Today, I wanted to share a bit about our housewarming party – the experience of snack prepping for a crowd, a few photos, and one of the recipes I made for it: Cumin Spiced Almonds!
Cooking for a crowd isn’t something I’m familiar with – I love the idea of appetizers and hosting dinners of 4-8 people, but thinking ‘bigger’ hasn’t ever been an option for me because of space limitations. Now that we have an awesome living/dining area (and a backyard!), parties are more feasible and we knew we wanted to invite our friends in Denver over to celebrate our new space now that our renovations are done.
As I was preparing for this party, I found it very hard to find easy, delicious appetizer/snack ideas for a crowd online, so I thought I would share with you all what we did!
I menu planned around lots of finger snacks, since I didn’t want to deal with utensils, and shopped in bulk for what we could!
I got some ideas from Pinterest (the chocolate chip stuffed raspberries, and blackberry mozzarella and basil skewers – which were both a hit), but generally went with snacks that I thought would be filling, healthy, and tasty for a late-afternoon get together.
My mom and sister provided lots of help the day of, and Noah’s mom did the Costco shopping. We all probably spent about 5 hours prepping for the party, which is more reasonable than I anticipated. We were an efficient crew!
The most helpful thing I did was spend some time making separate grocery lists and making a list of the homemade items we needed to prep, which were done the night before and the morning before (pictured here!) the party so we weren’t rushed in the early afternoon.
Here’s the breakdown of what we served to a crowd of 50-75 people who stopped by…
Purchased (Costco and Trader Joe’s)
- Dips and starches: large tub of regular hummus, large tub of spicy red pepper hummus, 2 jars salsa, large box of multigrain crackers, large bag pita chips, small bag pretzel crisps, large bag tortilla chips, 2 large baguettes
- 2 large plates of cut-up veggies: 1 bag mini sweet peppers, 5 cucumbers, 2 lbs carrots, 4 bunches radishes, 1 bunch celery
- 2 self-assembled cheese plates: 2 packages of cheddar, 2 wheels of brie, 2 large logs of goat cheese, 1 log of mozzarella, chunk of feta cheese, dried apricots, dates, kalamata olives
- Drinks in the backyard: small keg of Fat Tire beer, homemade white sangria (2 bottles of wine + frozen fruit + sparkling flavored water), mint + lemon flavored water (supplemented by people who brought wine and beer!)
Homemade
- Garnishes for cheese plate: blueberry vanilla chia seed jam (adapted this recipe)
- Snacks: apple chips (2 apples), cumin spiced almonds (recipe below), candied walnuts (doubled this recipe)
- Dips: Roasted red pepper and feta dip, herbed Greek yogurt and goat cheese dip
- Appetizers: blackberry, mozzarella and basil skewers on toothpicks, smoked salmon rolled onto a toothpick
- Desserts: almond “fudge,” chocolate coconut balls (pictured here), chocolate chip stuffed raspberries, chocolate chip cookie bars (2 batches of dough)
One of my favorite homemade elements were all the little bites… including these Cumin Spiced Almonds!
I had about half leftover from the party to snack on, and really enjoyed them so I thought I would quickly share the recipe for those of you looking for a new flavor combination (I know I’m not the only one who defaults to salt, pepper, and rosemary!).
- 4 cups raw unsalted almonds
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, combine almonds, spices, and olive oil. Toss to coat the almonds.
- Spread the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until fragrant and toasted.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the almonds to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.
I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek into our new house and got some good ideas for Housewarming Party Snacks the next time you entertain!
Marisa
Sara- The Organic Dietitian says
That looks like a party I would love to attend! Healthy food, beautiful home, great people.
Marisa says
Thank you, Sara!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
I definitely pinned those almonds. They sound delicious!! Also… I’m uber jealous of your house. It looks so darn cute!
Marisa says
GF and delicious 😀 Thanks Hannah, can’t wait for you to visit!
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says
What a gorgeous spread! Can you invite me to your next party, please? 😉
The almonds sound amazing with the cumin too!
Marisa says
Come to Denver and I’ll have a party in your honor! Haha.
Tara | Treble in the Kitchen says
I’m so happy you shared this I LOVED all the appetizers!! (Thank goodness for a non low FODMAP weekend!) 🙂
Marisa says
Yay thanks Tara! Glad you could enjoy some bites!
Alanna says
Those almonds sound and look delicious!! Will definitely be making those AND the blackberry mozzarella and basil skewers for my next event 🙂
Marisa says
Awesome, Alanna! The skewers were so easy and a big hit!
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious says
wow, what a spread! Looks amazing!
Marisa says
Thanks Jessica!
Erin @ The Almond Eater says
Ahhh so fun and so much delicious food! Also, I think I want a kitchen tour–looks so nice!
Marisa says
I’m thinking of a before/after tour… because it’s a very drastic change!! 🙂
Cassie @ Almost Getting it Together says
Your house is gorgeous (but not surprised on that one!). I hope I get an invite to the next housewarming party since we’ll practically be neighbors and all… right???
Marisa says
Thanks friend! Exactly! 😀
Medha @ Whisk & Shout says
So many lovely photos and small plates! Especially love the blackberry, mozzarella and basil skewers. So fresh and seasonal 🙂
Marisa says
Thanks Medha!