I am going to a thing with appetizers, and for this thing I will need to bring an appetizer. I am about to ask for appetizer recipe suggestions. First I will mention the things that seem pertinent to me:
1. It will be all women there
2. The theme seems to be decadence rather than restraint
3. I think it will be something like 8-10 people
4. Everyone is supposed to bring an appetizer
5. The beverage will be wine
Also, I realized as I turned to consult my recipe file that I have never made an appetizer before. Never. And I am not much of a cook to begin with. So think of me as a high school student who has come to you needing an appetizer: we would not say to that high school student, “Oh, you know a recipe I find satisfyingly challenging-but-worth-it after a decade or two of rigorous cooking experience? You start by just putting a duck carcass and some lovely Ajowan caraway in your pressure cooker…” No. We would ask her if she’d heard of any of the lovely Velveeta dips. That is the sort of guidance I am looking for.
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Update! I’ll add to here as I try any of the recipes! Here are links to posts containing reports on what I’ve tried so far:
Aunt Judy’s Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
Emily’s Party Bread
I like to buy those little phyllo (sp?) cups and fill them with a square of cheese (brie is my favorite, but whatever works) and a dollop of fruit preserves (I pair brie with apricot or peach). Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes watching them carefully. They burn easily.
Martha Stewart stuffed mushrooms sounds difficult, but so easy and so good! Cheap to make even.
http://www.marthastewart.com/282813/stuffed-mushrooms
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/appetizers-and-snacks/bacon-parmesan-chive-popcorn/
This is good, I’ve had it before and SUPER easy… the part that would be fun would be how to serve it.. in cute cupcake papers, ramekins? etc… I bet Target has a few on clearance! :)
Oh! Do a super easy dip! This swiss/almond dip is very very easy and every body likes it, serve with crackers: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marthas-hot-almond-spread/
If bringing something warm isn’t an option (though you just heat it at home, wrap it in a tea towel and it’s fine), then a cold dip lik ethis: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dill-dip-iii/ is good and easy. Personally I like that with potato chips, but it’s great with carrotts and celery, no need to go to a lot of trouble with a large variety of veggies, everybody only eats the carrots and celery anyway.
Good luck! have fun!
Bacon-wrapped dates: http://www.slashfood.com/2006/07/13/bacon-wrapped-dates/
Two ingredients, they look fancy but are easy, and probably no one else will bring them.
Yes, we must know if warm dips are an option. Also, this is making me hungry for apps at 7 am.
Can these appetizers be dessert-type?
I’ve often taken my favorite brownie or cookie in miniature size for appetizer type parties.
If I’m short on time, a fruit or veggie tray is always easy.
This: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-cream-cheese-appetizer/
Basically shake some dried dill on a block of cream cheese, wrap in crescent roll dough and back. Yummy and simple.
Yes, warm dips work! So does anything that needs to be heated up a bit there. Dessert-type things would also work!
Do you have a stone? The pampered chef taffy apple pizza is actually really easy to make, and it’s technically an appetizer, but it’s more like a dessert. And it’s delicious. Mmmmmm.
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/pampered-chef-recipes/taffy-apple-pizza.htm
This is my new go-to appetizer. So easy. Buy goat cheese and fresh dill. Chop dill, unwrap goat cheese log and roll it in the chopped dill. I have not made the paprika version. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/04/goat-cheese-with-fresh-dill-and-paprika-my-heart-sings/
I have just exactly the thing for you! Decadent! Easy! Tasty with wine!
You will need:
-One of those long, thin baguettes
-Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
-Walnuts
-Honey
-A little milk
Slice the baguette into thin little rounds. Throw these on a cookie sheet and toast for a little bit.
Mash up the gorgonzola so it is more spreadable, adding a little milk as you need to. Spread on bread. Arrange bread on platter. Sprinkle with walnuts, drizzle with wee amount of honey. Very fancy SEEMING, but simple.
Buy a block of cream cheese and put it on a small plate. Pour pepper jelly over it and serve with wheat thins. Delicious!At Hannaford I have also seen mango pepper jelly which works well!
