BABY SHOWER FOOD

Baby shower ideas are your first step in planning the baby shower after or during the process of deciding where and when the baby shower will take place. Below we have listed the essentials of baby shower ideas to help make your baby shower a success. We cover the ideas of Baby Shower Themes, Decorations, Food and Beverages to help make the planning of the baby shower a little easier on you:

Baby Shower Finger Foods

The baby shower menu helps make the party memorable. The assortment of food you choose and its presentation shows how much effort you put into planning the baby shower. If you're hosting the baby shower at a restaurant or are catering the baby shower, the restaurant or caterer will help you choose appetizers and entrées appropriate to the baby shower theme and the time of the day that the shower begins. If you're hosting the baby shower at a home, Baby Shower 101 has assembled some helpful tips for easy finger foods and beverages. Click here for finger food recipes.

Fresh Fruit
Fruit is an easy food to serve that everyone likes as an appetizer, with the meal or even with desert. Buy and cut your favorite fruits up into squares or you can buy fruit salad from your local grocery store to save you some work. Served cubed in a large bowl or mix fruits on skewers and serve on a platter. Click here for fresh fruit salad and dip recipes.

Vegetables
Vegetables are another easy food to serve as appetizers or with the baby shower meal. As with fruit, you can cut up celery, broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, and other favorites or you can find vegetable trays at the market. Serve chilled with ranch dressing or make your own dips to impress your guests.

Finger Sandwiches
Cucumber sandwiches are the baby shower #1 favorite sandwich because they're frequently served at showers with an Afternoon Tea theme. You have some flexibility with the type of sandwich you serve; just make sure to cut the sandwiches into dainty portions.

Baby Shower Recipe of the month: CHILLIN' COCONUT CHICKEN by DJ Chef
For Thanksgiving and the holiday season, this is a great baby shower recipe for you and your baby shower guests to enjoy. Over Mixed Greens Salad with Fresh Mango & Shaved Red Onion & a Tropical Citrus Vinaigrette.

Serves Four
12 Chicken Tenders, skinless & boneless (3 per person)
2 cups shredded coconut
1/2-cup flour
4-6 eggs beaten
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 mango, sliced into thin strips
1 red onion, sliced
24 oz of mixed greens (6 oz per person)

Dip chicken into beaten egg mix. Mix coconut, salt, pepper & flour in a bowl. Take the chicken out of the egg and coat with the coconut flour mixture. Lay coconut chicken on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in a shallow oil until golden brown on each side. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until the chicken in cooked through. Toss salad greens in a bowl with onion, mango and vinaigrette and mound into the center of the plate. Place chicken around salad & garnish with extra mango and you can even go over the top with a sprinkling of fresh diced parsley & diced red peppers to pop off some extra color! ;-)

Tropical Citrus Vinaigrette
4cups Olive Oil
1cup Red Wine Vinegar
Zest & Juice of 4 Lemons
Zest & Juice of 4 Limes
Zest & Juice of 1 large Orange
2 Tbsp of Honey
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Place all ingredients in a 1 Quart Chinese take-out soup container, crank up some Bob Marley & shake it well!.(Note: Make sure lid is sealed tight!). We want to thank our celebrity chef - DJ Chef for amazing recipes. Check out his site for other great ideas!

Procedure: Combine the first seven ingredients in a skillet and bring to a boil. Add mussels and cover. Cook for 5 minutes until shells open. Discard any unopened mussels and garnish with basil. Serve this dish with garlic bread to soak up the broth!. TIP: Cut them on an angle to give them a long pointed look.

Previous Recipes of the Month

Other easy finger foods include:

• Chips and Dips - Serve spinach dip, salsa, guacamole, onion dip, or hot artichoke dip with tortilla chips or pita bread cut into small triangles. Click here for dip recipes.

• Cheese and Crackers - Serve a variety of crackers along with two or more cheeses.

