The New Amsterdam Exterior Portable Dining Society (NAEPDS) often recommends a food protocol for certain events and occasions known as Hors D'oeuvres Format, sometimes abbreviated as Like Hors.
GUIDELINES
Presentation is Paramount
It matters less that your fare is delicious than that it is beautiful. And anyway, at the NAEPDS we have discovered that any food tastes better when it looks pretty. Also, our research indicates that food is more likely to be eaten if is presented, rather than just present. If you bring a bag of baby carrots and leave it unopened in a pile, you will probably be taking home 9/10 of a bag of carrots with a small hole torn in it. Or worse: throwing it away. Open the bag, put them on a plate, Somebody will eat them if only because it's easy.
Make It Bite-Sized
Hors d'oeuvres can be practically any food, prepared into units that can be eaten in 1 bite. Generally this will be not more than 1-inch cubed (2.5 cm). Large portions are much less likely to be tried--they are perhaps too much of a commitment or guilty indulgence; and they too often go to waste.
Make It Finger-Friendly
We advise items that either inherently, or can be prepared and presented in such a way that utensils are not needed. For parsimony! Because if, say, you bring soup, you must also bring soup spoons enough for everyone who might want to just taste the soup, bowls to serve in, and probably a whole lot of napkins for the mess that somebody with two left hands is bound to make. Also if you bring mostly things that won't grease-up fingers and smear on clothes, we'll love you forever.
6±2 is the Magic Number
When bringing something to share, the NAEPDS recommends a quantity enough for around 6 people. We caution against trying to cater to the entire group; you will invariably end up with too much left over, which will then
be your responsibility to clean up/pack out. Typically at an NAEPDS occasion, you are not feeding people, you are only amusing their bouches; nobody comes to such events because they need a square meal.
