My Career in Baby Shower Food

This post is a companion to the baby shower recap by my lovely co-host Erika at her blog Baby Balance. If it's not up yet, check back in a few days to see how spectacular everything turned out!

I've been lucky to have co-hosted three baby showers for close friends in the past two years. After today's party, I believe that all my close friends in the area have had their first children "showered," so I'm off the hook for the foreseeable future.

I like throwing parties, but I'll be the first to admit that I am not the type of person to fuss over the decoration and details of a party. Putting signs up "just so" and color schemes and cutesy games are not my thing. I can appreciate them when done by others but creating them makes me crazy. So at my three showers, my main job has been food. Food, I can do!

Now that today's shower is over (and was wildly successful, of course), I thought I'd do a little reflection on my baby shower food experiences.

Shower #1 was bumblebee themed. I co-hosted with two friends who handled all the decor and games, so all I had to do was food and clean up my house. My husband handled making an adorable beehive-shaped cake, so I was off the hook there too. I believe there were between 20-30 women at the shower.

For this shower, we did a make-you-own panini and salad bar. I, sadly, do not own a panini press but was able to borrow two, which I think is the minimum amount you would want for a shower this big. The paninis were a huge hit! I set out grilled chicken, ham, several cheeses, veggies, and homemade spreads: roasted red pepper sauce and a garlic aioli. There were also lots of salad fixings. To drink, there was your basic sherbet-soda punch and spa water with cucumber and mint.

In retrospect, I should have just made a large salad as a side-dish. The guests were so enamored of the paninis that barely any of my salad bar food was eaten. I also vastly over-estimated the amount of food that a group of woman will eat at a party like this, and ended up with a huge amount of leftovers, cake included. Unless you have the shower at a very obvious lunch-time hour, no one shows up expecting to eat very much.

Shower #2 was ladybug/dragonfly themed. I co-hosted with a friend who split the food preparation with me 50/50, along with decor and game duties. The shower turned out well, and I think the mom-to-be was pleased, but compared with the other two showers, you could really tell the difference when I was in charge of decor. Not impressive. I think I threw some flowers in vases and put up a semi-pathetic-looking Congratulations banner.

The food was good, though! We did tapas-style snacks, cheese and crackers, fruit salad, and cupcakes. I had some grand plan to create a delicious snack using won-ton wrappers stuffed with cheese and bacon that turned out epically mediocre. To drink there was sangria for the non-pregnant ladies, and lemonade and water for the rest.

The cupcakes tasted great because I frosted them with homemade ganache, my first time making it, but looked terrible because my husband was in Vegas that weekend and not available to decorate them for me. See the theme? Decor = Not my Thing. I also didn't learn my lesson from the first shower and made way too much food again. Mainly, I remember not prepping enough beforehand. I was six months pregnant at the time and worked myself into having contractions the morning of the shower. Oops.

Shower #3, today, had an amazing children's book theme. Erika did a fantastic job making everything pretty, even my food. I flatter myself in saying that the food tasted great at all three showers, but Erika was the first person besides me to be in charge of arranging my food in a visually appealing way and the difference was ... palpable, to say the least. Again, decor + me = not so much, thanks.

Another mid-afternoon shower, so we did tea sandwiches. Two types: Curried chicken salad, and cucumber with dill cream cheese. There was also veggies and fruit, cheese and crackers, popcorn seasoned with thyme, garlic salt, and Parmesan, and a random Jell-O salad that was barely touched and could easily have been left out. For the first time, I prepared just about the correct amount of food!

To drink, there was more spa water (lemon and cucumber-mint, always a hit), and a new punch made with pina colada mix, orange-pineapple juice, Sprite, and frozen raspberries. I had at least three glasses, it was so tasty.

The cupcakes were my favorite part of the food. They were yellow cake with vanilla buttercream, filled with a core of dark chocolate ganache. They were frosted and arranged to look like the Very Hungry Caterpillar from the children's book and looked amazing. I had a lot of help from Brandon here, as should be obvious since cupcakes are as much decor as they are food. I would share a photo if I had any but Erika should have some over on her blog!

So, in conclusion, if you find yourself in charge of food for a baby shower, follow these rules: 1) Ladies at baby showers do not eat that much so make less food than you would for a similar-sized group that includes men. 2) Ladies at baby showers love water with cucumber and mint inside it. 3) Ladies at baby showers are very appreciative of the existence of cupcakes but you kind of have to bully them into eating any. But if you are unsuccessful, you generally end up with lots of leftover cupcakes, which is hardly a bad thing.