Baby Shower Food

A full-course meal really isn’t typical for a baby shower. Rather, finger foods, appetizers, and munchies like chips and crackers are more common. A cake is also rather common, as are other desserts, such as ice creams and pies. If you’re going to splurge on any of the items, then going a bit heavy on the desserts is usually considered the best approach. After all, who doesn’t love sweets?

Also, as noted above, the foods in the baby shower can tie into the theme. If the theme is celebrity, for example, then the sandwiches can be in the shape of little stars. The foods don’t have to reflect the theme; which means that you should never feel bad, or like a failure, if you can’t find a way to make little star-shaped sandwiches (it really is an art form!). However, if you can tie everything together, it will make your baby shower that much more memorable an event for the guests, and the parents-to-be.

Having a wide selection is also important; and we discuss this in some detail in the “Insider’s Tips” section of this book. Suffice it to say, try and have enough variety to account for tastes and dietary preferences. Nowadays, the wise approach is often to allow guests to do a little bit of preparing themselves.

For example, instead of putting the salad dressing in the salad, or putting condiments such as mayonnaise on the finger sandwiches, you can leave these for your guests to add themselves, if they choose.

The same goes for desserts. While it’s wonderful to have rich cake and tasty pies available, it’s always nice to offer fruit as an alternative. Some people may not want to (or may not be allowed to!) consume that many calories, or enjoy that much sugar.