Appetizers that can be "made ahead" and frozen
This week's column includes a few of the appetizers we served at a recent party. Our method for determining the amount of food needed for an event such as this is to break it into "bites". We look at the number of people we plan to serve, the total hours of the event and multiply the people at the rate of bites (or appetizers) per hour. Our formula of 10 appetizers per person for each hour of a party seems to work. Once we started making appetizers to freeze, the thought of 1400 "bites" seemed a little overwhelming. We made a total of 18 different recipes in varying quantities (things such as nuts are not included in the total count). While the majority of the things we made were frozen well in advance, a few things were done a day or two ahead. The most visually impressive dish of the party was an idea passed along to us by Helen Morgan; a whole wheel of Brie coated in a gelatin and wine mixture and then decorated with herbs and edible flowers. We had more success with pansies than other flowers, but with a little extra time (which we didn't seem to have that day), any of the edible flowers, if taken apart carefully, should work. Having access to beautiful, fresh herbs from Pete and Caroline Madsden (Pete's Plant Farm) made this a memorable recipe.
