalata, dolma, gigantes, olives for Mediterranean fare

  • gravlax with accoutrements, crab dip / crab deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail for fancier parties

  • baguette with sautéed shrooms & melted taleggio or baguette with brie/walnuts/grape or
    baguette with roast beef, horseradish cream & oak leaf

  • spicy shrimp balls

  • Lay’s & French onion dip, chips & guac & salsa, cheeses & crackers for our poker games (our friends regularly destroy that French onion dip, I personally don’t ‘get’ it :woman_shrugging:t2:)

6

Lord save me from the ubiquitous M&M meat crockpot meatballs that have appeared so often at hosted buffets and pot lucks. You can smell that stuff as soon as you open the door. Thank goodness for the cheese and crackers and veggies that also appear.

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7

I don’t know what M&M means, but when I’ve occasionally encountered a crockpot of mini meatballs — usually at an open house type situation, and not anywhere near me — I’ve enjoyed them.

Perhaps because it’s a novelty, or maybe because I enjoy meatballs.

8

If I never encountered hummus again as an app I don’t think I’d miss it :joy:

Rumaki and bagna cauda — your parties are fancier than the ones I go to :yum:

9

Forgot:

Crudite platter with assorted dips, or more often than not these days, hummus

Chips and salsa and / or guacamole

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10

M&M is a Canadian chain that produces frozen ready to eat meals and meat cuts. The standard offering in this area was their Italian meatballs (in name only, not taste) covered by a goopy, sweet and sour sauce. Not a fan.

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11

Ah ok. My first encounter with. mini meatballs in a tiny crock pot was at some holiday open house in new england (with slider rolls next to them) – but they were probably homemade.

Various sauces then and after – savory & sweet asian-leaning, Italian tomato, brown gravy, buffalo. They can be quite good.

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12

My BFF used to make Dr. Pepper meatballs for gatherings. They were definitely a 70’s thing.

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13

M + M is a chain of franchised stores across Canada that sells mostly frozen meals, frozen desserts and other frozen stuff. It’s affordable.

The quality went downhill at some point, maybe 20 years ago. It had started as a frozen meat place, so old timers like me still call it M + M meats.

Hehehe

.Garbage Frozen Food… - #15 by Phoenikia

I think I had a thread here or on CH about most tolerable M & M products. A really nice pharmacist we know bought a franchise, and I spent about $200 trying to give her business in 2020. I got hives after a couple meals, which happens to me after close to 1/3 frozen prepared meals I try, so I haven’t been back.

You start to recognize their brownies and Nanaimo bars at parties after a while, too. LOL.

https://www.mmfoodmarket.com/

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14

Boursin and crackers

Leek and onion strudel, from a recipe I found ages ago:
Thinly-sliced leeks and onions sautéed till tender but not caramelized, then some raisins macerated in port, and summer savory thrown in and warmed through till the port evaporates. Rolled into phyllo, forming mini strudels, and baked.

Peas, potatoes, prosciutto, and onions sautéed together and served in purchased pastry shells.

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15

I made the Heinz chili sauce and grape jelly meatballs , using home-made meatballs, for a Xmas party in 2015- those were a novelty for me. I had read about them online but never tried them until I made them . Not common in my network.

16

Your mention of Boursin reminded me of parties circa 2001.

Red Pepper Jelly and Brie, or Red Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese.

17

Sabra hummus, a bag of whatever pita bread is at eye level, and, if one is feinting toward health, a package of ‘baby’ carrots and celery sticks is the most low effort acceptable response to “bring an appetizer.”

Slightly better responses are pre-portioned cheese boards (cheddar, swiss cubes, maybe a brie-like entry, and maybe a blue) and a box of Bretton crackers. Ditto those ‘charcuterie assortment’ platters from Costco.

If one actually makes something from scratch, it’s better. Chicken wings, soft pretzels, mini quiches have all been hits.

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18

At parties my in-laws hold there’s always a big purchased ring of jumbo, tasteless boiled shrimps, with the ubiquitous (sweet or spicy) cocktail sauce. The shrimps are very popular, and disappear fast :thinking:

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