Ideas needed for appetiser for dp's birthday dinne party tommorow night, please, thank you

[Carmenere]

Ok so I am going to do blackened swordfish steaks with mango, lime and chilli salsa served with rice noodles dressed with sesame oil, lime and coriander. With that a salad of roasted spiced butter nut squash with spinach, red onion and toasted pine nuts.

For dessert I am going to make a gingered sweet potato pie with a cinnamon meringue topping.

I need ideas for an appetiser, needs to be fairly simple as I am wrecked and needs to be either vegetarian or fish/seafood. TIA.

mackerel pate

king prawns with mayo and sweet chilli dipping sauces.

Am liking both those ideas, thanks, anyone more ideas?

If you can get some good small melons, just cut them in half, chuck out the seeds, fill the cavity with white port. Simple, delicious and amusingly retro in a post ironic way.

What about a melon medley - nice and light and won't leave you full or anything for following courses, or just some garlic and herb ciabbatta with a tomato paste/oils for dipping.

Oh hang on one of the guests is pregnant so can she have pate, prawns or alcohol?

Message withdrawn

some kind of fish ceviche - in keeping with your quite spicey theme.

Give her the melon without the white port. She shouldn't be out late if she's pregnant anyway!!

make some bilinis (dead easy recipe on side of doves farm rye flour packet)

smoked salmon

sour cream

sliced gherkins and capers.

Not pate, prawns only if they are really well cooked and shouldn't really have alochol but that would be her call. What about grilled sardines either simple with b;ack pepper and lemon juice or I have a chilli tomato sauce you do with them? They are yummy and very tasty.

Tin of white crabmeat or freshly cooked crab. Mix with I dollop mayonnaise to two dollops light cream fresh. Hefty squeeze of lime juice. Cut pink grapefruits in half and cut segments into chunks. Mix drained segments with crabmeat and refill grapefruit cases. Light sprinkle of dill or chervil and top with twist of lime. Yum.

Franglais! Literal translation there - hwould have been creme fraiche!

i do fried halloumi with fresh chilli in olive oil spooned on top, looks fab. or take mini cucumbers chop into sections of about 10cm scoop out about 7cm (a calpol spoon is the implement of choice) add prawns mixed with a bit of your salsa, i also do them filled with chilli beef.

Soup is a god idea as I could whip it up easily in advance. Just checked with dp, he doesn't like melon

lol ggglimpopo's franglais

Message withdrawn

Ooh I had been thinking of prawns and avocado as dp is loves it but I could drag it into the 21st century with ggg's crabmeat pink grapefruit combo, maybe add a bit of ginger? How does that sound?

Message withdrawn

Ginger sounds good - cut back o nthe lime then? The idea is to have more crab than grapefruit, you might not need to use all the segments.

Of course, this works very well with lobster too, should you have any lobster leftovers kicking around......

They make this in one of the very smart traiteurs in town. I asked what was in it then came home and made it

Oh God, wouldn't it be FAB if they had traiteurs here I have often thought I'd love to open one but we just don't have the same tradition of buying ready made food, or do we, I wonder would it work?

Message withdrawn

love the idea of ggg's crabby thing

Oh yes the salmon on oatcakes would make fab canapes!
Do you think that making caiparinhas would be overkill?