# How do you cook all these different appetizers for party AND keep them warm??



## JKMastalski

We are having a Christmas party and have so many appetizers to cook, but how do you keep warm? I have everything from mini pizza's to pigs in a blanket.... I dont know how to do everything at once!


----------



## battricia

try those pans that you light a little fire underneath, those are probably a good bet if you need to be using the oven for other things.. if you can put them in a room where no one else would be, that might help too. Hope this helps. goodluck 


tricia


----------



## Lewski709

You need to have a balance of hot/cold items and serve them when they are hot and when they get cold....so be it.  

You will be insane if you don't have those warmers and try to keep replenishing everything in small portions to keep it warm.  

Pyrex glass containers can hold heat well....so if you can put sometihing in that and stick it in the oven and keep using the lid on it.....that will help.

I don't know what kind of appetizers pigs in a blanket are but I am thinking the little smokies wrapped w/ crescent rolls and those are good cold as well as the pizza puffs/mini pizza's, in my opinion.  You can only do the best you can!  It will be wonderful.....no one but you will be unhappy, and only if you let yourself!  

<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/11_1_103.gif' border=0></a>.....don't worry so much!


----------



## Epcotgal8

I have had this dilemma as well and here's what's worked for me.  First, the poster who said to keep a balance of hot AND cold appetizers is right on.  There are lots of dips, pretty veggie or fruit trays maybe served with cheese and crackers, Mexican layered dip which ALWAYS disappears very fast, tortilla roll ups, etc. that are served cold.  I have 2 "Pyrex portables" which is a casserole dish (they offer various shapes and sizes) that come with a carrier and a hot pad that you microwave and put underneath or a cold pad that you have frozen.  I wouldn't buy one just for one party but if you take food to potlucks, family gatherings, etc. they are WONDERFUL and I use mine every holiday or whenever I'm bringing food somewhere and don't know if they have room to heat anything up or if cold, to refrigerate it.  For a recent party I went to a party/paper supply store and got a metal frame that holds a lightweight aluminum pan (the pans you can even get at the grocery store) and two "sterno" lights to put underneath and it wasn't expensive at all.  The sternos burn for quite a while so I put some hot appetizers in there and it kept them hot.  I am going to use it again twice in the near future.  I hope this helps!


----------



## Lisa P.

If any of your recipes may be cooked in a crockpot, then use that.  Ideally, your appetizers are a combination of hot & cold so that you can present them all together.  Preheat your (hot food) serving platters in a warm oven or in the microwave.  Chill your (cold food) serving platters in the fridge for a couple of hours (or in the freezer for 20 minutes) ahead of time.

There are warming trays and chafing dishes.  However, in a pinch, be creative.  Fold several damp kitchen towels and microwave them on a plate until very hot & steamy - seal each one inside a large ziploc freezer bag (minimal air) and place under your prewarmed platters.  These will not warm the dishes but they may keep them from cooling too quickly.

There are regular hotpads on the market which do essentially the same thing for longer.  Some are made to keep bread warm in a basket.  Some disposable ones are even made for treating sore or cramped muscles but could probably keep a prewarmed glass or ceramic platter from chilling too quickly by placing it directly beneath the dish, on a cloth potholder.  If you have an electric heating pad, it could be wrapped in a pretty piece of linen and lace, then placed under a very large platter as well.  Again, these will only help reduce the heat loss, IMHO.  Also keeping food covered as much as possible will help but try to avoid allowing the steam to ruin dry foods.  HTH!


----------

