Whimsical Worldly Tapas

After the hubbub of the holidays had died down, the mister and I were anxious to reconnect with some of our friends. We invited a few couples over for a night of board games and tasty bites.

When party planning, I usually like to stick to a theme and create a menu in keeping with said theme. However, this time, I think I may have let my cravings dictate the menu. Of course, given the nature of "game night," I wanted to plan a few finger-food type recipes - nothing that required a fork! I was feeling Italian, Mexican, and Asian all at once. So I labeled the evening "Whimsical Worldly Tapas" and voila, the party theme was born!

Meaty Stromboli
I had just gotten a new pizza peel and stone for Christmas, so I was eager to put it to good use. A big ol' slice of pizza seemed a bit cumbersome, and certainly too large for a heavy appetizer. I figured I'd take a stromboli approach. Think pizza layered with cheese and meat and folded up into a neat little roll. While stromboli is a perfectly delicious main dish, when cut into thin slices, it works perfectly as a meaty appetizer! You can go a lot of different flavor directions with these guys, but I decided I'd stay tried and true with classic Italian ingredients like provolone, pepperoni, and salami. While I opted to make the dough from scratch, if you're short on time, you could certainly get away with picking up a ball of dough from your favorite local pizza joint! Dough aside, this stromboli comes together pretty quickly!

Mexican Chicken Flautas
For my Mexican fix, there were a few different options on the table. Of course, a classic bowl of guac is never a bad way to go. Quesadillas could have been a good choice too, especially for a heavy appetizer. Though I thought it'd be fun to try my hand at flautas! Since moving to the great state of Texas, chicken flautas have become a favorite of mine and my husband's. Flautas are simply flour tortillas that have been filled with meat and cheese and deep-fried. They look super fancy, but I have to be honest, they are just too easy! I used a little store-bought help and picked up a rotisserie chicken. After pulling the chicken, I simply tossed it together with cheese and salsa and blanketed the Mexican goodness with tortillas. These hot and crisp flautas served alongside a cool avocado crema really hit the spot.

As if two continents weren't enough for one table, I thought taking a trip over to the Orient might be fun! I've got to be frank, pulling together a party menu can be overwhelming. So long as it doesn't compromise the integrity of the dish, I strongly encourage leveraging tasty store-bought ingredients when helpful. While neither the stromboli or flautas are particularly difficult to make, they are rather time consuming, so for the final savory app, I decided I'd simply pan-fry a bunch of frozen pot stickers. Trader Joes happens to stock a delicious ground chicken pot sticker - a real winner in my book! Whisk together soy sauce with a bit of brown sugar, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar, and you've got yourself a complete semi-homemade snack!
German Chocolate Brownie Bites

You'll notice the menu thus far has been protein-packed. As a means of balancing the table, I invited guests to bring a veggie snack or some type of dip. Of course, this meant we were still in need of something a little sweet. I'd been craving a rich, chocolaty something for a few days. So I decided I'd make some German chocolate brownie bites. Admittedly, I don't think German chocolate is actually from Germany, but it shows up in the name, so I figured it fit the bill for the "Whimsical Worldly Tapas" buffet. To be honest, these were so fudgy and delicious that I don't think anyone cared about the ethnic inaccuracy!

Spanish Sangria
Finally, while a good beer and wine selection is usually my party standby, I do enjoy serving some type of house "cocktail" when I'm looking to keep it festive. Rather than mix a bunch of individual cocktails throughout the course of the evening, I strongly recommend you find a recipe that you can scale up and keep around in a large pitcher. Easy access for both you and your guests! In keeping with the "worldly" theme, Spanish sangria instantly came to mind! Perhaps my mind is a bit bias consider sangria is an absolute favorite of mine, but I think it was a crowd pleaser too! It's as simple as: dump ingredients in pitcher and serve.

Total Cost: ~$60 

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