Tiny Food Party! (plus Mini Chicken ‘n’ Waffles!)
I love planning menus for parties, but this past year I haven’t had too many (okay, any) opportunities to host a party of my own.
So when the kind folks at Quirk Books reached out and asked if I’d like to preview Tiny Food Party! by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park, I was super excited at the prospect of throwing a party and experimenting with some itty bitty bites from the cookbook.
Of course, life doesn’t always work out exactly like you’ve planned. That is to say, my party actually ended up being someone else’s party. Does that make any sense? Allow me to explain.
My friend Melanie invited me to attend a spa party she was throwing, and since it was going to be the only weekend that I would have been able to host a party of my own, instead of trying to do both, I just asked her if she would mind if I made the food for her party!
Since Melanie is also the mother of an infant, I’m pretty sure she was thrilled at the prospect of not having to cook in addition to cleaning her house. Definitely a win-win. I cook. She preps the house and provides libations. We come together and the party is a huge success!
Mini Chicken ‘n’ Waffles – my new obsession
With recipes like Pint Size Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Sticks, Little Sweet Potato Latkes, Tiny Fried Tacos, Mac n Cheese Bites, and Mini Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, it was really hard to decide what to make for the party. Ultimately I went with Bite-size Caprese Skewers, Snack Size Beef Empanadas, and Pint-size Chicken ‘n’ Waffles.
All were delicious, and all garnered raves from the party-goers. But the biggest hit and my personal favorite? The Chicken ‘n’ Waffles. I’ll admit that I am now a bit obsessed. For every meal since the party, I’ve wished that I had those little nuggets instead of whatever it is I’m having at that given moment. They will absolutely, for sure, be on my next party menu!
Also up next: Itty-Bitty Bacon Churros and Little Coffeecake Cocktails. Or maybe Cozy Eggnog Shooters. Or both!

Pint-Size Chicken 'n' Waffles
Makes 30. From Tiny Food Party!
Ingredients:
10 chicken tenders, each cut into 3 equal pieces
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter, softened
2 1/2 Tbsp honey, plus extra for drizzling
30 mini waffles, or 3 1/2 Belgian waffles, cut into 30 (1-inch) pieces
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups vegetable oil
*optional: cayenne pepper
Directions:
Place chicken in bowl and cover with buttermilk. Stir gently, cover and refrigerate. (Tip: Soaking the chicken in the buttermilk several hours or overnight will help the breading adhere better when frying)
To prep the honey butter, whisk together butter and honey in a small bowl to combine. (*add cayenne pepper to taste, if you'd like your sauce to be a little spicy sweet)
Preheat oven to 375. Place waffles on a baking sheet and toast for 12-15 minutes.
In a small shallow dish stir together flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt, onion powder, and black pepper. Heat oil in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from buttermilk and dredge in flour mixture. Shake off excess and carefully drop breaded chicken into the hot oil. Fry for about 5 minutes on each side. Drain onto paper towels and season with salt.
Spread a teaspoon of honey butter onto each waffles and top with a piece of fried chicken. Finish with a drizzle of honey and serve warm. (Note: I actually put the fried chicken on first, then just poured honey butter on top of everything. So delicious!)
~Giveaway~
CONTEST CLOSED
The winners are:
#24 Kristen
#72 Kate
#31 Amanda Jenks
Just in time for Christmas, I have not one, not two, but THREE Tiny Food Party! cookbooks to give away!
To enter, all you have to do is this:
Mandatory
1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite party food is. If you link to the recipe, even better!
For up to 2 additional entries, you can do either or both of the following. Note: You must leave a separate comment for each optional entry.
2. Follow me on Twitter (@betheats) and tweet “Happy holidays! Enter to win a copy of Tiny Food Party! from @betheats! http://bit.ly/11MOZBY ”, then leave a comment telling me you’ve done so.
3. Like Eat.Drink.Smile. on Facebook and come back and tell me you did so (or just tell me you already do if that’s the case!)
Contest ends on Friday, December 7th at Noon Central. Once the winners are chosen, I’ll make contact via email and post the names here on the blog. If they don’t respond within 48 hours, I’ll be forced to choose others, so be sure to check your email!
Full disclosure: I was given 4 copies of Tiny Party Food! to do with as I please, plus money to purchase ingredients for testing out some of the recipes in the cookbook. Thoughts and opinions all my own.
What a fun cookbook idea! Quirk books are always so nicely done! I’m excited to try these Glitter Ball Cookies via Martha Stewart for holiday parties coming up :) Can’t go wrong with cookies PLUS glitter!
PS: Happy National Cookie Day!
http://www.marthastewart.com/354431/glitter-ball-cookies?czone=holiday/hanukkah/recipes¢er=0&gallery=856559&slide=338250
I’m a fan on Facebook and tweeted about the giveaway!
What a great book concept! I’m obsessed with TINY food! For parties, and for a fun dinner side that my kids devour, I love to take fingerling potatoes, and make bite-size loaded baked potato bites. Teeny tiny baked potatos with a pinch (no more obv) of shredded cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, A chive (LOL) and voila! Looks like the chicken and waffles will be next! Thanks Beth!
