# Southern Finger Food Ideas



## Mandathewitch (May 19, 2009)

Ok, so since our Haunt/Party this year is going to be a cross of Haunted Mansion style, and Nightmare Before Xmas (very disneyland if i do say so myself), we decided that we wanted to do Southern Style Food....

But it needs to be Finger Foods. We want to eliminate spoons, forks and knives, as last year they ended up in the weirdest places....

We keep coming up with ideas, but nothing seems to fit, and frankly I didn't like anything that was put on paper. We need like 1 meal-type-food, 2 snacks, and 2-3 desserts. We want something that isn't messy, but at the same time, looks and feels halloween. We are definitely having cupcakes for one of the desserts. Those were a HUGE hit last year.

Any ideas? We were gonna do a pulled pork sandwich, but it doesn't feel... Halloween. Ya know. It's really the ONLY area of this party that we haven't covered yet. HELP!


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

Put your pulled pork inside of a skull, then have tongs to dip in and remove the shredded brains. Have your BBQ sauce in some type of container listed as type O blood (mild sauce) Type AB blood (hot sauce). 

I live in the south and trying to think with a headache, some really good finger foods for you.. 

Coleslaw, with red food coloring, or green. 

I am thinking of a 3-4 tiered white cake, you cut into it and blood oozes out... Google jelly filled cake.

We drink A LOT of sweet tea here in Mississippi, there is a new alcoholic drink called sweet tea, believe it is a rum product... I tried it once and it isn't my fav, but your guests might like it.. 

ritz cracker, piece of pepperoni, cheese and small slice of tomato. Pop in oven for a few min, melt cheese (ummm)

Deviled eggs, take a toothpic and dip into red food color, then draw on veins, into the white part of the egg.

Ribs, make a huge batch of ribs, pull the meat off, put meat in the middle of a tray. The take the bones (after cleaning very well) and put around the edges of the plate. Goes great with blood wine..


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## alucard (Dec 1, 2008)

Have you thought about hot wings? They don't require a fork and they are deep fried, just like most of the things I cook here in the south. Sloppy Joes (some call it Manwich) are good too. They are really easy to make and don't require a fork. You could buy the big package of dinner rolls, cut them in half and make a small bun for the meat. Guests could just pick one up and walk around eating it.

For dessert, you could go as simple as buying Peanut Butter cookies (the ones that are shaped like a big peanut) and dip them in white chocolate then use 2 milk chocolate chips on top for eyeballs, making them look like little ghosts.


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## BooBerrie (Jan 1, 2008)

As a former southerner, I'll second Alucard's suggestion for wings (a lot of people call them bat wings for Halloween). The only other "finger foods" I can come up are: corndogs, stuffed celery, the "mummy" little hotdogs - they're wrapped in some sort of bread and then cooked and they look like mummies - the recipe is on this forum somewhere; deviled eggs, chocolate dipped pretzels, ribs, meat roll-ups (with or without cheese), mini-shrimp cocktail, fried gator bites, raw oysters, corn cob on a stick... wait I think I'm off track...now I'm hungry - if I think of anything else I'll post again.


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## Britishwitch (Jan 5, 2008)

I don't know if these will be any help but I thought I would post my food table from years past. You may get some ideas!

















































































BW


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## Britishwitch (Jan 5, 2008)

Found a couple more!















































Hope they are of use!

BW


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## alucard (Dec 1, 2008)

Hey British,

You must still be eating on that spread! LOL! Nice job. You must have had a lot of guests?


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## Britishwitch (Jan 5, 2008)

Thank you  

Yes Last year was the biggest ever get together, I had about 50 people in total.

BW


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

Oh Your tables looked just beautiful! What a terrific & colorful spread. Any chance you might elaborate a little more as to specifically what your dishes are in those photo's? I see alot more there than just finger sandwiches & deviled eggs!

Muffy


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## Britishwitch (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi Muffy

Of course I will....if I can remember, 

There were all different types of finger sandwiches, meat (flesh of course), strawberry jam (blood), chocolate spread (soil) and cheese (grated skin).

There were ham & cheese croisants, sausage rolls, bread sticks, mini pizzas, savoury Witches fingers, sweet Witches fingers, lots of sweet peppers celery and cucumbers for dipping. Mini cocktail sausages, cherry tomatoes, chicken dippers, cheese biscuits and roasted pumpkin seeds. Various Mini quiches and vol-au-vonts.
Salami filled with cream cheese. Minis spring rolls, savoury pastry bats & witches hats which were cheese and paprika (They were really yummy!)

There was (Sweet) mince meat pasties and apple and sultana pasties. Meringue ghosts which I made, various cupcakes some bought some made. 
Most of the savoury foods I made myself, The cupcakes were bought plain and I did all the decorating on them. The orange cakes with chocolate drizzling are what we in the UK know as "Fondant Fancies", but these were a special "Halloween Edition" as they are normally pastel colours not orange.

Various types of sweet biscuits and Oreo cookies.

The "Tarantular Flan" I made from a sponge flan case, designed the spider from Black Grapes and then covered in a fast setting jelly (Jello).

