Care to Critique my NYE Party Menu?

MrsRedVelvet

Hi ladies, I had alot of great input from you here when I was gathering ideas for my NYE party.  I've drafted a menu for apps, dessert and drinks and would love your input on it.  The party will be for about 25 people hosted at my house...I do have a few questions so I'd appreciate any feedback on those questions

 Apps:

Swedish Meatballs

Baked brie in pie crust

Bacon wrapped dates

Pigs in a blanket

Cheese and crackers (any specific type that's a crowd pleaser? thinking cheddar, muenster...?)

Guacamole and Chips

Fried Ravioli w marinara sauce

Dessert:

Red velvet cupcakes

Holiday sugar cookies

French Vanilla Cream Puffs

Chocolate Devil?s Food Cake Snowballs

Chocolate dipped pretzel rods (was going to wrap these in plastic bags w a ribbon as a take home gift)

Drinks:

Beer Keg (brand?)

Rum

Vodka

Gin

Merlot and Cab Sav

Chardonnay and Sav Blanc

Chocolate Martini

Also I'll be providing mixers (tonic, club, OJ, cranberry and garnishes)...lots of ice too!

6fsn

For cheese I generally just see what looks good at a good price.  I'd probably do a cheddar, swiss, then camembert/havarti/stilton.  I'd add some fruit to the plate as well- grapes, sliced apples, berries- and some nuts.

Something is striking me as odd about the guac and chips.  It just doesn't seem to go.  I'd consider losing it and adding a veggie tray.

On the keg, I'll have to say you know your crowd.  A keg sounds like overkill to me though.  With everything else I'd probably just get a couple of cases of good beer and a case of something cheaper.  I might also have a coouple bottles of champagne.

GatorWedsNole

Ditto to what 6 said.

Dress up the cheese & crackers with some fruit & nuts.

I'd drop the guac & chips.  If you want something equally "easy" you can consider hummus & pita chips with a tray of olives.  But a pretty veggie tray would def be a nice and colorful addition.

I'd consider adding shrimp with cocktail sauce to the apps, to add a little bit of an upscale feel for NYE.

A keg seems like a lot of beer for a group of 25.  You might be better off with a few cases/12 packs of varied beers: light beer, domestic, imported.

TarHeels&Rebels

Even though it's not meal time, it helps to think of it like that.

You have 3 cheese items, 2-3 pork items, and the guac.  Not exactly a balanced menu

So think of it like a meal.  You want a variety of proteins, so definitely add Gator's shrimp cocktail suggestion, maybe some sort of shredded chicken cups, and choose either the pigs or the meatballs.  (You don't need 2 processed meats on there.)

You also need some veggies.  I think a veggie tray, fruits with the cheese tray, and a relish tray would be nice.

Now starches.  You have some crackers with cheese, pastry with cheese, breading with cheese... Noticing a theme?   I think a veggie dip like spinach or cowboy caviar with a chip or bread would be good.

Dairy.  You need a max of 2.  I think I'd keep the ravioli and probably ditch the other 2, but you could keep one of them.  (Are you confident with your guests walking around your house with red marinara?  I'm not!)

 

So your new menu looks like this:

Veggie tray

Relish tray

Fruit tray

Cheese & crackers

Chips & dip

Fried ravioli 

Bacon-wrapped dates

Shrimp cocktail

Shredded chicken cups

Swedish meatballs

You could get a pony keg if you felt the need.  I'm partial to Miller Lite and know all our friends drink it.  Otherwise I like the others' suggestions of a variety of beers.

You can cut back on the sweets unless you know your crowd has a real sweet tooth.  As a sweets lover, I always set out too many options and most people just aren't interested.  I think 2-3 would do.

Wine Enthusiast

A keg definitely seems like overkill.  We have a big summer party every year with about 50 people and never finish a full keg.  I would go for bottles of something good.  You can always get the Miller/Coors or Heineken fridge size mini keg and some bottles of another option.

sjb&apa

I agree with a lot of the suggestions on the appetizers.

I think a keg is a lot for a group of 25, especially with all the other drink choices. If it doesn't get finished at the party, it will likely be wasted. If you get bottles, they'll keep for use later. Plus, with bottles you can offer a variety of beers, not just one kind. As for as specific beer selections, I'm not a beer drinker and my H is perfectly happy with cheap stuff like Miller Lite, so I'm not the best one to give advice. 

What about non-alcoholic drink options for those who are driving or pregnant or whatever?

riiskybusiness

You do have a lot of cheeses, but I could eat cheese all day every day so I don't see anything wrong with that. Ditto on making doing hummus and pita chips instead of guac and chips?

For beer, I agree with the PPs that a keg might go to waste, whereas if you buy a few varieties of better beer (maybe some winter ales, microbrews, etc), it will be a treat for your guests and most likely will not be more expensive than the keg.

6fsn

You could get some things to do double duty- dump the guac and chips, but do hummus and pita chips then add some english cucumber, carrots, and pepper slices (doubles a salty dip and veggie tray).  Adding some strawberries, grapes, and apples, to the cheese tray eliminates the need for a separate fruit tray.  I'm not a fan of fruit anyway, but this time of year there isn't a lot of season things that's worth doing a whole tray.

I do like the idea of adding a shrimp or chicken. 

And am I the only one that doesn't think of meatballs as pork?  Sometimes I put sausage in, but mostly it's ground beef.  Or am I a redneck when it comes to that?

TarHeels&Rebels

6fsn:

And am I the only one that doesn't think of meatballs as pork?  Sometimes I put sausage in, but mostly it's ground beef.  Or am I a redneck when it comes to that?

I figured they were mixed, so they were my "-3" in the 2-3.

Adjudi-Kate

One too many desserts.  People don't really eat that many sweets when they are drinking. 

Also, it's NYE - you need some champagne or Asti!

I'd be happy eating all the food on your menu, but as many people are starting a diet on NYE, a veggie tray would be nice.  Maybe it could replace one of your heavier apps.

 Definitely get some pop - diet and regular.  Good for mixers, good for caffeine, good for the designated drivers.

MrsRedVelvet

Wow, thanks for all the replies and great feedback!!  I've tweaked it and added some more apps (more that requires less prep the day of) and deleted some others.  Also, I've taken into account some more varierty in the other food groups but did decide to keep the cheese because, well, I love cheese.  Also, I'm one of those people that like interesting apps so I pretty much bypass fruit and veggie platter, pita and hummus but see your point in adding them for those that enjoy.

Also, I do consider meatballs beef, at least what I will be making :-)

And of course I forgot to add we'll be providing champagne and sparkling juice/soda (got some preg friends and non-drinkers!)

So here's the revised:

Swedish Meatballs

Baked brie in pie crust

Pumpernickle bread bowl with spinach dip

Pigs in a blanket

Cheese and crackers

Fruit platter

Hummus platter with pita and veggies

Shrimp Cocktail Platter

Fried Ravioli (spinach and ricotta)

Red velvet cupcakes

Holiday sugar cookies

Chocolate Devil?s Food Cake Snowballs

Chocolate dipped pretzel rods

Beer Keg (Miller Lite)- pony

Rum

Vodka

Gin

Merlot and Cab Sav

Chardonnay and Sav Blanc

Passion Fruit Sangria

Champagne

Sparkling Juice

Soda

**plus all mixers and garnish.  We'll have our bar all set up for this!