Parties/Events

A couple weeks ago I was lucky to have been invited to a fabulous food and wine luncheon sponsored by Tourism Australia. I went in knowing little about Australian cuisine and left with such a travel bug to visit the beautiful country. It’s in the cards for me to travel there eventually, as I have several family members in the Sydney area, one of my best friends from high school just moved to Tasmania, and my sweet blog friend Yasmeen has already extended the invitation if I happen to make it to Melbourne. When I think of Australia, I think of wide open spaces, lots of water, and of course kangaroos and koala bears! The luncheon opened my eyes to some of the wonderful things I’d get to experience (and taste) if/when I finally make it Down Under. The food at the luncheon was a fantastic sampling of the fresh and delicious foods from the different regions of Australia. This was the menu:

Hooray! A Teeny Tiny food party full of adorable bite sized snacks. Could anything be more fun? As a longtime lover of mini things, I was thrilled when asked to host a party using some mini recipes from the new cookbook “Tiny Food Party” by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park. Their new cookbook is full of adorable finger food, mini bites and treats. I couldn’t wait to get started!

I decided to merge my party with my monthly book club meeting so my girl friends could nosh on these snacks while we spent hours discussing literature and current events. (More like 10 minutes talking about the book and the rest of the time talking about boys.) I even invited them to bring tiny food as well and it helped build our menu into a really delicious spread.

For my friends I made:
-Cucumber Cups filled with White Bean Garlic Dip
-Mini Caprese Bites
-Mini Savory Scones
-Mac & Cheese Bites
-Mini White Chocolate Cheesecakes with Apple Cinnamon Compote

My friend Melissa also brought mini bundt cakes and artichoke tarts that I wasn’t able to photograph. It was the perfect amount for an after-work get together with wine and good conversation. And everyone loved how cute and mini everything was. It makes it a lot easier to keep going back for more!

The nice thing about so many of these recipes is that you can prepare them in advance and assemble or bake them right before your guests arrive. The cold dishes were made early in the day, the cheesecakes were done the day before, the mac & cheese was prepped and in the fridge ready to bake, and I honestly threw the scones into the mix an hour before people arrived! I was convinced we didn’t have enough on the menu so I whipped them up in no time. Talk about a stress free party! The cookbook is great about letting you know which recipes can be prepared ahead of time for easy planning!

Mini bites and treats at my Tiny Food Party! %The Baker Chick

The cookbook is full of inspiration to help you plan a menu for a party of your own. I adapted most of these recipes for one reason or another, but really relied on the cookbook for ideas. My two favorites were the creamy white chocolate cheesecakes which were put over the top with the apple cinnamon compote. (The original recipe uses blueberry compote but I wanted to keep it seasonal.) Also the Mac & Cheese bites were just as good as they sound. Instead of deep frying them, I made a baked version which was just as creamy and delicious.