What a fun party idea!
Putting on my red shoes to dance the blues....I remember these things from my days as a Navy family member in the mid-80s:
Appetizers: FROZEN Daquiries with fruits. Then dips like chili con queso and avocado (guacamole), mini meatballs (in everything from BBQ to grape jelly in a CROCKPOT), cheeses like brie with almonds or pistachios pressed in it but not a cheese ball! (OMG, how very 70's!)
You could marinade some veggies like tomatoes or mushrooms.
Soups: In the Navy, we were into chilled soups in the summer - especially chilled watercress or veggie soup...like gazpacho. (Consomme was out - too Nixon years-ish!) French onion soup worked or even a chunky soup like beef noodle - though popular, none of us made Italian wedding soup as it was Mrs. Admiral's go-to soup!
Main Dishes:
Putting on the Ritz: Try cooking with WINE! Beef with mushroom and wine, Chicken with mushroom and wine, Eggs on toast with sherry! Veal in Marsala or Port sauce was popular (social concerns for veal were gaining momentum though.) Sides should include rice pilaf, vegetable medleys, and salads with fruit vinegarette. FAN-CEE!
Those skinny breadsticks! Very chic.
Feeding a Crowd:
We felt very cutting edge with our "Make your own kabob" party. Also, buffets (which were also popular in the 70s) were still fun, but I recall a lot of rice-based casseroles like a paella knock-offs which were tasty but NOT the real thing. Also veggie lasagnas were pretty new to us. Again, salads...and use the Dijon mustard dressing.
Friends and Family Dinners:
Quiche! It was new...fab...cool! And we put everything in them. Asparagus ...string beans...cheeses....onions...spam. Yes, we put SPAM in it and everyone wanted the recipe...then were horrified that it had spam...but made it...and then the circle played out again. Healthy food was also on the rise though healthy was questionable by today's standards. Grilled fish is something I still enjoy though not with all of the butter (margarine) that we dumped on it at the time.
Dessert: Tofutti with "Gourmet" cookies such as Famous Amos or Pepperidge Farm big chunks, cakes made with jello pudding or cool whip or even jello! I remember making a frosting out of a container of cool whip, a box of instant Jello pudding, and a can of crushed pineapple...and yanno, it was yummy! I divided layers of an orange cake...which was a mix...into four layers and slathered the frosting between the layers...and on the top...and decorated the top with orange segments and pineapple. It was such a hit.
Sometimes I wonder if some of those things were as good as I remember. I'm not sure whether this is what you wanted, but I had so much fun thinking about what we had back then. I think as long as your recipe contains jello pudding, cool whip, or Campbell's soup, you cannot go terribly wrong! Gee, I want a Jello Pudding Pop.
~Kathleen