CanapAAAYs, Darling...Suggestions needed please!

[Aethelfleda]

I am going to a relatives' for a post-Boxing Day meal and have been asked to "provide canapes" for about 15-20 people...

The background is that the relative is nice but very much more UC than me. She expects high standards of cuisine. I have three DC including a toddler and am hosting Christmas for our extended family so will not have much time to do anything hugely elaborate/timeconsuming . It is unclear whether I'll have access to cooking facilities as our host will be making goodness knows what for the main course in her enormous range cooker. Ideally something I can advance prep and bring with me, as then I won't be trying to cook with DS clinging to my legs in someone elses' kitchen!!

So suggestions please ladies for easy canapes that will be suitably nice looking and easy to prep. I was thinking nice olives, a dip with some nice flatbread/breadsticks, some form of salmon on blinis? Maybe king prawns or cheese on mini oatcakes?

my evil twin wants to get Bernard Maythews Mini Kievs and a prawn ring from Iceland serves in the original plastic

Chompy prawns!
You need decent sized cooked king prawns and some ready to cook rice noodles. A large wok (or deep frying pan), sesame oil (or ground nut or veg oil, whatever you have in!) and bamboo skewers.
Heat about an inch and a half depth of oil in your wok on a high heat. To test when it is hot enough drop in a crust of bread, if after 30 seconds it comes out crispy you're ready to go.
Wrap the noodles around the king prawns (dont be a neat freak, they look pretty and pick up more sauce with messy noodles!) then stick two or three (depending on size) on the end of a bamboo skewer and place in the oil so that they are covered.
Cook for 2-3 minutes until the noodles are crispy.
Serve with soy sauce, sweet chilli dip, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, really, they go with anything, yum!

M&S? I'd buy it all in and assemble it to make it look like you've slaved all night over it.

lots of good ideas here on BBC Good Food
Canapaaays are surprisingly time-consuming to prepare so leave yourself plenty of time.

Oven baked cheese is nice and easy. Just put a whole Brie in its wooden box in the oven/micro to melt (remove any plastic wrapper). Serve with breadsticks and a small dish of cranberry sauce.

Blinis with smoked salmon and a dob of caviar on top is quick.

Grapes and feta on sticks is dead easy.
And everyone loves pineapple and cheese on sticks. So Sixties darling!

I think JamNan has it in a nutshell with the M&S idea!

Ooh good ideas! The M&S is not likely to work thougj as my budget is a bit limited ie I'm too tight plus in all honesty the lady is likely to notice their stuff and comment it's not home-created whereas she would be in Iceland only if forced at gunpoint so paradoxically I would be safe to use their stuff
A friend suggested sweet chilli and philly...
Up-end an entire tub of full fat Philadelphia cream cheese onto a plate, pour half a bottle of sweet chilli sauce over the top, garnish with roughly chopped fresh coriander and serve with water biscuits.

Anyone else have favourite easy canapaaays to suggest? i'm starting to get inspired and think this is do-able!

(And mogz, please clarify as I love the sound of those prawns: do I cook the rice noodles first and then wrap them round the prawns when they are boiled?)

Dried figs and goats cheese wrapped in parma ham.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese on brown bread - spread cream cheese onto some decent ready sliced brown bread. Cut the crusts off, top with smoked salmon, squeeze of lemon juice, black pepper (chopped chives also nice if you happen to have some). Cut into little squares.

Homemade smoked mackerel pate (google but from memory it's basically cream cheese and smoked mackerel whizzed together with some seasoning?) served on bought mini melba toast/crostini.

Ordinary olives (I used whole jarred ones in brine) can be tarted up by rinsing, sloshing over a little olive oil and adding some thyme or rosemary and perhaps a squashed clove of garlic and some roughly chopped chilli (or a little sprinkling of dried chilli flakes)

Mini Yorkshire puds with a sliver if roast beef inside and a small blob of horseradish sauce
Mini spicy fishcakes
Asparagus spears wrapped with Parma ham and briefly put on a griddle pan
Crostini with cranberry jelly and goats cheese
Mini bruschetta with finely chopped tomato, onion and mixed with pesto
Chicken satay skewers

Yum!

All will take a while to put together but most could be cooked beforehand and then just reheated in micro wave

You don't need to cook the noodles if you get a pack of 'ready to wok', makes it a much quicker process and less messy.

You have my sympathy, canapés are my food hell!

Sounds rubbish but looks really good.

Mini sausage and mash

Buy pre cooked mini sausages and make a cut in the length of the sausage and pipe a line of mash in the cut and bake.

I also did a leaf of little gem lettuce with a blob of prawns in Marie Rose sauce in it so you just pick it up with your fingers.

Both went down well last Christmas

Bruschetta - slice up french loaf, brush with olive oil, whack under the grill for a bit. Garnish with philly, tomato and basil leaf. You can also make extra bruschetta and arrange it artfully next to dip, which counts as another canape.

Shop bought blinis, blob of creme fraiche (or philly from bruschetta if you cba), bit of smoked salmon, few snips of dill if you're feeling fancy.

Buy some of those peppers stuffed with soft cheese from delis, sainsburys sells croustades, fill them with a chunk of Brie and then chutney, bacon wrapped prunes, buy duck spring rolls as everyone loves them. Bake some cocktail sausages in honey and dried mint.

Basically get a posh plate and line whatever you have in an odd number. Or buy some posh cocktail sticks and put smoked salmon on them (or the sausages) If it looks fancy no one cares how simple it is.

Also you could make delias cheese & pistachio sables. They are easy least to make. You can make the dough then freeze it and use whenever and they are lush!! If you can be bothered make sausage rolls from scratch.

I also bought mini pastry cases from m&s. You could fill them with a bit of clotted cream and a chunk of strawberry.

Breadsticks with parma ham (get something similar in Lidls) wrapped around the end, then artfully displayed upright in glasses.

Pumpernickle cut into squares, pipe philly onto them, then top with bit of smoked salmon or a prawn. Chives or dill over the top?

mini sausages cooked in mustard and honey. Unoriginal, but an absolute winner!

Slices of brown pre sliced bread - crusts off, spread thinly with butter. Then lay over smoked salmon bit of ground pepper, and wrap up like a mini roulade. Wrap in cling film like little crackers and whack into fridge until you need them. Take out, trim ends, then slice into 1 cm slices and lay out on serving plates.

Something similar:Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

If you have any old mirrors hanging around, clean them, and display the stuff on them. Presentation is everything!!

Thanks everyone, I'll let you know how it goes.....

Phew! All went well: crispy prawns, smoked salmon and creme fraiche, and parma-ham-cream-cheese on crackers.
Thank you to everyone who replied!