Baby
Shower
Food
One
of the main attractions at a baby shower, as with
any party, is the food. If you hold the baby shower
at a restaurant, the type of food served at the
restaurant will dictate the menu. If the party is
being held at a private home or other non-restaurant
location, then the menu options are wide open.
There are several factors to keep in mind when
planning the baby shower menu. Depending on the
time of day you are holding the shower, guests may
be satisfied with light snacks, or they might be
expecting enough food to count for lunch or dinner.
The time of year should also be considered. Lighter
fare would be more appropriate for a springtime or
summer time shower, whereas autumn and winter
justify heavier foods. The number of guests may
play a role. You can probably provide a more
extravagant menu for a small number of guests, but
you may have to stretch your food budget to
accommodate a larger party. Salads, tea sandwiches
and other dainty foods might be perfect for a ladies
only shower, but most men would appreciate a
heartier, stick to your ribs type of menu. The
shower location will play a big role, as you will
have to consider your access to kitchen equipment
such as a refrigerator, a stove, microwave oven or
even a kitchen sink. If the party will be held
outdoors in warm weather, you might want to avoid
mayonnaise based salads and dips, or at least plan a
way to keep them chilled. Finally, you might want
to plan the menu to fit the baby shower theme.
Even if you are an accomplished cook, you will
probably want to seek some help from others to make
it all come together. Try to fit in some items that
you can make or purchase ahead of time. Most
supermarkets have delis and bakeries that can whip
up a tray of sandwiches or a beautiful baby shower
cake. You can order a few days ahead of time, then
pick it up the day of the party. Be sure to check
out the frozen foods section of your favorite
grocery store or warehouse club. They are filled
with boxes of elegant appetizers and desserts that
just need to be thawed and sometimes heated before
they are ready to serve.
A
potluck party is one way to share the burden of
preparing the food. If the baby shower is being
hosted by the Mom-to-be’s co-workers or church
group, then a potluck would be perfectly
acceptable. If you are a close friend or family
member of the Mom-to-be hosting the shower, then you
will probably be expected to feed everyone. Still,
if other guests offer to help, let them, even if
it’s just to provide drinks.
It
is important to keep in mind the dietary
restrictions of the Mom-to-be and other guests.
Even if you don’t know of any specific restrictions,
it is always a good idea to make sure that there are
some vegetarian, low fat, low sugar and low carb
selections on hand to satisfy the many people on
these types of diets. Some of the more common food
allergies are nuts, shellfish and gluten, so be sure
to have at least a few items that don’t include
these ingredients. When in doubt, have some fresh
vegetable and fruit trays available, as most
everyone can enjoy at least some of these foods.
Presentation can be important as the food itself.
If you have fine silver and crystal serving pieces
taking up space in a china cabinet, a baby shower is
the ideal time to pull them out of the closet. If
you don’t have those items, don’t worry. You might
be able to borrow them from some of the other guests
or even your own mother. You can also purchase
inexpensive clear and silver plastic serving
platters from a party supply store that still make
an elegant presentation, but don’t present the clean
up worries. For a small luncheon, you could use
your nice china place settings, but for a large or
outdoor party, it would be much easier to just use
paper and plastic serving ware. There are patterns
and colors available to match any theme.
You
could also add some whimsical touches to a baby
shower buffet table by using baby and toddler toys
as food serving pieces. A big plastic wagon filled
with ice could be used to chill canned soft drinks
or bottled water. (Line it with a trash bag
first.) A child’s plastic toy dump truck would be a
cute container for serving chips or pretzels.
A
baby shower is the perfect occasion to pull out your
old cookbooks that may be gathering dust on a
distant shelf. You may want to check the baby
shower planning books in our
Baby Gifts Store,
as several of them have recipes that would be
perfect for the party. You can also check out one
of the recipe sites on the internet.
Recipezaar
is a great resource, as it has recipes for just
about everything, and reviews from people who have
already tested the recipes.
We
have put together some suggested baby shower menus.
These menus have been planned around crowd-pleasing
favorites that are easy to prepare and serve. Many
of the items can be made ahead of time, or purchased
from the grocery store ready to eat. Use these
ideas as a starting point to plan the best menu for
your shower.
Pink Baby Shower Food
Blue Baby Shower Food
Brunch Baby Shower Menu
Soup, Salad and Sandwich Buffet
Italian Baby Shower Menu
Mexican Buffet Menu
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