I need help being sneaky for an office party.

[maraw]

My husband has asked me if I would help organize and host his office party this Christmas. It's going to be at our home and there will be about 50+ people in attendance, we think. Everyone that works for him knows me and knows about my magazine, the way we eat, etc. And since my husband has recently chosen a raw food diet over SAD, I feel the need to provide a good amount of raw food choices at the party, for us and anyone else that wishes to try them - although, I don't plan to make the entire party raw. It will be vegan, just not all raw. I have to work with a caterer on this and she has NO CLUE about raw stuff.

OK, so here's the problem, I want to select recipes that don't necessarily taste "raw" if you know what I mean. I've thought about my version of the onion bread recipe, cut into triangles and served with guacamole. I also really like Alissa's blueberry pie and could make it into tiny cup servings. Maybe the raw brownies?

I need more ideas - anyone have any thoughts?

[shooting star]

I've found Italian flax crackers go down particularly well as they are crunchy and have lots of flavour.

I've also seen recipes for raw mince pies around (or are they just a UK thing) which look fairly easy to do - a 'pastry' from nuts and dates, filled with dried currants and vine fruits and spices.

raw sweeties are nice - seeds, dried fruit and carob or cacoa powder. You could roll them into balls and then into desicated coconut to make them look Christmassy.

sorry don't have any actual recipes

[sugarsnap]

I agree on the flax crackers - everyone at my family holdiay gathering ....well ate them all.

I also took the following receipe and they loved it as well. Stuffed vines with mint cashew aioli

http://gliving.tv/greenchefs/recipes/stuffed-vine-leaves-with-mint-cashew-aioli/

I hope that helps.:)

[beppa66]

I made cheesecake and cut it up into little squares and placed them in tiny paper muffin cups and then used a squirt bottle to squeeze a little prettly drizzle of rasberry and mango sauce on top. Those work great! Rave reviews and no one suspects they are raw.

[goodbeets]

I find people are very responsive to enchiladas with sour cream or onion dip. How about a raw fondue? I now add Alissa's green powder to all the chocolate treats we eat, my kids never notice a thing. Maybe some salads that aren't all greens like carrot/coconut/lemon/honey or Alissa's fennel salads. There is a great "wheat thin" cracker recipe on goneraw.com that is yummy. That and some dips and a tapanade... where do you live? I am comin' over!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah, and quiche!!!!!! Lordy, lordy, lordy... P.S. I made your southern corn dressing for Thanksgiving. I added soome fresh cranberry sauce and it was soooooooooooooo good. I had it for breakfast, too! Thank you, Maraw.

[maraw]

Thanks everyone, for your very helpful suggestions. Also, this evening, I made Ani Phyo's donut holes. Have you guys tried those things yet? WOW!! They are so simple and yet, you can't distinguish any of the individual ingredients. And they really have that taste! Oh, they are so wonderful. This one is definitely going on the list of possibilities.

[shine72]

Thanks everyone, for your very helpful suggestions. Also, this evening, I made Ani Phyo's donut holes. Have you guys tried those things yet? WOW!! They are so simple and yet, you can't distinguish any of the individual ingredients. And they really have that taste! Oh, they are so wonderful. This one is definitely going on the list of possibilities.

My oldest son loved them so much the first time I made and ate those, he started making them himself. ALL THE TIME! Sent me to the poor house that month that child did!:rolleyes: So now we ration when those are made. Now, when I'm independently wealthy in the monetary dept., he can make donut holes till they come out of his ears!:p

[tiggerbounce]

I like the crackers and dips ideas.....just don't call the cheese dip - cheese dip, call it pepper dip or what ever or they will have it in their mind that it is supposed to taste like cheddar or velveeta or something. You know how that is.

Make up new names.

I think the brownies, fudgeballs, beppas cheesecake idea, the donuts all sound fantastic. Sweets are what people think they will miss the most and will be amazed that you get to eat all that! Did you see EPPP link to the whipped cream recipe? It looks like SAD! It is in her Thanksgiving 101 thread with the pumpkin pie on G Living. I soooo want to try that!

