entertaining

august 2000

Tapas are the same things as hors d'oeuvres, except they are Spanish by nature and flavor. Tapas are popular all over Spain and have been for centuries. We like the idea of creating several "little dishes" with a Spanish flare to serve buffet style to guests for an early evening tapas party. The tapas must be substantial enough to suffice for dinner, yet light in calories and fat to fit into the lighter, healthier eating style that we and our guests enjoy. We can assure you-ours are. Since we plan on staging the party indoors and outdoors, we set up small tables for the tapas throughout the house and garden to keep the party moving from one area to another. Unlike the courses of a dinner these tapas tables can be visited in any order and revisited at any time. To emphasize the evening's casual, relaxed spirit, keep the centerpieces simple-perhaps bright blue bottles (or our recycled mineral water bottles) filled with a few fresh flowers. Galvanized buckets filled with ice and miniature bottles of fruit-flavored and non-flavored mineral waters will keep the guests for getting thirsty. You can also offer a selection of chilled Spanish white wine and room temperature red (Rioja) wine for those who wish something stronger. Since tapas are usually eaten out of hand or with a toothpick, you won't need silverware, just brightly colored small paper plates, lots of cocktail size paper napkins, and several pretty trash cans throughout the area, marked for recycling the mineral water bottles and disposing of trash. For further atmosphere, light the garden with torches and votive candles, float fresh flowers and lighted candles in the pool, and put some Spanish guitar music on the CD player. Since oranges are native to Spain, we're roasted a few with brown sugar, cinnamon, and dry sherry to serve for dessert. For serving, you'll need small paper bowls and small forks. Olé! A Tapas Party   Spanish Tortilla (Potato Omelet) Spicy Marinated Mushrooms Shrimp in Spicy Garlic Sauce Meatballs in Garlic Sauce Roasted Garlic White Beans Roasted Pepper Bites with Baked Pita Chips Roasted Oranges Seville Mixed Olives (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)