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Posted at 10:31AM, 06 January 2009 by Carol Wilson - Food writer

Well, the Christmas/New Year party season is over for another year and I can't say I'm sorry. All those invitations from friends, neighbours and business colleagues to 'drinks and nibbles' and festive buffets filled me with dismay. Don't get me wrong - it's lovely to meet and catch up with friends and colleagues while enjoying food and a few drinks. It's the food that was so disappointing.

It seems that few people make the effort to make party food themselves these days; it's become the norm to open a box and heat up a tray of readymade food. Every 'do' I went to offered the same ubiquitous 'party foods' - mini hamburgers, kebabs with dips, tasteless pea and pancetta vol au vents, mini hot pies, garlic dough balls, mini Beef Wellingtons, mini muffins, gooey cheesecakes and insipid readymade trifles became depressingly familiar on the party circuit.

The strange thing (to me) was that the host or hostess often proudly proclaimed which supermarket the foods were from; the more upmarket the better. Conversely another popular boast was that the food was from a discount supermarket and was so good we were invited to guess its humble origins.

When I held my reciprocal drinks and nibbles event I made some sausage rolls in herb pastry, cheese straws and a large quiche in a rectangular baking tin, which I cut into small squares. I made a tray of Chocolate brownies and a Bakewell tart in the same way, (substituting mincemeat for the raspberry jam) and cutting them into bite-sized squares. I added a selection of top quality British cheeses and some tasty biscuits and that was it... It was different and (hopefully) appealed to jaded party appetites.

By chance I overheard a small group discussing the mincemeat squares and arguing about which supermarket they must have come from! One guest asked me suspiciously where I had bought the mini quiches as she hadn't come across any square ones. When I told her I'd made them myself her face was a picture. 'You made them!', she exclaimed incredulously, as if I'd produced a Heston Blumenthal-like masterpiece.

Why this obsession with supermarkets? What's wrong with making something yourself - something completely different to the boring readymade party foods on offer? Am I in the minority in thinking that cooking and serving delicious food is part of the pleasurable experience of entertaining friends?

Comments

robert

6 January 2009, 11:35AM
robert

Hear Hear! I too was heartily sick of the same party foods served up time and again at every festive event.

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Chris Pakett

6 January 2009, 12:10PM
Chris Pakett

I agree with Robert, though it depends on who the host is. I'd make an exception with my mother-in law's table.

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Girl Flower

6 January 2009, 2:19PM
Girl Flower

I couldn't agree more! I was beginning to think it was just me- was I being too fussy about the food!? Nothing is worse than the same old supermarket slop served up over and over again, and as you rightly said, why is everyone so proud to say they are supermarket made and brag on the cheapness of them? I like to think that if I went to a party they have made an effort somewhere. I know I make an effort, especially for the people I love.

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James

6 January 2009, 2:56PM
James

I'd feel ashamed of serving anyone shop-brought canapes, especially after seeing some at a party last Saturday - insipid, and rather than being an entree, it was more like a quick exit - food like that shouldn't be allowed. They do take time though - I was making mini yorkshire puddings with roast beef and filo wrapped king prawns till 3am on Christmas Eve morning..... they tasted seriously good though!

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alethea

6 January 2009, 5:45PM
alethea

Forget Iceland, here is a "tried and tested" recipe for great nibbles, dead easy, maximu, taste, you'll end up really empressing the crowd, promise..http://www.squidoo.com/Food-Cooking-Recipes

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Emily

6 January 2009, 9:59PM
Emily

A friend of mine made little homemade yorkshire puds with roast beef and horseradish sauce, fresh out of the oven, plus her own blinis with smoked salmon and fantastic mulled cider, among many other things. I was so impressed - the only downside was I couldn't drag myself away from the food table, so didn't do a very good job of mingling!

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Paulas

7 January 2009, 9:35PM
Paulas

I went to a 'do' yestersday, here in (not so warm at the moment) Tenerife. Whilst we do have an Iceland outlet, our host provided us with a fresh splendid array of home cooked fresh food, including home made pies, of corned beef & onion,cheese &onion, mince & onion,(all home-made pastry too) plus chow mein, freshly caught sea bream, roast parsnips and potatoes, chicken wings with galic, savoury rices, bombay potatoes, to name but a few. And not a sandwich in sight. Nor a supermarket product! Whilst, sometimes I miss the choice that the British supermarkets have on offer, the old home-made delights are definately the best. Thank you Sandra

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