The pioneer woman has this amazing recipe for bacon wrapped bbq jalapeno poppers which are unbelievable. It’s mostly just mixing up cream cheese with chopped green onions/cheddar and then stuffing half a jalapeno with the cream cheese mixture and wrapping with a slice of bacon and basting with BBQ sauce. Then you bake. Depending on how many you make, it can take a while, but it’s not difficult. Just a tip: wear rubber gloves when splitting and cleaning the seeds out of the jalapenos!! Here’s a link to the recipe which is not on PW’s website because it was in her cookbook: http://seriousfoodforthesoul.blogspot.ca/2012/04/bbq-jalapeno-pepper-poppers-via-pioneer.html
I have a recipe for a foolproof and fantastic artichoke dip. Cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan, canned artichoke hearts, stir, bake, HEAVEN. Can be eaten with bread, crackers, chips – even carrots. It seemed like you had a lot of options, so if you do want the recipe, email me at amboj23 AT gmail DOT com!!
A classic is our family is cream cheese (I always used the whipped variety instead of softening a block) spread in an oval dish or even on a pizza platter. Cover with canned crabmeat, then cover that with cocktail sauce. Serve with Ritz or those yummy flate pretzel crackers.
1. Go to Sam’s or Costco.
2. Buy a tub of delicious eclairs.
3. Defrost them.
4. Put them on a fancy plate.
5. Watch everyone devour them.
It’s not cheating! You put them on a fancy plate!
My SIL brought some dates, which she stuffed with some sort of cheese and a nut. They were really simple but nice and lovely. Otherwise, I’d so some fun cheeses (a triple cream brie, Dubliner, and some other herb one usually go over really well) and crackers.
Pour a bag of mini-Reese’s cups into a bowl. Boom. Done.
Everyone and I mean everyone loves this dip: http://franksredhot.com/recipes/franks-redhot-buffalo-chicken-dip-RE1242?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=buffalo%20chicken%20dip&utm_campaign=Generic_Recipes&gclid=CKKvi66OwLUCFeZFMgodR2IAVQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
My husband, the AP Food Editor, recommends this Tomato Bacon Jam (yummy with crackers).http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/jul/12/tasty-together-bacon-and-tomato-jam/
Check out Sweet Paul website for his Feta dip. It’s his go-to for everything and now ours –
Feta, lemon zest & juice, garlic. Whiz in food processor, serve with flatbread crackers. YUM.
It gets better with age (if there’s any left!)
This is similar to Heather R’s suggestion. But take a block of cream cheese, cover with raspberry chipotle sauce. Eat with Wheat Thins. So easy and so addicting.
Hummus, pita, and a lovely array of veggies on a platter. Nobody doesn’t love hummus.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/08/dorkalicious/
I made this dip (five ingredients, put in food processor, done) this week for a similar event and it was a big hit.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/11/baked-brie-with-pepper-jelly/
Also tasty, with not many ingredients. Plus, anything with puff pastry immediately looks about twenty times harder and fancier than it actually was.
Black bean & red pepper salsa:
bag of scoops tortilla chips (maybe 2, it’s really good)
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn (same as beans)
1 red onion, diced (big if you like onion, smaller if you don’t – a big onion, not a big dice, normal dice)
1 red pepper, diced (seeded too)
2-4 limes
bunch of cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
dump all veg in bowl, add cilantro until you get tired of it. Zest one of the limes – add it, as much as you want, gives extra limey kick, add salt & pepper (be slightly conservative, you can add more but you can’t figure out the lime juice if there’s no salt & pepper) – juice 1 lime in bowl, taste, keep doing so 1 lime at a time until you love. Add any additional cilantro, salt or pepper. sometimes I add garlic. It’s yummy and super healthy – which is nice to have if everyone else is bringing big blob of cheese & fat, makes it feel ok to eat another fatty cheese thing. Also, leftovers can be tossed in omelets, on burgers, used as salad.