• Chicken (Teriyaki or Sate) - Serve on skewers with teriyaki or peanut sauce.

• Baby Shrimp - Need we say more? Serve with cocktail sauce.

• Chicken Wings - Especially popular with the men at couples showers, served with ranch dressing!

• Meat Balls - Another strong performer, especially at couples showers, make sure to serve the small variety.

• Mini Pizzas - Everyone loves pizza, so when they're small enough to pop in your mouth, they go fast.

Baby Shower Drinks

Coffee, tea, punch and soda are all great baby shower beverages. If the mommy-to-be doesn't mind, you may also serve wine or other alcoholic drinks. Make sure to have cream, sugar and both the pink and blue sweeteners for the coffee drinkers. You can brew a pot of tea, but hot water and an assortment of tea bags is a nice touch. If you're serving soda, make sure to have regular and diet choices. As far as the punch, there are so many recipes. You can go with a more traditional fruit punch or serve pink lemonade, raspberry-lemonade, or mint julep. Click here for punch recipes - Click here for wine and food pairings.

Using Baby Bottles To Drink From - A neat thing that you can do for glasses that the baby shower guests will drink from is to use baby bottles as glasses. Take out the nipples of the bottles and put fun colorful straws and fun cocktail umbrellas . It would be great to give the bottles with their tops to the mommy to be after the baby shower so she can use them. Our guest Alejandra gave us this idea and stated, "This was a hit with everyone and they have done this at other baby shower parties they have thrown."

Baby Shower Desserts

There is nothing like a little baby shower dessert recipes for accenting the baby shower food. Below we have listed the top baby shower desserts for you to choose from. Just reading them will make your mouth water and the mommy-to-be very happy!

Here are three easy baby shower desserts to make that are fun, easy to make and yummy! Take a look at the second page of baby shower dessert recipes.

Baby Shower Candy Haystacks

1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
1 (12 oz.) pkg. butterscotch chips (optional)
2 lg. cans chow mien noodles
1 c. peanuts (optional)
1 pkg of sprinkles and/or marshmallows

Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together. You can place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and check every 60 seconds so the chips don't burn. Stir every time you check the chocolate until it is smooth. Pour over noodles and peanuts. Use a spoon and scoop up the mix in small amounts, then drop by teaspoon on waxed paper on a tray. Add sprinkles, more chocolate chips and marshmallows (or your favorite toppings). Cool by storing in the refrigerator in air-tight container. They will be ready to eat in less than 10 minutes and a great baby shower candy. You can even add baby blue or baby pink sprinkles to the chocolate!

Highly Addictive Baby Shower Butter Cake!

1 pkg yellow cake mix
2 sticks of butter (separately melted)
4 eggs
1 16oz box of confectioner's sugar
1 8oz pkg. cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat Oven to 350. You will need to bowls to mix two different things (the cake and the topping):
In one bowl, beat the cake mix, 1 stick of melted butter and 2 eggs until well blended. This will be fairly stiff. Press into a 9x13 cake pan.

In another bowl, beat the other stick of melted butter, 2 eggs, sugar, softened cream cheese and vanilla extract until well blended. Pour this mixture over the bottom layer and bake for 40 minutes (or until golden brown top and a little jiggly in the center). Let it cool and place in air tight (or wrap with plastic wrap). You can decorate the top of the cake with frosting but it will be sweet enough! You will have your baby shower guests talking on how good it is :) Thanks to the Leonard's for this baby shower recipe.

Baby Shower Dessert: Potty Chair Surprise - For an interesting fun baby shower dessert idea, get a new potty chair, use the bowl part and make either lemon or pineapple Jell-O, let the Jell-O cool but not set completely and put a mini babyruth candy bar in the bottom. Continue to allow to set firm. Present to the mother-to-be during the shower in the assembled chair and don't forget to give her a spoon. This baby shower dessert makes for entertainment and the chair can be used in the future. Click here for more dessert recipes