Parties with only passed hors d'evours are the worst

Whether it's a holiday party or just your run of the mill fancy schmancy party, having passed hors d'evours as your only dining options makes figuring out what to eat so difficult.  You either leave feeling like you need to immediately go eat an actual meal, or feeling like you can't eat another bite.

Maybe that's just me.  I was raised in a (half) Italian family where if you didn't have enough food for everyone at the table to be uncomfortably full and then still take home enough leftovers for at least two more meals, you didn't make enough food and should be terribly embarrassed.  So maybe I just need to feel like I can eat my weight in food to be satisfied with the offerings at a party. 

But I don't think this is just a Megan problem. 

Maybe my strategy for where to stand is wrong, because I always end up seeing the guy with the coconut shrimp, which are a no-thank-you food in my book, 80 times.  The guy with the crab cakes or the sliders, which I love, will come by once each, if I'm lucky.  

Or, the opposite happens.  

You just never know. So I'm loathe to pass up an opportunity at something yummy, for fear that it's going to be the last yummy-to-me thing that I see all night.  Since there's no way to survey the whole scene and see what's available, I can't really formulate a great plan of attack in my head.  Plus, I've noticed that a lot of places like to bring the hors d'evours out in waves.  The first wave might be chicken skewers and coconut shrimp and some weird pate.  But then, bam, all of the sudden mini grilled cheese is the mix.  And an hour later, out come the crab cakes and the sliders.  

And, since hors d'evours are supposed to be one-bite finger foods, I can't really take multiples when I see something I like. 

I mean, I guess I could.  But then I probably wouldn't get invited back to many places. 

I also know that hors d'evours probably aren't supposed to be a meal - they're just supposed to be something to nosh on while you drink and mingle and chat.  But, if you're holding a party at meal time, I expect to be able to eat enough to serve as a meal.  I don't want to go to a cocktail party after work just to have to go home and eat something more substantial at 9 p.m. 

How rude!


I've found that a lot of corporate holiday parties lately have employed this strategy (or at least at my company, they have).  Maybe it's cheaper or considered a more social, interactive experience.  But after a long day at work, if I'm going out, I want to have a good meal.  Not chase down the mini baked brie guy because they're so good and he only walked by me once. I also don't want to have to hoard fried mac and cheese bites in my napkin, "saving" it for a "friend" who would love it but just hasn't arrived yet.

The funny thing is, if you just lay all of the options out on a buffet table, this problem goes away entirely. Even just throw in a carving station and/or a pasta station and the problem goes away.  That way, you can quickly scan your options and formulate a plan of attack.  You know that there's always a fallback option if the hors d'evours gods don't work in your favor that night. 

It's having to figure out how, with the ever changing dance of the hors d'evours, to operate.  How to eat enough to not get cranky (not that that ever happens with me), yet not eat too much that you need to unbutton your pants.  How to make sure that you're getting a taste of everything that you want to taste without stalking the underpaid, overworked server. 

I don't have a good solution to this.  I guess eat something beforehand or keep a snack in your purse to make sure that you don't starve/make sure you have something to absorb the alcohol?  But that's really just a lame suggestion.  Because if you're going to a party at a good restaurant, or even just a friend's place who's an awesome cook, then you really want to be able to eat and enjoy the food.  Even if its just hors d'evours. 

So, got any good suggestions on how to handle the dreaded hors d'evours party?  Should I just bring my own plate next time and start a stockpile?