The HANDS-DOWN EASIEST are tomato mozzarella skewers. And they always get eaten up right away…
http://www.simplefoodie.com/recipes/mozzarella_tomato__basil__skewers.htm
On the EVEN EASIER end of the spectrum would be Trader Joe’s apps, if you have a TJ’s near you. Their frozen appetizer section is chock full o’ easy and tasty options, and they also have lots of cheeses and fancy crackers and such. Of course, you have to go there to buy them…TJ’s is so ridiculously busy and frequented by the…showily, snobbily “green,” if you will, near us that I sometimes need to work up my strength to endure their clientele in exchange for their delicious food. >;)
Oh, I HIGHLY recommend this chocolate chip cheese ball/dip. Super easy and a total crowd pleaser. It’s basically cream cheese frosting with chocolate chips, so how bad can that be? It straddles the line of sweet/savory if you bring pretzels to dip.
The ideas here are fantastic and I will say that I recently (sadly, as a very grown woman, should have tried this MUCH earlier) discovered the brie with jelly and crackers snack. I’m addicted. Thanks for asking the question, I love reading the comments!
I would definitely recommend the Martha Stewart website. They sometimes make things seem very fancy but they have accessible recipes for people like us.
http://www.marthastewart.com/953634/make-ahead-appetizers/@center/946776/appetizer-recipes
Also, I heartily second the vote for Costco frozen eclairs or cream puffs. I LOVE those things.
Another easy one I like to do:
Spread cream cheese on tortillas. Evenly spread chopped chives and chopped cranberries. Roll up and cut into bite-size pieces. Yummy!
I have 2 easy suggestions.
1. Cut up some apples and thread the chunks on a skewer with pieces of good cheese between them (havarti, brie, etc.). Drizzle the whole platter with caramel and top with craisins. Super good!
2. I made this dip for a Superbowl party and felt vaguely embarrassed because everyone else brought really fancy treats. However, everyone DEVOURED it. Then, at another party a few weeks later, I decided not to bring it and the same foodie people yelled at me because I didn’t. So I think it will appeal to everyone despite its lower-class feel. :)
You’ll need:
– A brick of Philadelphia cream cheese
– A bag (2 cups) of shredded cheddar cheese
– A can of chili without beans
To make:
– Spread the room-temperature cream cheese on the bottom of a glass baking dish.
– Top with the chili.
– Liberally sprinkle the cheese on top.
– Microwave until the cheese is melted.
-Serve with Fritos Scoops for maximum cheese grippage.
OK, this comment thread is a trove of good recipes. You’ve already got a ton, but one ‘indulgent’ thing that I really love is parmesan cheese crisps (fricos, if you’re fancy) – it’s grated parmesan, baked for 5 minutes into a little round disc, and the baking makes the parmesan taste nutty, salty, and awesome. You can seve it with a ton of stuff (the recipe below has a goat cheese dip you can put onto the crackers).
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/ParmesanCrisp.htm
I know they sound like a dish for five-year-olds, but pigs in blankets always get gobbled up at my parties.
-hot dogs (cut in half) or little breakfast sausage links
-tube of crescent roll dough
-cheddar cheese (optional)
Roll out the crescent dough and put one sausage or hot dog half on each triangle. If using cheese, sprinkle or lay some on each dog. Roll up in dough, tucking ends in, and bake as directed on crescent rolls. Done!
This is my go-to (memorialized by someone else).
http://www.sowonderfulsomarvelous.com/2011/08/emilys-party-bread.html?m=1
As mentioned above, cream cheese with a pepper jelly and wheat thins or triscuits. My mom also introduced me to the cream cheese, crabmeat and cocktail sauce and it too is yummy.
Otherwise the tomato, basil, mozarella,is brilliant. You can cut up a baguette of bread (sold at groc) and put a slice of tomato, leaf of fresh basil, and slice of mozarella on top, then drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Or put cherry tomato, basil and little mozzarella ball on a toothpick.
Or, don’t you make some yummy brownies? Also perfect, bite size or not!
I knew this would be a great comment thread, and it did not disappoint. All I want now is a dinner of apps, wine, and dessert.
Also I came here to second whoever linked to the buffalo chicken w/ Frank’s sauce dip. It is so so good.
