Tasty Little Bites for Parties: Hor d’oeuvres and Canapés

It’s July. In my past, pre-pandemic life, I would be about halfway through a grueling wedding season. Wrapping and stacking dozens of hotel pans in plastic wrap, carefully loading vans full of fragile and spillable materials to haul on curvey Foothill roads, sometimes to remote locations, and working 14-hour days on my feet lifting thousands of pounds cumulatively over the course of the day. Now, retired from it all, I’m 1 week into eating burgers, playing board games, and reading books as I watch afternoon storms roll through the Bitterroot Valley. It is wild to think how much has changed in a couple of years.

I’m not going to lie, there is a lot I do not miss about catering and the restaurant industry. Being able to spend summer weekends and holidays and birthdays with my kids is something I would not give up again. That being said, there is something special and even meditative about working with your hands and using food as a medium to make little works of art that bring joy to an occasion and then disappear. An artform epitomized by hor d’oeuvres and canapes – the showiest, most playful, and most creative “bites” in the business.

Over the decade that I catered Weddings, Winemaker Dinners, and Showers I created dozens and dozens of different types canapés and hor d’oeuvres. Sometimes I made them up on the fly with slices of baguette, and whatever leftovers I had in the kitchen as a thank you (or I’m sorry) to one of the diners at the restaurant. Sometimes I created them special for a client with very specific criteria, usually gleaned off of Pinterest (caterers love Pinterest😆).

Whether you are in the business and looking for ideas for your next catering quote, planning party food DIY at your home, or feeding little eaters who love fun and colorful bites that fit perfectly in their little hands, having a repertoire of canapés up your sleeve will come in handy a hundred times over. I’ll be adding links to my favorite recipes for party appetizers to this post over time so you will have them all in one place.

Canapés, Hor d’oeuvres and “Bites”. What’s the difference.

Technically, canapés are little bites composed of a starchy base layer, usually bread, and toppings. Hor d’oeuvres (pronounced “or-dervs”), on the other hand, are any other small appetizers served either plated, stationary, or passed. I use these terms interchangeably, but I use canapés more because… it’s easier to spell. I also use the term “bites,” and when I do I am usually referring to a single unit/ portion. For instance, a 3-hour cocktail party with no meal served would require about 15-18 “bites” per person, made up of 1-2 each of 10-12 different canapés/appetizers. A 3-hour party with a meal served, 4-6 “bites” per person, 3-6 different canapés.

Passable Party Appetizers, Canapés and Hor d’oeuvres