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But first, a few tips for party hosts and attendees:
■To cut down on expenses and work, make it a potluck! Assign specific dishes or food groups. For the friends who don’t cook, ask them to bring ice, drinks or a roll of paper towels.
■Make sure you have enough utensils and plates for everyone. If you don’t want to buy disposable, consider asking one or two friends (preferably friends who drive and/or live close by) to bring a set of silverware, plates and glasses to supplement your supply.
■Build your food spread around finger foods and small bites to cut down on utensil requirements.
■If you run out of bowls for your soups and chilis, use mugs.
Think about where you’ll spread out your array of dishes: The kitchen counters? Your table? On a board balanced on two boxes and covered with a sheet to mimic a tablecloth? You’ve got options.
People are going to bring beer, and you’re going to need to keep it cold; if you don’t have room in your refrigerator, fill something else with ice and stick the beer in there.
Things we have used: A cooler, bucket, Christmas tree stand, large plastic storage tub, the snow outside. Things we have seen people on the internet and in movies use: A washing machine, bath tub, empty plant pots (?), buried in the ground outside (??), an icy flowing stream near a haunted house in Iceland (!).
Note: When using an uninsulated vessel to pour ice into and stash your beverages, it is wise to wrap a few towels around and under said vessel, to help prevent condensation.
■Any ol’ person can make chili and order pizza. Make your party something special by getting a little more creative with the food.
Nearly all of these recipes can be found on the Recipe Finder at washingtonpost.com/recipes.
Chicken
La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings. For all you Los Angeles Rams fans out there … The chicken is coated in a salty-sweet mixture of soy sauce, red wine, sugar and ground ginger. As they bake, the sauce gets nice and sticky. You can remove the wing tips if you want, but we left them on half of the batch to no ill effect. (If you do remove the tips, save them to make stock.)
The recipe came to us from reader Metta Miller, from Boston, and it’s a staff favorite.
Makes 8 servings.
Ingredients
4 pounds chicken wings, split at joint and wing tips removed, if you like
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup dry red wine
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Directions
Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Arrange wings in one layer in a large roasting pan. Combine the soy sauce, wine, sugar and ginger in a small saucepan and heat over moderately low heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Pour evenly over wings.
Bake for 30 minutes. Turn wings over and bake until sauce is thick and sticky, about 1 hour more. Transfer wings to a platter.
■Joan’s Chicken Wings. The recipe, from Stanley Tucci’s mother, is a two-for-one, chicken with a side of vegetables special. It all bakes on a single sheet pan.
■Coconut Chicken Fingers. The scallion, cornmeal, coconut and sesame seed coating makes these nice and crunchy (and gluten-free!). Serve with honey-spiked mustard for dipping.
■Irresistible wings. The name doesn’t lie. A sauce that combines hoisin, ketchup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard and gochujang hits all the right notes.
Soup and Chili
Seafood Chowder. This chowdah is a simple affair of vegetables, bacon, milk and seafood. We used chunks of cod and a handful of shrimp, but feel free to swap in any type of seafood you like or have on hand.
■Meats and Foods Chili. Eat it topped with corn chips, spoon it over a hot dog, use a funnel to siphon it into your mouth … there’s not really a wrong way to eat this.
■Red Lentil Chili. It’s meatless, but you won’t miss the beef. For you last-minute types, this can be made in less than an hour.
Dips and Snacks
Sweet Onion, Scallion and Chive Dip. The classic onion dip you know and love, but made with fresh onions, scallions and chives rather than a packaged mix. For something a little heavier on the herbs, go for Dill and Mint Yogurt Dip.
■El Rey Nachos. This is all about the sauce: It’s creamy, cheesy and slightly spicy, thanks to poblano peppers. The recipe also includes directions for making your own tortilla chips from corn tortillas — do so, and you’ll be rewarded with sturdy nachos that can handle a party.
■Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip. The classic dip, slimmed down by upping the amount of vegetables and using yogurt and whipped cream cheese instead of loads of sour cream.
■Baked Jalapeño Poppers. Easier to make than the fried version, and healthful, too. Best of all, you can make these up to two days in advance; when you’re ready to serve, reheat them for about 20 minutes in a 325-degree oven.
■Snickerdoodle Blondies. We can’t decide if we adore these more for their fudgy interior or for their slightly crackly surface, so we’ll just be over here sneaking bites from the pan to figure it out.
Pizza, Bread and Sandwiches
Fast Focaccia. Turns out it’s really easy to make this chewy, crisped bread. The recipe makes enough for two, so you’ll have plenty to share. For a party, we’d dip this into oil or one of the spreads above; we would also cut it in half horizontally, fill it with sliced meats, mustard and pickles, then cut the resulting giant sandwich into slider-sized portions.
■Buttermilk Corn Bread. Tender, tasty and ready in about 35 minutes. Make it to go with a pot of chili, or make it to nibble on all by itself because it’s just that good.
■Detroit-Style Pizza. Cheesy, saucy and extra bready, with crisped edges that prove irresistible. The recipe calls for Wisconsin brick cheese, which gives Detroit pizza its buttery notes; if you can’t find it, we can vouch for the combination of Jack or young cheddar with low-moisture mozzarella suggested by J. Kenji López-Alt at Serious Eats.
■Hummus, Pepper and Gorgonzola Flatbread. This is a strange-seeming combination of ingredients that go shockingly well together.
■American Dip Grilled Cheese. With potatoes hiding inside the sandwich, chive butter to crisp the outside, and melty Colby Jack or Monterey Jack cheese to bind it all together — and a creamy horseradish sauce to dip the whole thing into. There is a lot going on here and every component complements the other.
■Roast Broccoli Hero Sandwiches. A meat-free option packed with flavor, thanks in no small part to pickle brine, spicy chili sauce and store-bought fried onions.