Different/Unique Baby Shower Food Ideas

Do sherbert punch, rainbow sherbert, fruit juice and 7-up. Everyone loves it and it's cheap and easy. Other things that I have made for baby showers have already been listed. Chips n dip are easy but not unique but a 7 layer dip is filling and good.

I threw a baby shower for my sister in the fall and here's what I did:

- fruit tray (actually if you have time to prepare fruit skewers, they are so pretty and everyone loves them)
- veggie tray
- I had a local restaurant do 2 quiches for us...one spinach & cheese and one bacon & cheese - they were a HIT!!!
- depending on time of day, you can do coffee and mimosas - we did both, her shower was at 11 AM. Or go to foodnetwork.com for some fun & different punch ideas.
- cupcakes with the colors of her streamers and balloons
- baby shower cake

And not food-related, but we also did an advice book - basically a pretty little journal that everyone passed around throughout the shower - ask everyone to write their best piece of mommy advice in it...my sister loved that. Good luck!

We had a sit down meal at the shower I just did but I love the quiche idea. My cousin each had all finger foods at their showers- shrimp pizza, chicken skewers, stuffed mushroom caps, finger sandwiches (cucumber, smoked salmon), bruschetta, and meatballs. (Sorry I don't have recipes for anything).
As far as punch my one cousin had one made with Hawiian Punch, vanilla ice cream, and sprite. It was good but really sweet. My other cousin had fruit sparklers. She took frozen fruit juices (cranberry, cranraspberry, etc) and added sprite. That was good. Flavored ice tea was a hit at another shower too.
I did the same thing that Abby mentioned with the book. Instead of a traditional guest book I got a really pretty shabby chic journal ($5 at Michael's) and each guest took a page and wrote whatever they wanted to the guest of honor- good wishes, support, advice. She really enjoyed reading it after and on days when she's feeling overwhelmed she can read it and be reminded of how many people love her and support her.
Another non food idea I have from my own recent experience is that if you are doing prizes for shower games- the favorite prize at the shower I threw was the potted plant. Super inexpensive. I bought clay pots from Walmart and planted these really unique looking plants called purslane (also Walmart) and added a cute pink and white ribbon. Looked really nice and was very inexpensive. Four prizes cost me under ten bucks all together.
Good luck and remember to take time to breathe during the shower. Also- don't plan on doing anything that requires movement the next day! :) I was so exhausted I was the couch queen the whole next day.

I hosted a shower which was polyneasian inspired. We catered it, but it was generally lots of tropical flavors and a bit of spice. Sorry I cna't be more specific, but if you can tie the food to the theme then all the better. we did a sprite and sherbert punch and floated rubber duckies in it.

- Empanadas... so so easy and you can make a ton of them and freeze! I got my recipe from Real Simple, but there are tons out there.
- Hummus and pita chips
- Antipasto platter (Italian meats, cheeses and brined veggies served with crackers)
- "Mini" desserts instead of a cake... I'm throwing my nieces's shower in July and we're doing a tea party complete with mini desserts, scones and finger sandwiches. So easy and we can make most of it way ahead of time. We're doing tea, coffee, lemonade, iced tea and champagne.

Wow, you've gotten some great suggestions so far! Two things that I have had at showers that were a hit and were Soooo simple. 1) a platter of large strawberries washed with green tops left on but pulled back, arranged in a circle around a small bowl of chocolate syrup, and 2) stuffed mushroom caps, wash and lay out on paper towels to dry, pull the stems the night before, whopping up a box of stove top stuffing mix and spoon into mushrooms right, warm in the oven height before serving, arrange on a pattern on a platter around a small bowl of Knorr "hunter sauce" or some other sauce/gravy that you might like. Don't forget to put a small ladle or spoon in the sauce so people can top their's if they wish or not. There are fancier stuffed mushroom recipes out there, but when you are busy busy busy getting everything together, this is a super easy, super fast one that is fool proof!
You didn't ask, but here is one thing that I did too that everyone liked. I bought a beautiful stuffed bear and put a really nice pink or blue ribbon around the neck, bought a bunch of travel size products, nasal asperator, thermometer, pacifiers, rattles etc.....I had it all "ballon wrapped" with items arranged around the bear on a bed of shred. I used it for the centerpiece on the table and everyone was checking it out and commenting on how it looked and how awesome it was. At some point well into the shower, I either remove it, or cover it with a towel and hand everyone paper and pencil and play the "memory game". The person who remembered the most items won a small prize, and the "mother to be" got to take the centerpiece home as part of her gift! Have fun!

