My husband and I do a lot of fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through our local Team in Training chapter. We recently hosted a Coffee House at our house, to help us with our fundraising goals as we train for the 2010 winter season's century bike ride with TNT. My husband is one of the cycle team coaches, and I am training for the Cocoa Beach century ride which takes place on October 31 in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Serve Lots of Yummy Food
Here is a list of food which I made to serve at the party. I've posted many of these recipes online, and have included links to those recipes where appropriate. I've also hosted various tea parties at our house throughout the years, and all of these recipes are also perfect for serving at a tea party, luncheon or bridal shower.
Coffee House and Tea Party Recipes
- Deviled eggs
- Egg salad finger sandwiches
- Walnut chicken salad finger sandwiches
- Ham & cheese quiche - with Swiss cheese and green onions
- Bacon & cheese quiche - with cheddar cheese and fresh thyme
- Lemon bars
- Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
- Party cookies with chocolate chips & almonds
- Peanut butter cookies with Hersey's Kisses
- Pecan pie bars
- Pumpkin spice muffins
Make Ahead and Freeze
When hosting parties at my house, I like to make as much food ahead of time as possible. Certain recipes, such as cookies with a lot of butter in them, can be made ahead and stored in the freezer for up to two weeks before the party. Simply take them out of the freezer the day of the party, and they will thaw out at room temperature in an hour or two.
In the case of the crab canapes and asparagus roll-ups, leave them in the freezer until you are ready to bake them. The instructions for those two appetizers are for cooking them directly from the freezer. Other foods, such as the quiche, can be made a day or two ahead of time, and stored in the refrigerator until the day of the party.
Fussy Food Handling
More fragile food, such as deviled eggs, egg salad finger sandwiches and walnut chicken salad finger sandwiches are best assembled the day of the party. I cooked the hard boiled eggs the day before the party, so they would have enough time to cool down. But I didn't actually make the deviled eggs, or assemble the egg salad sandwiches until the day of the party. Our party went from 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM, which gave me plenty of time to do last minute cooking, assembly and cleaning before the party started.
Another group shot.
Party Foods That Freeze Well
A Variety of Beverages
Not everyone likes coffee, and I knew a few children would be attending our coffee house party, so I had a variety of beverages available. I let my husband be in charge of all the coffee making. He is a great fan of coffee and I was quite busy with last minute food prep, and meeting and greeting guests as they arrived, so not having to deal with coffee preparation was a huge weight off my shoulders.
- Hot coffee - we have a regular coffee pot, cappucinno machine and two French press pots, so we were able to make a variety of coffee throughout the party.
- Iced coffee - we brewed up an extra strong pot of coffee the night before the party, let it cool to room temperature, then stored it in a coffee carafe.
- Sweat iced tea
- Soda - a friend of ours brought a variety of soda to the party for everyone to enjoy; rootbeer, orange, lemon lime and a diet cola.
- Ice - my husband took one of our coolers in to his office and filled it up with ice. Guests could fill their cups up with ice if they were drinking water, iced tea, iced coffee or soda. His office has a large, hotel sized ice maker in the back, which is convenient anytime we host parties at our house.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva