Food/Beverage Ideas for Preference

[Felicity]

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[PhoenixAzul]

I have only one suggestion...please serve something sugar free in the beverage area! Diet pop, Crystle Light punch, something! If you've got a diabetic PNM, it makes her feel more comfortable. I hated having to refuse refreshments at parties, but when your options are regular coke and cake, you're backed into a corner. It makes us appear rude...some diabetics (like myself) are pretty upfront about their condition/reasons for not accepting, but some don't feel as comfortable.

[KSUViolet06]

Our preference parties are on Sunday morning, so we had Sunday brunch type food. We served mini quiche, tarts, little triangle shaped sandwiches with chicken/egg/tuna salad, several different types of tea, coffee, and eclairs.

I wouldn't serve anything really heavy. Most girls will be attending more than one preference party so they will want to eat light.

I also would have diet beverages and water available.

I also suggest not serving TONS of desserts. Some chapters serve nothing but sweets (cheesecake,eclairs, etc). That can be bad for girls who might be diabetic, they'd have nothing to eat! So be sure to serve a variety of things.

[OleMissGlitter]

Chocolate covered strawberries are fun, sugar cookies with icing in your sorority's colors, sparkling grape fruit juice for a drink with a strawberry in it is cute too...I think at Ole Miss they can only serve a drink during preference round now but I remember chocolate covered strawberries were very nice. Also you could do a chocolate mousse in a small glass or even tiramisu.

(sorry if I spelt anything wrong, my brain is about dead!)

[joliebelle]

we didn't serve food during our pref. party last year (no frills), but i belive we served ice water and sparkling wine

[aephi alum]

I agree on making sure there's something that diabetic PNMs can enjoy - even if it's just water. During formal recruitment at the start of my junior year, I was talking to a PNM who offhandedly remarked that she was diabetic. We only had water and regular soda to offer (same as the other chapters), so she was drinking water. When I saw her name on the invite list for pref, I talked to the day chair and mentioned that we had a diabetic PNM. Diet Coke materialized. It must have worked - she joined AEPhi and became my little. I made sure there was diet soda at bid day as well.

As for food and drink, it's been a looooong time since I was an active, and I don't remember what we did for food, but we offered non-alcoholic sparkling cider, water, and soda to drink. Most people went for the cider.

[FSUZeta]

i'll bet you served sparkling apple or grape juice. npc recruitment forbids alcoholic beverages.

we always served something we called ant hill pie,others call it oreo peppermint sandwich- you crush a large pkg. of oreos and sprinkle half of the crumbs in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan. spread softened peppermint ice cream on top, sprinkle the top with the remaining crumbs and freeze. you can either slice and serve on a chilled glass plate or serve in an ice cream dish. it is delicious.
my family loves me to make this at christmas time-when we can get the peppermint ice cream.

[breukelen]

The time of day is a factor. I LOVE the breakfast food idea.
Also, how long is your party, how much time do you give to the food/conversation portion and do you have china and silverware that you use or do you want to stick to finger foods? Budget is also a major decision maker.

In the sweet category, the traditional Chocolate dipped strawberry is always nice as long as the strawberries are small enough to eat in one bite. Brownies cut into an attractive shape with a cookie cutter and then dusted with powdered sugar are cute and usually fit into every budget.
If you have enough time you can begin with a cheese and fruit tray on each table and then right before the ceremony serve something sweet. I know petit fours are extremely popular, and are just the right size usually.

[ΑΓΔSquirrelGirl]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

I have only one suggestion...please serve something sugar free in the beverage area! Diet pop, Crystle Light punch, something! If you've got a diabetic PNM, it makes her feel more comfortable. I hated having to refuse refreshments at parties, but when your options are regular coke and cake, you're backed into a corner. It makes us appear rude...some diabetics (like myself) are pretty upfront about their condition/reasons for not accepting, but some don't feel as comfortable.

Ok I feel really bad that that never occurred to me, as our philanthropy is focused on research for juvenile diabetes...but GREAT point. Thanks for posting it.

We usually have very small squares of three different kinds of cheescake, maybe two strawberries, and some other tea-like finger food. Some sororities on campus have alums that make a little cake or cookie with each PNM's name on it in icing.

[agdkati]

My chapter used to serve slices of cake and sparkling cider. Last fall we nixed the cake because it was awkward to eat with no tables, and added slices of strawberries to the sparkling cider. This spring, though, I decided to not put the strawberry in because it would get stuck in the glass and it wasn't cute seeing girls trying to get it out. It did make a really lovely effect in the glass though.