Posted on 04/15/2007 4:43:53 PM PDT by JRochelle
My oldest niece is graduating from high school next month and we are trying to come up with cool and different things to serve and other ideas for her open house. We'd appreciate any recipes, hints, what not to do, etc. etc..
I suggest having a guest book with sufficient space for people to leave messages, memories, advice, pictures, and so on. (This was recently done at a reception for a long-time librarian at our public library who was retiring.)
I would suggest not having games, unless you’re expecting a lot of young children. A graduation reception should emphasize the maturity of the young person.
Perfect idea. I was a a wedding shower today (ughhh) and a book was passed around with memories, thoughts and advice.
I had some fun with it, but also added some positives!
Really great finger food!
Barbecue or chinese spareribs, fajitas made right there on the spot, a huge bowl of shrimp on ice, a chocolate fountain with fruit and cake for dipping!
I’m going to the store now to get food!
Consider a tapas party......these are “Spain’s little dishes”. You can find plenty of cookbooks and websites with simple recipes. Hot and cold, many needing very little prep (like sliced chorizo and manchego cheese).
Pastas bars are fun and very inexspensive.
We had a bouquet of balloons. And cake. And a cookout. Let me see if I can find any good recipes.
jm
Artichoke Dip Recipe
Ingredients
1 (15-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 (3-ounce) can diced mild green chiles or diced jalapenos
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
3 to 4 chopped green onions
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine artichokes, chiles, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and green onions. Stir in cream cheese; mix well. Spoon into a 9-inch-square baking dish. Bake about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with slices of French bread or toast. Serves 8.
http://www.americanprofile.com/recipes/
Pretzel Jell-O Salad Recipe
Ingredients
2 1/2 to 3 cups crushed pretzels (place pretzels between 2 sheets of waxed paper and crush with a rolling pin)
3 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 12-ounce container whipped topping
1 6-ounce box strawberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling hot water
2 16-ounce packages frozen sliced strawberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (250 degrees if using a glass pan). Mix crushed pretzels with 3 teaspoons sugar and butter and spread in a greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool. Mix cream cheese and 1 cup sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread to edge of dish on top of pretzel layer. Dissolve Jell-O in water in a bowl.
Add strawberries. Mix well and put in refrigerator until thickened. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until firm and ready to serve. Note: Raspberry Jell-O and frozen raspberries may be substituted for strawberry Jell-O and frozen strawberries.
http://www.americanprofile.com/recipes/
My Dad says to make sure you have plenty of food. People probably won’t remember if you have something expensive, but they’ll definitely remember if they wanted to get something to eat, and it was all gone!
Raw Apple Cake
Methodist cookbook 1970
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oleo (margarine to you youngsters who don’t know what that oleo is short for oleomargarine, my daughter once said we couldn’t make something b/c we didn’t have oleo)
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
4 c. apples chopped fine (OK if some are unpeeled)
1 tsp. baking soda (scant)
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash salt
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350. Cream shortening and sugar; then eggs well beaten.
Add dry ingredients, spice and apples. Mix well. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan (glass or metal). Bake thirty to forty minutes.
Chicken Enchiladas
[My sister has made these for years, found this recipe on a Campbell’s Kitchen website.]
2 cans of white chunk chicken (12 oz. each)
1 pint of sour cream
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 or 2 pkgs corn tortillas
1 c. chopped onion
Salsa
Spray 9X13 pan with PAM or just grease with butter or shortening.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Mix chicken, sour cream, soup and onion. Spread some of this in the bottom of the pan.**
Have tortillas at room temp. or soften by putting in a warm oven for a couple of minutes. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla.
Sprinkle with some cheese, roll/fold tortilla and place in the pan, arranging them close to each other.
Spread remaining chicken mixture on top of enchiladas. Spread a THIN coat of salsa over the top and then sprinkle with grated cheeses.
Bake for about 30 min. to heat and melt the cheese.
**If desired, spread refried beans in the bottom of the pan before placing the enchiladas in.
This makes a large amount and it may take more than one pan. However, it is easier to serve when in a regular 9x13 dish than in something deeper. It can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake.
Lime Pie
3 or 4 drops green food coloring
6 oz. can limeade concentrate
8 oz. CoolWhip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 piecrust
====> Bake pie crust ahead of time or use Keebler no-bake.
Mix limeade concentrate with food coloring, sweetened condensed milk, and almost whole carton of CoolWhip, leaving just a little for topping. Stir. Pour into pie crust. Spread remaining CoolWhip over.
Chill for one hour.
[HELPFUL HINT: The one thing not to use is generic whipped topping, for some reason it turns out grainy so use namebrand CoolWhip.]
FReeper Kitchen ping.
For my graduation party (as well as those of several of my friends that year) our parents bought a bunch of Hershey bars in bulk. The candy bars came with custom printed labels. The labels had the Hershey font and style, but instead had our names on the front. On the back, where nutrition and ingredients info would be, was a list of our high school accomplishments (GPA, clubs, sports, awards, and such). I cannot remember where they had these things made - either a party store or perhaps through the caterer? It wasn’t very expensive and made for a fun treat.
Depending on the kid’s sense of humor...
When my sister graduated, I bought a Jello mold in the shape of the human brain. I used blue jello (one of her school colors).
Yum!
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