What about the corn chowder or chili? Those are fantastic. As are the spicy fajitas with the veggie/pepper tortillas - you could make smaller finger food ones with sour cream/guac, etc.

Wish I was going to be there! Have fun!

[Mandie]

I like to scoop the torte mixture out of the processor into little balls and put them into mini muffin cups, then put the icing into a decorator's bag or squirt bottle and drizzle it on top of the little torte balls. Yum!

Good luck with your party!

Mandie

[eachpeachpearplum]

Raw Food Real Worlds Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart. I still find that cooked people love this. You could even make it in a different shape like a sheet pan for easier serving. The crust alone tastes just like Tootsie Rolls! Let me know if you need the recipe!

Also their maccaroons. You could do a cinnamony version.

And lastly. Alissas lagana with lots more veggies than the recipe calls for. This has a long shelf life so you could this over several days given that it need the dehydrator.It also comes out looking cooked!

Opps not lastly; the pumpkin pie from from YOUR magazine. Again in a sheetpan for easier portions. I served it with candied pecans - although those took several days to fully dehydrate! Perhaps even with a cheesecake layer. So crust, cheesecake then pumpkin!

Please let us know how it turns out.

[Morn]

How about rawvolutions taco meat (made out of walnuts) with some lettuce leaves and fresh salsa. Oh a a raw cheesecake is a must have!

[Lady Green Jeans]

I made mock salmon and sunny pate and took to a potluck at work. Was very well received. Hollowed out nice size cherry tomatoes with a tomato shark and piped in the sunny pate. Piped a nice squiggly (lacking a better term--but professional looking piping) along Belgium endive leaves. Served these on a bed of finely shredded red cabbage.

There was a recipe awhile back for the world's greatest (I think meatloaf). Anyway, I made them into meatballs and dehydrated. These would be awsome in some kind of mushroom/miso or creamy sauce to mimic Swedish meatballs. Never got around to testing the gravy part. Would even be great with marinara. Oh I'm so happy for you to get to present raw food to so many. I know you'll knock their socks off!

[StarFire]

Thanks everyone, for your very helpful suggestions. Also, this evening, I made Ani Phyo's donut holes. Have you guys tried those things yet? WOW!! They are so simple and yet, you can't distinguish any of the individual ingredients. And they really have that taste! Oh, they are so wonderful. This one is definitely going on the list of possibilities.

have you tried the donut holes with :

1/2 cup pineapple
1/2 cup mango
3 tablespoons of shredded coconut added to the mixture ... then roll the balls into more coconut!

I call them 'tropical balls!' I didn't have enough pineapple one day and substituted mango -- it is FABULOUS!!!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/bigthumbup.gif

[Raw Jewelrylady]

When my parents come to visit, We refer to my Dad as the giant mouse as he loves cheese~lives in Wisconsin as well. Anyways~I always make Alissa's nacho cheese but in a dip form & serve with veggies, flax crackers, etc & he doesn't have a clue it's raw. I've served it so many times & I tell some people b4, but most after & they LOVE the dip.:D

Another party fav for me is raw truffles in different flavors.

I've also found that pesto stuffed mushrooms were a huge hit at a 4th of July gathering that I had were I did all *finger food*. It was unconventional, but so much fun.

Hope this helps & can't wait to hear what you serve as I'm sure with you being the Raw Goddess of all chefs~It'll be just divine!!!!;)

RJL

[halikatak]

Alissa's Stuffed Mushrooms are very tasty!

[Rawmommie]

I was going to suggest Alissa's pesto stuffed mushrooms too. They're good!

I don't know what those *donut holes* are made of, but I have my own recipe that I make and they are super! They remind me of those nut covered donut holes they had at dunkin donuts.

