When planning a New Years Eve party appetizers
are one of the items the host spends a great deal of time
considering. This is because appetizers, along with cocktails,
are one of the most popular food options for a New Years Eve
party. Unlike other parties which typically take place during a
meal time, New Years Eve parties usually start later in the
evening. This makes planning the food for the party a little
more complicated. New Years Eve parties may start at around
8:00-9:00 or even later. This is too late to serve dinner but
because the party will last at least until midnight it is too
long of a time to expect your guest to go without any food. For
this reason, most New Years Eve parties feature light food items
such as appetizers or sandwiches.
When selecting appetizers for your New Years Eve, it is
important to consider the number of guests you will have at your
party. While it might be acceptable to allow 4-5 appetizers per
person when the cocktail reception is held in conjunction with a
dinner, this is not appropriate for a New Years Eve party.
Considering the duration of the New Years Eve party, the lack of
more substantial food and the alcohol consumption which is
likely it is much more appropriate to allow for 12-15 appetizers
per person. Considering this large number, you should plan on
providing at least five different appetizers for your party to
ensure your guests will get to taste a wide variety of items.
When selecting appetizers for your New Years Eve party it is
also important to consider the set up of the party. If you will
be providing tables and chairs for the guests, it is appropriate
to include appetizers which require a fork to eat. However, if
you will not be providing seating, it is more appropriate to
only include appetizers which can easily be eaten with the
hands. You should also consider how convenient the appetizers
are to eat. There are many great appetizers which can be quite
messy or require elaborate dipping sauces. These types of
appetizers are not a great idea for a New Years Eve party where
guests are likely to be dressed quite elegantly. Sticking to
items which are easy to eat and do not result in a great deal of
mess will be greatly appreciated by all of the guests.
It is also important to consider appetizers in a number of
different categories when selecting appetizers for your New
Years Eve party. In particular you might want to consider
serving both sweet and savory appetizers. If you opt to provide
both types of appetizers, you have the option of either offering
both types of appetizers throughout the evening or offering the
savory appetizers for the majority of the evening and then
switching to sweet appetizers just before midnight when the New
Years Eve party is likely to end within an hour or two.
Whichever option you select it is important to plan the number
of appetizer according to your distribution strategy. For
example if you plan to only offer sweet appetizers in the last
hour of two of the party, you should purchase or prepare less of
these appetizers than the savory appetizers. However, if you
will be distributing both types of appetizers throughout the
evening you should purchase or prepare a more equal distribution
of appetizers.
Finally, in selecting appetizers, it is also important to
consider how the appetizers will be distributed. This is
important because if you will have servers circulating with
trays of appetizers you can prepare differently than if the
appetizers will be left on a buffet table. Specifically if you
plan to offer appetizers on a buffet table, you may wish to
select mostly items which do not have to be eaten hot if you do
not have a method of keeping these items warm. However, if the
appetizers will be passed by servers you can serve hot items
because the servers bring out only small portions at a time and
the rest can be kept warm in the kitchen until needed.
