The ‘Party Season’ is not quite over yet; there’s one more huge celebration to go – New Years! Whether it’s a small get-together, gathering or a great whacking party you are planning, the gathered hordes will need some nibbles – or they’ll be drunken indiscretions with you to blame – give them plenty to soak up the booze! Here’s how to create awesome but cheap party food:
Cheese and Pineapple
You can’t get much more retro than the Cheese and Pineapple Hedgehog (unless you’r going to serve jelly and ice-cream and play Simon says!) And, you can create this ultimate party snack fairly cheaply.
For the cheese use the cheapest supermarket own brand mild cheddar and use a tin of pineapple of the same ilk – no one will be able to tell the difference. For ultra retro-ness, slice a large potato in half and wrap it in foil. Next, using any fruit or vegetable, create the face of the hedgehog (glace cherry works well, so does cucumber). Then take a cocktail stick put on a small chunk of pineapple and a similar sized lump of cheese (2cm chunks will work just fine). Repeat until your hog is covered. For a less showy but quicker snack, forget the hedgehog! Simple and cheap.
Smoked Salmon Canapes
Yes, smoked salmon is expensive – very expensive. But you can still create an awesome, tasty and fairly inexpensive smoked salmon canape such as smoked salmon moose or pate by using smoked salmon off-cuts, like these from Tesco at 90p.
Check out this super-simple salmon mousse recipe at anutritionisteats.com, it’s a piece of cake (no, it’s a piece of salmon and cream cheese). Instead of using rye bread, scoop a spoonful onto toasted brown bread, it’s cheaper. Or just use 1 centimeter slices of cucumber. If you don’t want the messing around, just take a round cracker and smear in cream cheese. Next, cut out centimeter square pieces of salmon and scatter on top of the cheese. Whatever way you choose, no one will ever know you’ve used smoked salmon off-cuts.
Go Sweet!
Finger food doesn’t have to be savoury - if you love sweet food, there’s no need to feel left out! One fairly cheap canape is chocolate brownies. If you use supermarket own-brand dark and milk chocolate you’ll be laughing. Check out this awesome Chocolate Brownie Bites recipe at cocoashutter.com.
Fruit Skewers
If you love fruit and have some ready and waiting in your fruit bowl, this is a great no fuss, no extra cost, party snack. Just get yourself some wooden kebab skewers and pile on whatever you fancy. Remember give them a squeeze of lemon juice to stop the fruit from browning.
If fruit is not your thing and you don’t want to pay extra for fruit you’ll never eat, just used tinned fruit cocktail. Pour the contents into a colander and allow the sticky juice to drain. If you don’t want to shell out for kebab skewers, you can create mini fruit sticks by using any remaining cocktail sticks from your hedgehog. For more fruity ideas, check out vegetarianrecipeclub.org.uk.
Whatever it is you are planning, use your initiative - if the recipe you use says you need something expensive think how you could substitute it for something cheaper. For example, instead of using bread or crackers as a base for a canape, use cucumber. There you have it, we hope that’s got you thinking about cheap party food. And don’t for get to check out Tesco - you can get £10 off your first shop over £50 and they deliver. Happy New Year Voucher Vultures!
Main Image from inspirededibles.ca
