Dairy-Free Dare Cocktail Party

You may have noticed the blog has been silent much of this week. We haven’t been holiday shopping or gift wrapping or being lazy bums. We are getting ready for a big party. A party that I decided to make even more of a challenge when selecting our menu: we are hosting a dairy-free holiday soiree at the Badger Girl/Manatee residence for Manatee’s office.

The Dairy Free Dare

When Manatee and I first decided that we would throw the Holiday party at our house, we naively didn’t realize what we had just signed up to do. Of course, I would provide all of the food. I mean, I do have this whole learning-to-cook blog, right? I kind of think it’s expected in some circles. If I don’t show up to one of my book clubs with a homemade goodie, they give me a hard time.

We didn’t get it was a big deal that we were making all of the food (heavy hor d’oevres for 20-25 people) until we started to tell our friends. These are the reactions we got:

You are making all of the food yourself????!

What, are you taking the week off of work or what?

And my favorite:

You know Guest A has studied at a culinary institute in Paris, right?

The last one scared me a little.

Okay, a LOT. Until I talked to Guest A and realized that Guest A was an amazingly nice (and hopefully, forgiving) person.

So we signed up for a lot. Then we shared with people the real kicker: We would be making all of the food dairy-free.

Our vegan friends assured us that would be easy, but any and all meat-eaters thought we were crazy.

Dairy-Free Menu

Wilbern’s meatballs (meatballs in this amazing sweet and savory chile sauce)

Vegan Quesadilla Dip

Homemade Breads- Crusty White and Olive

Homemade Caponata

Walnut and Mushroom Pate

Crab Salad over Wonton Crisps

Sweet and Spicy Mushrooms

Sausage and Cucumber Platter

Buffalo Wild Wing Hummus and Veggies

Vegan S’mores Dip with Fruit, Graham Crackers, and Angel Food Cake

Assorted Cookies

We will have more details and recipes and pictures to follow. In the mean time, I would love to hear about your favorite party/hosting tips. All week I have been posting my tips on Facebook and Twitter (@BdgerGrl). A couple people have started to add their own and they have been really useful.

 

Happy Friday! 🙂