I process up cashews, dates(add just enough for it to stick together, too many and it won't taste nutty enough), and then add a little cacao or cinnamon (depending on what taste I want)

Then roll into balls and put in the freezer for a few hours. Mmmmm!

[eachpeachpearplum]

I wanted to add to the muchroom posts. I have had your ravioli cheese in mushrooms topped with dill & minced red onion - YUM!

[StarFire]

I don't know what those *donut holes* are made of, but I have my own recipe that I make and they are super! They remind me of those nut covered donut holes they had at dunkin donuts.

I process up cashews, dates(add just enough for it to stick together, too many and it won't taste nutty enough), and then add a little cacao or cinnamon (depending on what taste I want)

Then roll into balls and put in the freezer for a few hours. Mmmmm!

YOUR RECIPE SOUNDS SOOOO YUMMY!

here's ani phy'os recipe:

Donut Holes

1 cup almonds, dry
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped (1-2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract)
1 cup dried pineapple, chop (1/2 cup pineapple & 1/2 cup mango)
1 cup pitted dates
5 Tablespoons dried shredded coconut (3 tablespoons coconut)


Add ALL ingredients into food processor – Process until it becomes a dough like consistency.

Roll into little balls then roll into shredded coconut.


Enjoy!


The red is how I tweaked the recipe. I didn’t have enough Pineapple so I added Mango and it turned out wonderful!! I make them like this all the time now – I think they taste better – but you try both ways and make a decision. I call the ‘tweaked ones’…. ‘TROPICAL DONUT HOLES!’

[StarFire]

MaRAw... what about Alissa's rawviolis???? CAN WE SAY http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/s_9886a1b7fc20bfe040f9b68c9514a79c.gif YUMMMM!!!! plus it's such a beautiful dish... easy to prepare and everyone loves them!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/481.gif

[Raw Jewelrylady]

I have another idea. We used to stuff celery with cream cheese & then sprinkle w/paprika~def could do this w/ raw cream cheese or even onion dip.

OK...now wanna throw a party. WHo's coming????:D ;) :D

Better bring your winter coat as it's cold up here in the frozen woods!!!!:eek:

RJL

[sfdreams]

I was going to suggest Alissa's pesto stuffed mushrooms too. They're good!

I don't know what those *donut holes* are made of, but I have my own recipe that I make and they are super! They remind me of those nut covered donut holes they had at dunkin donuts.

I process up cashews, dates(add just enough for it to stick together, too many and it won't taste nutty enough), and then add a little cacao or cinnamon (depending on what taste I want)

Then roll into balls and put in the freezer for a few hours. Mmmmm!

Mmm-mmm, Karen! These sound good!! And I wasn't even much of a fan of doughnuts, but my life partner is, and she is not raw (yet!). Will have to try these out on her! Thanks!:D

[joyfulGIRL]

I made a mango tart all decorated on top with different berries, kiwi, etc.

Visually stunning and even my anti-raw inlaws gobbled it down like it was the best thing ever! Ha ha, sometimes you gotta trick them, right?

I found some really cute tinfoil muffin tins, but they're in the shape of a star -- really cute! That would work if you needed a container for single-serve portions. Or even a container if you made truffles and put a couple in each.

Good luck and happy planning! :)

[maraw]

Great ideas - all! Thanks, you guys. I love Alissa's rawvioli too, and I have a beet version that I like as well.

I love the idea of stuffing celery with the herb cheese - wonderful!

[Bananapie]

so how did the party turn out? What were peoples favorites?

[maraw]

Thanks for checking in! It went very well. Of course, we had plenty of cooked foods, but the foods that people were most interested in were the raw dishes I had placed out. The mango salsa and corn chips were a hit, but the thing that had everyone talking and asking for left-overs and the recipe were Ani Phyo's donut holes.

My husband and I put together an all-raw Christmas sweet treats gift basket for some of his co-workers. They all seemed to really enjoy it, and I even received a few phone calls from wives asking for recipes.

All in all, I'd say it was very successful. Thanks for all the help!