I went to a party this past Sunday and there was this pepperoni dip in a crock pot that everyone raved about. It was so good and super easy:
1/2 lb pepperoni cut in halves or quarters (you can add more to taste)
2 blocks of cream cheese
2 cans cream of celery soup.
Combine the cream cheese and soup in crock pot on high, stir, add pepperoni and reduce the to heat low for 4 hours. Serve w/ quartered mini bagels or cut up loaf of Italian bread.
Another good dip is to get the spinach/artichoke dip from Publix(deli dept), put in a shallow baking dish and cover w/ crushed Ritz Crackers and sprinkle w/ shredded swiss cheese. Microwave for 3 minutes and serve w/ Ritz or pita crackers. Sooo good!

I'm not sure if you have an ABC Liquor by you but the ones that carry gourmet foods has a Raspberry Pepper Jelly that is to die for. I take a room temp block of cream cheese and pour the jelly over it then surround with
Wheat Thins or gourmet crackers. Also a big hit I have had was to but a BBQ chicken pizza or whichever kind you like then after cooking cut up into finger size pieces. Another option is to buy a block of brie at the grocery store and wrap wither in philo dough or in crescent rolls and serve with fancy crackers.

For both my baby & wedding showers the hosts put out a salad bar. They had the usual salad stuff that you would find on any salad bar... Lots of people loved it, including me. And Amber's punch idea is super yummy. I serve that at every party and there is never any left.

I did a baby shower for a friend not too long ago and in addition to fruit and veggie trays we did chicken salad stuffed tomatoes and they were a big hit. We also did a blue(she was having a boy) "mocktail" in martini glasses and they were super cute.

Chicken skewers with buffalo sauce/bbq sauce etc
you can slice chicken tenders in half (raw tenders skinless) or boneless skinless breasts and poke them thru (almost stich like) and then place them on a bbq or my fav the foreman grille to cook and dip in sauce of your choice:
Buffalo Sauce - BBQ - Honey Mustard - Jerk Chicken etc they are a hit with ladies and guys .. you can even add veggies and make it kebobs instead.

I have a great punch recipe:

1 can pineapple juice
1 bottle 7-up
1 packet of fruit punch crystal light (with the water added)
1 tub of raspberry sherbet

YUMMY!!

does she crave spicy food? I have a great stuffed jalapeno recipe.....or maybe a spinach dip or artichoke dip? 7-layer dip, oh, I have a great chicken enchilada dip recipe too.....if any of those sound good to you, send me a message and I can send you the recipes for those......

I don't make punch, but I do like homemade lemonade . Rather than adding flat water, I use carbonated.. it gives it a little zing.. Also add fresh mint if you like... it's refreshing and that citrus is great tasting on a hot day.

Additionally, my mother-in-law will make an Italian bean salad.. she uses chilled garbanzo and kidney beans.. adds mini pieces of celery and garlic, tosses in olive oil and adds, salt, pepper and fresh Italian parsley.. it's so yummy .. of course, not for the non-loving bean person, but IF you do like them.. then makes for a good side dish and can top a salad nicely...

oh and if u need favor ideas.. I saw the cutest white chocolate favors.. it was a molded baby shoe (about 2 to 2 2 /1 inches in length and in the center they filled with mini jelly bellys.. in this case, they were pink... then wrapped in clear wrap which still allowed you to see the pretty favor..they added a pretty bow. of course, you could do any colors you wish... I thought it was a cute idea..

try spanicopitera its a great greek finger food. you can probably find some in your frozen food section of costco if you don't want to make it yourself. it has spinach and feta cheese inside a flaky crust.

pinwheel sandwiches are always a big hit.

we look forward to my aunt's stuffed mushrooms as a finer food at family gatherings.

also, as an alternative to potato skins, thanksgiving potato skins. stuff sweet potato skins with turkey, cranberry and carmelized onion.

good luck.