How to Make Simple Party Food for a Garden Party

In our part of the world, the best weather happens in late summer and early fall. It’s a good time to prepare simple party food and host a small garden party.

My latest mini get-together was with our neighbors across the street. It was an invitation to visit our little garden, landscaped last fall, and now in full bloom.

We’re not ready for a big party to celebrate our garden, so we’re having a few guests at a time. Unlike a tea party, which suggests a structured classic menu, this gathering was simply an invitation to come by for a glass of wine and a few nibbles on a beautiful summer day.

The Menu of Simple Party Food

• Deviled eggs
• Cucumber tea sandwiches
• Chicken salad on mini cocktail buns
• Pound cake
• Strawberries and blueberries
• Wine and homemade lemonade

The Table Setting

While the food was simple, small touches to the table elevated the event: French Provençal tablecloth and napkins, china plates, stemmed wine glasses, and silver forks. A small pedestal cake stand and a tiered plate stand bought from Crate & Barrel years ago–created eye appeal and a touch of elegance.

Deviled Eggs

This one needs no recipe: egg yolks mixed with mayonnaise, a bit of chopped tarragon, seasoned with a salt and pepper. Add a sprinkle of paprika for color. I kept it simple to avoid clashing with the more assertive flavors of the curried chicken salad.

The only trick to deviled eggs is knowing how to cook the eggs so shells peel off easily. The answer is steaming. Learn how from my previous post.

Cucumber Sandwiches

Combine softened cream cheese with a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise to achieve a thick, but spreadable consistency. Season with salt, black pepper and stir in some chopped fresh dill.

Slice English cucumbers thinly and lay between paper towels on a sheet pan to absorb moisture. Let sit, covered in plastic wrap, for an hour or so. This will keep your sandwiches from getting soggy.

To assemble sandwiches, spread cream cheese mixture on bread, top with cucumber slices and a second slice of bread. Use a bread knife to trim off crusts, then cut the sandwiches into small rectangles or triangles.

To serve, I just stacked the sandwiches on a plate to save time; on the refills, I garnished each with a carrot flower and dill sprig.

Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches

This recipe makes about 2 1/4 cups. How many sandwiches you can make with the filling will depend on what kind and size of roll you use. To help you calculate, remember that here are 16 tablespoons in a cup.

Curried Chicken Salad

• 2 cups diced cooked chicken breast (1/4-inch dice)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 2 teaspoons minced onion
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, plus more if needed
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 teaspoons mango chutney
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

In a large bowl, combine chicken, cranberries, celery, and onion. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, curry powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon of the chutney, and mix well. Taste and add another teaspoon of chutney if more sweetness is desired. Add mayonnaise mixture to chicken mixture and mix well; add more mayonnaise if mixture seems dry. Stir in pecans just before assembling the sandwiches to keep nuts crisp. Makes about 2 1/4 cups salad.

Use the mixture to fill Hawaiian sweet rolls, other small rolls, or to fill tea sandwiches.

Note:

This is quite a fussy thing to do, but I used King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls and cut them into 1 1/2-inch rounds. There are 12 rolls in a bag but the rolls are too thick for these mini sandwiches so slit each roll crosswise into thirds first. I found the bottoms of the rolls can also be used as tops. (There’s not much you can do with the scraps–I just put them in a plastic bag and we snacked on them.)

Using a 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut 36 circles, to make 18 little sandwiches. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and set aside until you’re ready to fill.

To serve, spoon a tablespoon of chicken mixture on roll bottoms. Add roll tops.

This left me with about a cup of chicken salad to use for regular sandwiches or as a main dish salad served on a bed of shredded lettuce. If you use the rolls as is, simply split in half, you should have just enough filling to make 18 sandwiches.

Poundcake

I baked my favorite Powdered Sugar Pound Cake, without the almond crust. But now that I’m having smaller parties, I poured half the batter into one small bundt pan and the remaining in a full-size pan, so I have one cake to freeze for another time.

More Entertaining

Our evenings have been too cool to make outdoor dining comfortable, but we’re now starting to warm up at night. I’m hoping we can string some outdoor lights and have more guests in small groups through the fall.

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