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Party Platters: Tips For Choosing The Perfect Food For Your New Year’s Eve Party [Videos]

By Charisse Van Horn
Published on: 09:19 PST, Dec 27, 2015

Party platters are an important part of your New Year’s Eve party. The food you serve, as well as beverages, will make a lasting impression on the success of your get-together. When it comes to choosing party platters, you’ll want to ensure the food you select is as fresh and delicious as it is festive. When choosing the best party platters for your New Year’s Eve party, you’ll want to make sure you take your guest’s preferences and tastes into account.

An important decision to make when serving party platters is whether you will create them yourself, buy them prepared from a supermarket or deli, or have them catered. For many party hosts, budget will weigh heavily on your choice. If you are going to prepare your own party platters, be forewarned that you may be taking on a large endeavor. Some choose to create their own party platters in order to have greater control over the foods served. For those who are short on time and want to spend their efforts on other aspects of the party, ordering ready-made party platters is often an excellent choice, according to Woman’s Day.

First determine who your guests will be and what type of party platters will be most appropriate. This may be based upon ethnicity, food tastes, whether there will be vegans or vegetarians attending your New Year’s party and if any of your guests have food allergies. You may find that it is best to serve several kinds of party platters to ensure you have food for all of your guests. While meat and cheese platters are very popular, you can serve fruit and nuts as well. Make sure to label platters in an elegant way so those with food allergies or specific preferences (such as vegans and vegetarians) won’t risk consuming the wrong foods.

Consider the age of your party guests when choosing platters. While many kids and teens fall asleep before New Year’s Eve festivities begin, some families often include children in the events. If you will have children attending your New Year’s Eve, consider selecting party platters made of fun and entertaining shapes. Finger foods such as sandwiches cut in whimsical shapes, nuts, fruits and vegetables all make great additions to kid’s party platters.

Vegetable party platters are always a good choice, because everyone can eat vegetables. They are healthy and nutritious and can be served with an array of condiments. If you are offering a wide array of party platters for your New Year’s Eve party, be sure to include vegetable platters. While some people have allergies to dairy and nuts, the chances of someone having a specific vegetable allergy is rather low.

When choosing party platters, you’ll want to consider how much food you will need per person. A general rule of thumb is to order or make 5 pounds of food per 20 guests. If your party was to have 40 guests, you’d want to increase food portions to 10 pounds. Many prepared food platters often have guidelines on the packaging as to serving and guest size. If you are ordering from a deli or caterer, you can speak directly with them regarding any questions or concerns you have regarding food quantities. As a general thumb, it is better to have too much food than too little; however, you will want to keep close to your budget and not overspend. Find more tips for throwing a New Year’s Eve party from Martha Stewart.

Check out these videos from Entertaining with Beth for New Year’s Eve party food. Do you plan to buy prepared party platters or are you going to make your own?

https://youtu.be/udq8FScZPY4?list=PLiVUB_qcsYiOVQU6dvVmksNe9kMf6DS1g

[Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/Retrofile/Getty Images]

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