Food/Beverage Ideas for Preference

[UGAalum94]

I'd try to think about the ease of eating it and the preparation required vs. the help and room you will have that day. Many amazing ideas might not work on the scale you have to provide them.

[ADPiEm]

We always have a variety of foods, veggies and dip, finger sandwiches, small cookies, etc., along with water, punch, or tea drink options. My favorite thing we had though were petite fours with our letters on them and they were iced with our colors. The bakery that made them closed down this year though so can't get them any more.

[Felicity]

These are all such good ideas! Thanks and keep 'em coming!

[jwright25]

It's important to also think about the overall presentation of the food. If you are serving plates that are already prepared (rather than buffet style), lay a leaf of nice green lettuce (cleaned and dried) on the plate and arrange the food on top of it. Some things that we have used in the past:

Non-sweet:
- spoonful of chicken salad on a nice cracker with a half grape on top
- cheese straws (like long cheese crackers)
- fruit skewer (melon, grapes, strawberries, pineapple)
- mixed nuts sprinkled on plate (be aware of allergy possibilities though)
- half of a chicken salad croissant

Sweet:
- small brownie with dollop of chocolate icing, topped with strawberry slice you can get the pre-made "Two-Bite Brownies" if you don't have time to bake.
- Lorna Doone shortbread cookie with dollop of cream cheese/sugar dip and piece of fruit on top. Vary the fruit - mandarin oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes.
- mini-eclairs (pre-made from Sam's Club)
- mini-cheesecake (pre-made from Sam's Club)

Beverages:
- ice water with lemon slice
- tea / lemonade punch

[SigmaPezY60]

Some PNM's are vegetarian also. I know many recruitment processes don't allow time to prepare for those sorts of things ahead of time. So possibly including a question on the forms PNM's fill out when recruitment begins for them to indicate special food needs would be helpful.

For orgs that don't do a structured formal recruitment you could include on the invitation to the preference party a request to make accommadations for special dietary needs (diabetic, vegaterian, food allergies etc)

It's just something extra that can be done to make the PNM feel welcome.

[aephi alum]

I just remembered...

My sophomore year was our first time participating in formal recruitment. At the time, we were a local sorority. For pref, we made vegetarian sushi. My big knew how to make sushi, and I wanted to learn, so it was just the two of us making rolls with ingredients like shredded carrots and cucumber. IIRC, we made them the morning of pref, to serve that evening.

The problem is that it's time-consuming. (For the life of me, I can't remember how we found the time to go off and make sushi.) You could buy sushi, but it can get expensive - you might blow your recruitment budget. Hmm, maybe if you had a few alums with some time on their hands?

[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.

[Felicity]

Originally Posted by jwright25

It's important to also think about the overall presentation of the food. If you are serving plates that are already prepared (rather than buffet style), lay a leaf of nice green lettuce (cleaned and dried) on the plate and arrange the food on top of it. Some things that we have used in the past:

Non-sweet:
- spoonful of chicken salad on a nice cracker with a half grape on top
- cheese straws (like long cheese crackers)
- fruit skewer (melon, grapes, strawberries, pineapple)
- mixed nuts sprinkled on plate (be aware of allergy possibilities though)
- half of a chicken salad croissant

Sweet:
- small brownie with dollop of chocolate icing, topped with strawberry slice you can get the pre-made "Two-Bite Brownies" if you don't have time to bake.
- Lorna Doone shortbread cookie with dollop of cream cheese/sugar dip and piece of fruit on top. Vary the fruit - mandarin oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes.
- mini-eclairs (pre-made from Sam's Club)
- mini-cheesecake (pre-made from Sam's Club)

Beverages:
- ice water with lemon slice
- tea / lemonade punch

WOW! These are great ideas! I really like the small brownie, mini eclairs and mini cheesecakes ideas!! Maybe some kind of tea sandwiches would be nice too... Thanks!

[Buttonz]

Veggies & dip
Pretzels & dip
dried fruit
nuts

both diet and regular soda
Sparkling Cider

[EGAOPi]

One sorority's preference really stood out to me because they had a beautiful, ornate cake prepared for everyone. The icing was bright pink and trimmed in white with flowers...it was spectacular! They put a fresh flower on it, as well, if I remember correctly. It looked so elegant. The only problem was that it was enormous and very rich, so you couldn't really have more than a couple bites.
I know another sorority did PNMs names with the sorority letters beneath them on bite-size cupcakes, as well as buffet style spreads of cheese, fruits, veggies and little sandwiches. It looked really classy and the stuff was perfect for munching--not too filling and not too messy.
Last year, my chapter did mini cheesecakes, fruit, and ginger ale. Another chapter did red velvet cake.
Desserts are very popular here since it's done mid-day, but I absolutely love the breakfast idea.
I was thinking something like tea and finger sandwiches would be really cute. I love the chocolate strawberries idea.
I'm not sure if this has been done before or if it would be far too pricey, but fondue would be really fun.

[lovethislife13]

my chapter uses a chocolate fountain for our pref rushes and its fantastic. we buy fruits, pretzels and things like that to eat with it and is always a big hit