Special Finishes for Your Party Table or Buffet

TouchesThat Will Have a Fun, Decorative and Culinary Impact

Jul 23, 2009 Deborah Read

Putting the finishing touches to your dinner party or buffet table needn't be just about sprinkled parsley or folded napkins. Make a fun, creative and lasting impression.

It is easy to spend all kinds of time preparing a delicious dinner for family and friends and forget that presentation is just as important as taste. Presentation will have your guests anticipating a wonderfully tasty meal. Being decorative, whether the addition is edible or not, means doing a little preparation ahead of time but it's well worth the oohs and ahs you'll receive when the meal is ready to serve.

Food Can be the Decorative Part of a Party or Buffet Table

One of the easiest and showiest garnishes you can create is frosted grapes. Take small clusters of grapes, dip them in a little water and then again in granulated sugar. Use several different varieties (green, red, purple) to achieve the most impressive display. Allow them to dry before including them with your table's offerings. It's a beautiful finishing touch on meat platters, particularly poultry. Try surrounding the Thanksgiving turkey with these little sparklers for that professional look.

If simple is what you like - no time to spare - cut a few starfruit slices and create a decorative theme. Slice the starfruit in even slices about 1/4 - 3/8" thick, then tuck them into the side of vegetable bowls or dress up the tops of your salads. You can cut the slices in half crosswise and lay them connected all along both sides of your relish dishes or cheese trays to make the typical fare much more interesting.

One of the most eye-catching finishing touches you can add to any beef platter is cherry tomato blossoms. Carefully hollow out the stem end of a cherry tomato. Pipe in a small amount of cream cheese or horse radish into the centre. Make five or six vertical cuts, going almost to the bottom, down the sides and insert slices of water chestnut. Add a sprig of fresh parsley and refrigerate until serving time. These make a pretty, colorful addition when placed in a small group on your barbecued steak platter or with slices of your famous pot roast.

Napkins, Flowers and Ribbons

Napkins can be placed in wine glasses, rolled and left in the centre of the plate or pulled through your regular napkin rings but these are all old ideas. Try dressing up the napkins for a special look to address whichever holiday or special occasion you're celebrating. For instance:

Tie your napkins together with curling ribbons in red and green for Christmas, pink or blue for baby showers, red, white and blue for the fourth of July, harvest colors for Thanksgiving, etc..
Check through the bath department at your local department store for shower curtain rings with the kind of theme you need but can't find in regular napkin rings; the size is ideal and the varieties are truly endless.
If it's a garden party, tie your napkins with strips of raffia and include a fresh sprig of scented flowers or tuck a double stem of fresh cherries underneath for a fresh, naturally decorative touch

When celebrating a special occasion such as a wedding dinner or New Year's Eve get together, attach small jingle bells to the wine glasses at your table. If a wedding dinner, the newlywed couple kisses each time a toast is made, making the bells ring. If it's New Year's Eve, all couples kiss when a toast is made. Using different colors or color combinations of ribbon for each glass at that New Year's celebration will keep everyone's glasses separate as well.

Dress Up an Oscar Party Table with Gold and Silver Glitter

Hosting an Oscar partycan be great fun for the movie buffs in your life. For glass recognition at a party like this, cut out small stars from metallic bristol board (reversible from gold to silver) and punch a small hole through one of the points. Write the guest's name on one side and tie the star onto the glass stem with gold and/or silver ribbons. Gather small bunches of tinsel together and lay amongst the platters on your table to symbolize the feeling of "Tinseltown".

If you want to dress up your holiday table with something showy but don't have the time or money for an expensive centrepiece, pine cones can come to the rescue. Based on the colors of the occasion, buy a few small cans of spray paint or glitter spray from the local craft store. Lay out a select number of gathered pine cones on newspaper, spray the cones and leave until dry. Take your best clear glass bowl(s) and fill with the dry, painted cones either mixing up the colors or leaving each bowl with a color all its own. For texture or height, you can add small branches, whole walnuts in the shell, decorations such as tree ornaments at Christmas time or whatever you think might work.

It only takes a little imagination to bring your dinner or buffet table to life. Keep your eyes open to the possibilities that are always around you and you, too, can create a unique setting for your family and friends.

The copyright of the article Special Finishes for Your Party Table or Buffet in Party Food is owned by Deborah Read. Permission to republish Special Finishes for Your Party Table or Buffet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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