The large graveyard cake I made myself as the Halloween offerings of cakes over here are rather sad. Everything on it was eadible except the skeleton and the tree.

I think that about covers it. 

As you probably guessed, the food is the most important part to me....hubby worries about the decorating and I do the food. 

I start about two days before the party with the things that I know will keep but the majority is done on the day so it is always an early start that day but I wouldn't change it for the world.

BW


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## Mandathewitch (May 19, 2009)

I am interested in the "witches fingers".... both kinds. They look creepy and delicious at the same time. What exactly are those?!!?

I talked to my mom, who's southern, and she also suggested hush puppies... I have no idea about how to make those, but I'm sure she does.... and possibly like chicken fingers...

Cupcakes are an absolute must. We would LOVE to have a real CAKE, but that requires silverware...which we want to avoid. I like the deviled eggs idea....since those are a personal fave, we might have to incorporate that.... =)

As for the Wings... is there a Wing out there that isn't messy? I know there will be several guests (including one of the hosts) who will be wearing white (she's wearing white SILK nonetheless... ). I think i'd prefer something more like a chicken finger that doesn't have a sauce or is greasy (even when baked!).


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## Samhain.Voodoo (May 17, 2009)

I'm gonna be making a rib cage out of a garbage can (an UNUSED can) and putting bbq pulled pork inside and also some kielbasa or some kind of sausage to look like intestines and a bloody mess. I like the bbq sauce idea with the labels that's pretty cool.

oh and Publix sells regular fried chicken wings in the convenient mini size. You could still lay the bbq sauce out for those who want sauce on theirs and the ones in white can eat them plain without worry of mucking up their costumes.


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## HallowSkeen (Jul 25, 2006)

I found this list helpful. It is a list of Do's and Don'ts from Perfect Entertaining. Some things are obvious, but some things are like - Oh yeah, that makes sense, why didn't I think of it before. I especially like the tip about not leaving space on the buffet table. It makes perfect sense, but I had never thought of it before. I know these tips aren't specifically for Southern food, but they are great general buffet entertaining tips. I hope they help.

You should also check out the halloween section of perfect entertaining. They have lots of recipes and suggestions.
Halloween at Perfect Entertaining

*The Don't List*

*Don't *serve food that is easier eaten with more than one hand. Noshing on chicken wings one handed is an art form, and many people have not developed it. When you add a drink and plate into the equation, food needs to be very portable and easy to handle.

*Don't* serve round items. Seems silly, but how often have you seen grapes, unsauced meatballs, or olives take a header from a plate? The one exception to this is if they are toothpicked to prevent rolling. 

*Don't *serve anything with a sauce. OK, so you can get away with a few sauced or dressed items, but keep in mind that when individuals are holding their plates they are not always balanced. The sauce that is really great on one dish is not so great on another dish…and is even less enthralling on your carpet.

*Don't* use flimsy paper plates. Paper or plastic plates are fine…but make sure they are very sturdy. People tend to load up plates with more food than seems possible and flimsy plates are not up to the task of being carried with a full load of food. 

*Don't* leave space on the buffet table for people to put their plate down. Before you accuse me of cruel and unusual punishment, there is a real reason behind this. I have seen it time and time again…if people have to hold their plate while getting food, they are more careful about balancing their plate and not over loading it. It is much easier to stack things or really pile on the food if the plate is on a stable surface.

*Don't* serve dishes that require a bunch of accompaniments. While offering a salad with a variety of dressings and toppings to use is nice for the guest, maneuvering plates to add dressing is always tricky and the whole process can really tie up your buffet line. 


*The Do List*

*Do* provide small plates. They are much easier for guests to handle and they can always come back for seconds.

*Do* provide tons and tons of napkins.

*Do* offer a wide range of food that can be picked up and eaten without a plate. Skewered or toothpicked vegetables, fruit, cubed meat, and cheese cubes are all great examples of this. This allows guests who want to snack without a plate to do so easily.

*Do* keep the area around the food table clear. Don't encourage guests to linger near the table by placing other tables or chairs near the area. 

*Do* make sure you have enough seating for everyone who might have to sit. This would include the elderly, anyone who has any physical handicaps, or who just cannot stand for long periods of time. 

*Do* remove any unnecessary furniture and knickknacks from the area. You do not want your guests stumbling over footstools or moving your precious collectibles to find room on the table for their plate. 

*Do* offer specialized areas and break up the buffet into smaller stations. You can break up your buffet by food style, such as hot food in one area and desserts in another, or else you can create smaller stations for specific dishes.


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## 1LuvHalloween (Oct 27, 2004)

BW-How do you keep your sandwich bread from getting stale and hard during the night?


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## AmFatallyYours (Apr 8, 2009)

Britishwitch, your food looks delicious! And i love all your yummy looking desserts.


