When hosting a baby shower an important part of your duties is to come up with decent baby shower menu ideas for your guests. The last thing you want is for your guests to go hungry, or for them to think that you have economized with the drinks. Nobody wants to be labeled the Tight-Fisted Baby Shower Host!
You should start by deciding how formal/informal your baby shower food is going to be. This will allow you to easily home-in on suitable menu ideas. At the high end is the sit-down dinner, with maybe 4 courses, wine, good quality tableware, and probably a certain level of dress-code required of the guests. At the other end of the scale is the "come as you are" stand-up buffet. There is no right or wrong: you simply have to fit the baby shower to the social expectations of your guests. It may be tempting to hire caterers, a band, silverware, bone china crockery, etc., for your big day, but if this is at odds with how you and your guests live day-to-day, then you may end up making everyone feel uncomfortable.
If you aren't going to be hosting an all-out banquet, with outside catering, etc., then you may be interested in these few ideas I have used myself:
Ice-Breakers
These are small snacks that your guests can easily carry around with them on a plate. This has two positive effects: the guests have to load-up the plate and then move on, and they have to return to the table to get more food. All this moving around promotes interaction and conversation. So quite a clever way to get the chatter going! If you have decent carpet, you may want to avoid foods that require dips!
I recommend using only better quality food for your baby shower menu, and that applies to ice-breaker food, too. It will pay you back in spades if you serve your guests good, wholesome, tasty food, rather than so-so fare. Whenever possible, add your own touch: maybe a family-recipe seafood dip; a few herbs from your garden; home-baked bread, etc. It won't make the guests think you caught the Atlantic shrimp yourself, but it will show that you are making a real effort for them. And that is money in the bank!
The Main Course
Following-on from the advice above, make sure that the food is good. Whether it's a simple BBQ or a beef roast, don't economize on the ingredients. Even if you are going for an informal theme, you can still wow your guests with interesting variations on classic ideas: what about serving an exotic meat burger, as well as more usual dishes? You won't need much of it (as most won't want to risk the experience), but it will certainly get everyone talking. If you want to "walk on the wild side", then look online for specialist vendors, or even your local store. My local supermarket sells ostrich, emu and kangaroo meat!
It's time to mention vegetarian guests: if any group of people has ever had to put up with terrible food at social gatherings, it's the vegetarians. You may be a meat-eating, blue steak-loving, wolf-like carnivore, but more and more people are turning away from red meat - or meat of any kind - and favoring fish, fowl, and, in some cases, adopting the No Meat At All policy of the vegan diet. It's no good rolling one's eyes and thinking that the tired, worn-out, insipid and - frankly - disrespectful Vegetarian Lasagna cop-out will be good enough for your vegetarian guests; it simply won't do!
Remember, too, that some guests will likely have allergies to certain foods or food groups. You can't take risks, so always put a Dietary Requirements section on your baby shower invitations and read (then read again) all ingredients listings on the food you are going to serve, so that you know what you are serving to your guests. Having a guest leave in an ambulance is never a good thing!
Dessert
Not everyone thinks that cake and ice cream are great baby shower menu ideas. I recommend adopting the same approach that restaurants take: allow each guest to select one item from a couple of sweet desserts, some decent cheeses with crackers, fruit, and liqueur coffee. That will keep just about everyone happy.
Drinks
Alcohol and social events go hand-in-hand. But remember that a baby shower is not a 21st birthday party; it's a much more refined and elegant occasion. It's not good etiquette to demand that your guests not drink at all, but you can certainly limit their alcohol intake. A smart approach to this potentially tricky side of the baby shower is to serve one drink to each guest when they arrive, and then serve more drinks at 20 minute intervals. This is just a guide, and you know your guests best, but the thing to avoid is a Help Yourself To Booze scenario. Remember: it's a Baby Shower.
So, organizing and implementing baby shower food and drink is not a science, but it does require some up-front thinking. By simply tweaking the usual baby shower menu ideas, adding a twist of originality, and keeping the guests' needs in mind, the whole process becomes easier, and a lot more fun!
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