All finger food ideas needed

Upcoming mid afternoon Sunday reception for about 50. Ideas floated so far: blue cheese stuffed dates with/wo candied pecan; skewers with quince paste and Idaizabel; puff pastry purses with fig and goat cheese; Kibbe balls with pomegranate caramelized onion sauce. Not jelled with these as yet- pretty unbalanced and repetitive. Stuck. Need a more cohesive start to finish menu.
Ideas appreciated. Hoping to avoid need for silverware. Plates and napkins only.

Caprese picks. Skewer halves of cherry toms with slices of baby fresh mozzarella and basil.
Tiny toasts with a rosette of smoked salmon with a dollop of scrambled egg centrally herb garnish eg. A sprig of dill.
Sanchoi bau, small witloof/endive leaf boats with a filling.
Sandwiches may seem mundane but by golly they usually go down well particularly if people are likely to be hungry, and fillings are endless and can cover food items accessible to the fussier eaters (except gluten free)

And of course the oysters and caviar, goes without saying LOL.
But on that theme mussels on the half shell with a dressing or mornay is a less expensive option (in my world anyway)

Regards

Mini Pork Pie.

Nuff Said.

Chicken wings.

[Robin Garr]

Pimento cheese!

That's weird, I was thinking individual Caprese servings and Christina totally beat me to it. We have done something like that several times for parties. On the more expensive side -- paté de foie gras on crackers (I use my Keller toast) -- the paté doesn't have to break the bank and you could also use inexpensive country patés. Rillettes -- duck rillette is classic, but I've made Thomas Keller's salmon rillette several times and it's impressive. Three kinds of salmon plus lots of butter.

Another thing we've done for parties is to go middle eastern. For example, buy frozen falafel, you can oven cook but I like them fried so that the surface gets really crunchy, and you can do it an hour or 2 in advance and retain the crunch. Cut small pita pockets into quarters and provide cut up lettuce and tomato, let people stuff their own pita sandwiches. A white sauce based on tahini and I think Mayo in a squirt bottle is the finishing touch. Or -- cook up some kofte, ground meat plus middle eastern spices -- make it into a cylindrical log and after grilling or baking cut into smaller pieces and serve like the falafel. You should have some hummus available alongside either of these.

[Jenise]

Upcoming mid afternoon Sunday reception for about 50. Ideas floated so far: blue cheese stuffed dates with/wo candied pecan; skewers with quince paste and Idaizabel; puff pastry purses with fig and goat cheese; Kibbe balls with pomegranate caramelized onion sauce. Not jelled with these as yet- pretty unbalanced and repetitive. Stuck. Need a more cohesive start to finish menu.
Ideas appreciated. Hoping to avoid need for silverware. Plates and napkins only.

Priorities: room temperature or cold as compared to anything requiring heat or last-minute prep?

Room temp or cold. I will not have any help and want to be able to talk to the guests. Also, my energies are tapped out right now and want to do as much ahead of time as possible.

[Jenise]

Upcoming mid afternoon Sunday reception for about 50. Ideas floated so far: blue cheese stuffed dates with/wo candied pecan; skewers with quince paste and Idaizabel; puff pastry purses with fig and goat cheese; Kibbe balls with pomegranate caramelized onion sauce. Not jelled with these as yet- pretty unbalanced and repetitive. Stuck. Need a more cohesive start to finish menu.
Ideas appreciated. Hoping to avoid need for silverware. Plates and napkins only.

I like the sound of everything I see there, but what I don't see is anything green, vegetable or seafood so my thoughts go to those places.

Shrimp: can you have a party without a cold shrimp appetizer? Toss cooked/shelled shrimp with a dressing made with a cooled concoction of sautéed garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Add chopped parsley or tarragon.

A good looking addition: if the shrimp are the right size, separately cut Persian cucumbers into thick half inch slices (about the density of the shrimps) and cut in half. Next the round side of the cucumber into the curve of the shrimp to create a D shape, and skewer.

Salmon: stuff some endive leaves with a salmon tartare OR a smoked salmon salad.

Zucchini ribbons: shave zucchini laterally, marinate in some kind of vinaigrette to flavor and soften, then load ribbons onto short skewers. Consider adding marinated tortellini or pepperoni rounds. Consider oregano as an herb seasoning.

Radish tartines: small pieces of dense pumpernickel-like bread popular among the Scandinavian descendants you and I both live among is great for topping with good butter or chevre cheese mixed with chives and just enough cream to loosen it up a bit and on which you can now park a few rounds of thin, crisp radishes. Garnish with a finishing salt.

Yes. All excellent ideas. I realized I was missing color, fish , vegetable and fruit. Had thought about a smoked fish spread for pumpernickel but like it on endive better with a more moist topping for the bread as it often gets crumbly and messy. Radish tartines will take care of that problem.
Have a supply of home made frozen ramp pesto, Yuzu Kosho, dill pesto, Schug and Harissa that may come in handy somehow.
Edamame and fava beans may be pressed into service somehow as well
It is coming together. Thanks for the help.

[Jenise]

Yes. All excellent ideas. I realized I was missing color, fish , vegetable and fruit. Had thought about a smoked fish spread for pumpernickel but like it on endive better with a more moist topping for the bread as it often gets crumbly and messy. Radish tartines will take care of that problem.
Have a supply of home made frozen ramp pesto, Yuzu Kosho, dill pesto, Schug and Harissa that may come in handy somehow.
Edamame and fava beans may be pressed into service somehow as well
It is coming together. Thanks for the help.

Dot the radish tartines with ramp pesto!