I’m already a fan on Facebook. :)
And I already followed you, and just tweeted about the book giveaway.
The easiest party food ever is dip. I always have ingredients on hand for sausage dip – just brown a pound of sausage, add a can of rotel and a block of cream cheese. Done! I’ve also been loving these mini sour cream and chive biscuits with brown sugary butter country ham! YUM!
I love a good fruit dip with fresh fruit
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Love this – gonna try these chicken & waffles soon. right now my favorite party food is “banh mi” salad in a endive leaf. I use the salt and pepper pork recipe from http://battleofthebanhmi.com/how-to-make-banh-mi/recipes-meat/banh-mi-recipe-black-pepper-pork/, and add typical banh mi ingredients, all julienned: cukes, pickles, cilantro, mint, and nuoc cham. yum!
What a great idea! I love the flavors of banh mi, but I don’t love sandwiches, and those always seem to have too much bread for my taste. This is the perfect solution!
I love to make anything that uses smoked salmon. I am always looking for new ideas, and this book looks fabulous!
I already like Eat.Drink.Smile on facebook!
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Love the chicken and waffles…red velvet waffles are even more delicious!
My favorite (easy) party food is mini pot pies….basically flaky biscuits split; bottom goes in muffin pan, fill will anything you want(we did thanksgiving leftovers recently) chicken, veggies, fruit and cream even works, then add other layer of biscuit to top. They seal well, look cute and are always gobbled right up.
love the idea of mini pot pies!
I love brie topped with brown sugar and toasted pecans and baked in puff pastry…maybe not a new and exciting party food, but still one of my favorites!
I love bruschetta. It’s super summery, I know, but I make it all year! This recipe from Avril Lavigne (of all people) is one of my entertaining staples: http://trishaannskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/avril-lavignes-bruschetta_18.html
I tweeted @Christina615
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I love a classic pig in a blanket at party! I tweeted @camilalopez1 and like you on FB!
I love hosting parties! I’m always looking at having different themed parties and choosing the food around that theme. One of my favorite things are hot cheese dips, so delicious and definitely something that I save for parties and not every day.
My favorite party food is shrimp cocktail.
I love spinach balls. They are quick and easy to make and actually you can premake some and keep in freezer till needed.
My favorite party food is (are?!) buffalo chicken balls (from the Other Side of Fifty at http://tinyurl.com/c7lumt4) – but anytime I make jalapeno poppers (from Pioneer Woman Cooks) they seem to disappear the fastest!
And I already like you on FB :)
My favorite party food is any kind of dip. I love all dips!
I like you on Facebook!
I want this book and can’t wait to make the chicken & waffles. I can see myself taking a super shortcut and picking up tenderr when in a hurry then putting it all together ;-) My favorite party food is a simple meat & cheese plate using great quality cheeses & salamis. Or making a variety of bruchettas…..easy to make seasonal too!
you could definitely do that shortcut and make it super simple!
…and I just tweeted :-)
I love dips, any kind of dip with celery – I get a little addicted!
Following you on twitter and tweeted here; https://twitter.com/LO_TS/status/276054729598066688
@lo_ts
I love all party foods, but like you, I have small children. I think I could use this to my advantage, though, and put some tiny food bites together for my picky eaters!
I love hot cheesy dips with pita or bagel chips.
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I am now following you on twitter :)
What a fantastic cookbook idea! I love the idea of “small bites.” One of my favorite party foods are sausage wonton stars from Taste of Home: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Sausage-Wonton-Stars
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Love snacks! Stuffed tomato, or mushrooms…any thing cheesy
My favorite party food is stuffed mushrooms!
I follow you on Twitter and tweeted about the giveaway @sarabear73
I already like you on FB!
I love shrimp cocktail!
I love fancy cheeses with fruit and crackers!!
I love making cheese balls for parties! I’ve tried a lot of different recipes and this is the best! Martha Stewart has great recipes!
http://www.marthastewart.com/351212/marthas-cheddar-cheese-ball
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Picking just one party food is NOT fair! :) Thinking in the appetizer land, I would say a super simple one that I love is spreading cream cheese and then covering it with my mom’s homemade pepper jelly. Eat it with crackers and its delicious! Sweet cheesiness with a kick!
Bacon wrapped parm filled dates(preferably noor) baked at 350 til you can’t stand it any more. Delish. Thanks for your blog.
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WSU Cougar Gold cheese dip would have to be my favorite appetizer!
I love little homemade rolls with tenderloin and sour cream/horseradish or a simple cheese, crackers, and fruit tray.
My favorite party food around this time of year is Pumpkin Dip – you combine 8 oz. of light cream cheese with 6 oz. of pumpkin bitter. Then, you crisp up some bacon (the crispier, the better) and crumble it over the bowl, along with some chives. Serve with a sweet-ish cracker and you’re set! Quick, easy and it’s been a big hit with friends and family this year!
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