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

if you'd like something like the batwings but don't want a mess do chicken legs (or the mini wings etc) and sprinkle lemon pepper all over them when you're baking them in the oven. We have that for dinner here lots of times and they are fabulous and everyone is always asking for more and begging me to make them. Hush puppies can often be found in the store already premade just ready to be deep fried (or baked I suppose, but here in the south we like as much deep fried food as we can get  ) you could always make pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate with sprinkles (easy to do and makeable in advance) for another dessert.


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## HeatherEve1234 (Sep 5, 2008)

Mummy Pizzas are not messy and easy to eat, but not exactly southern unless you have some specific toppings. 









Here's my tutorial:
My Craftastic Creations: Mummy Mini Pizzas

You could maybe do it with pulled pork instead of pizza sauce, and still melt the cheese over the top? As long as you don't over do the toppings, they're not very messy.


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## Britishwitch (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi

AmFatallyyours, thank you....you're very kind. I always love doing the desserts as you can alwys make them bright and colourful. As the parties are alwyas for quite small children, they tend to really like the glaring colours more.

IluvHalloween...I am afraid to say I don't.....there are always some curled up, dry very sad looking sandwiches at the end, but normally the majority have been devoured way before they reach that stage. Last year, even with the mountain of food we started with there was very little waste...thank goodness!.

BW


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

I have some foods that might interest you on my web site. We had no room to sit & eat so things had to be easy altho we did have a few foods that required forks. If you are still looking for ideas check out the food pages on my web site & maybe you can pick up some ideas!

Click the banner below to get there & after you enter....along side the page look for halloween food pages , there is about 6 -7 pages of stuff.


Muffy


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## TNhaunter (May 29, 2009)

if you are gonna do any southern finger food you cannot forget sausage balls made with bisquick you do not have a gathering of more than 5 folks in west tennessee without sausage balls


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## dippedstix (Jul 2, 2009)

TNhaunter said:


> if you are gonna do any southern finger food you cannot forget sausage balls made with bisquick you do not have a gathering of more than 5 folks in west tennessee without sausage balls


You're so right- I'm adding this to our menu!!


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## jennyfifi (Aug 15, 2009)

Thanks for your sharing. Thanks for sharing this useful information. It's great.


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## jennyfifi (Aug 15, 2009)

Life is too short to be serious, laugh it up.


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## Halloween Princess (Sep 23, 2008)

If you want to make creepy looking deviled eggs, we added green food coloring to the mix and an olive slice on top.


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## HazelHawthorne (Dec 5, 2007)

Those deviled eggs are spectacular! I'm so making those this year. 

Also, I have to agree about the sausage balls, I bet you could even form them into witches fingers if you wanted to.


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## chartreusechaos (Jul 7, 2009)

You can go WAAAY south, like south of the border, and do Mexican. I did a taco bar one year - just make the meat ahead and put it in a crock pot. I used tortillas instead of taco shells. The dollar stores sell those brown tortilla holders that they have in restaurants. Guacamole and salsa look great in Halloween-themed bowls. Put out grated cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream. Rotel queso dip in another crock pot with chips. The blue corn chips are dark purple and look pretty cool. 

Halloween is also Dia de los Muertos in Mexico - Day of the Dead. I decorated the food area in Day of the Dead decor.


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2009)

Last week I was wandering around the forum and found this thread. Normally, I stay away from the food section because my family has requested that I do not cook. lol 
But someone posted this little mini pizza thing (ritz cracker, pepperoni, tomato slice, & melted cheese) that is wonderful. I have been eating those things for 3 days now. 
I'm not sure who posted it, but just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! And I have proven to my family that by actually putting them in the oven to melt the cheese, I CAN COOK!! LOL


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## Mandathewitch (May 19, 2009)

This is what We've come up with.

PS giving things fun names is always good!


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## dippedstix (Jul 2, 2009)

creepycathy said:


> Last week I was wandering around the forum and found this thread. Normally, I stay away from the food section because my family has requested that I do not cook. lol
> But someone posted this little mini pizza thing (ritz cracker, pepperoni, tomato slice, & melted cheese) that is wonderful. I have been eating those things for 3 days now.
> I'm not sure who posted it, but just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! And I have proven to my family that by actually putting them in the oven to melt the cheese, I CAN COOK!! LOL


LOL- you're funny


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## Halloweenie1 (Sep 28, 2008)

Britishwitch said:


> I don't know if these will be any help but I thought I would post my food table from years past. You may get some ideas!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My goodness, what a fabo spread! Very lovely. What a great job on the food, Brit Witch!  I think these are great ideas.


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## Halloweenie1 (Sep 28, 2008)

How about Pimento Cheese Dip? You can either make it as a dip or make finger sandwiches. I will enclose a recipe. 

Pimento Cheese Dip

4-oz cream cheese
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup grated colby cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon grated vidalia onion
1/2 teaspoon Everglades Seasoning or your favorite kind
2 to 3 tablespoon pimentos, smashed or diced

Beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy with an electric hand mixer. Add everything else and beat until well blended. I garnish with a pinch of cayenne pepper or sometimes for extra bite, I add a few diced jalapenos to the mix.

Makes 3 cups 










Or serve as finger sandwiches....


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