I made this warm spicy spinnach dip for the Super Bowl, and our guests loved it. The hardest part is defrosting the frozen spinnach and then wringing it out (yucky and hot!):
http://mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com/2012/11/spicy-spinach-dip-in-slow-cooker.html
Yes, this thread is amazing! I will wholeheartedly second the Pioneer Woman jalapeno poppers, which are so delicious, and not nearly as spicy as they sound — but still spicy enough to give a little kick.
The fake-French fake-Boursin cheese Catherine Newman posted a week or two ago is also AWESOME. With Pretzel Chips or Bagel Chips and/or carrots and cucumbers — still decadent with vegetables, since it’s like mostly butter, with cream cheese and “herbs”. And SO yummy.
Oh, and if you want to get all wacky and try a dessert dip, my husband swears by this red velvet cake dip:
http://www.somethingswanky.com/red-velvet-cake-batter-dip-funfetti/
He added white chocolate chips to that recipe. And we just used Nilla wafers to dip. It WAS good, but it is really rich, and it seemed like the recipe made a ton. I think you could half it for 10 ladies.
And finally, here is a little trick that I am always wanting to share with people:
Did you know that you can use boxed cake batter to make cookies? Take any box of cake batter and mix it with 1/2 cup oil and 2 eggs, form into cookies and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, and voila! Cookies! It gives you so many options, especially when you start mixing in chips and frostings. Red velvet cake cookies with cream cheese frosting; lemon cookies with vanilla frosting; chocolate cookies with white chocolate and butterscotch chips for Halloween, etc.
My favorite appetizer is roasted figs with goat cheese and walnut and honey. Those are pretty much the ingredients. Halve the figs, smear some goat cheese on each one (have it at room temp or microwave briefly to make it more spreadable), plunk a walnut half or piece on top, bake them in the oven until they are oozy and gooey, and then drizzle with a little honey.
Ridiculously delicious and thanks to the not-every-dayness of figs it is very fancy-seeming. Anyway, this appetizer is exactly what I would look for in a decadent gathering of women drinking wine.
Smoked trout and/or smoked salmon mousse served on little toasts.
No cooking involved, delicious, and look really elegant.
My two super easy go-to apps (besides just buying cheese and crackers)
1. Prosciutto wrapped asparagus–just cook up the asparagus, then wrap in prosciutto.
2. Stuffed mushrooms–pull the stems out of the mushrooms, spoon in some of that fancy cheese spread (Alouette or the like), top with a little panko crumbs, pop in the oven for 15 min or so. Yum.
Or, you know, go to Trader Joe’s if you’ve got one. :-)
Baked Brie is my favorite. In my crowd someone always makes it and I’m famous for parking my butt right next to it and chowing. Set a round of brie on a sheet of puff pastry, cover the top of the brie with jam and nuts – my favorite is apricot jam and almonds but raspberry jam and walnuts is also yummy. Wrap the puff pastry around the brie and bake, following the directions on the puff pastry box. Yum!
My very favorite thing to make for this sort of appetizer is not a classy dish, but it is yummy:
1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cans fruit cocktail
Dump into a bowl, mix, wait a bit (5-10min) and serve. The pudding mix will use the juice from the fruit to gel up a bit. It’s not classy, but it’s also not hard to make AT ALL and everybody loves it.
I don’t know if you are reading down this far, but do you have a Costco membership? They have an awesome artichoke jalepeno dip that’s not too spicy. If you spread it out in a baking dish, top it with grated parmesan cheese (not the kind in the green topped tube, but grated in a bag!) and heat it up it is devine! Serve with pita chips!
I’m not the first to suggest wrapping things in bacon (I saw dates and jalapenos in earlier comments), but I will suggest using whole water chestnuts. Open a can, wrap each one in half a strip of soft cooked bacon and secure with a toothpick. Warm them in the oven and done!
People are always impressed with these but they’re so easy it’s hardly cooking.
Kristin- Unfortunately we don’t have one near us, which is sad because it sounds awesome!
1 tub or block cream cheese, softened, or you could use the whipped kind.
About a half bag of chopped dates
About a half pound of cooked, crumbled bacon (you could by the already cooked kind if you want to make it really easy)
About a half of a small tub of crumbled blue cheese (more or less, depending on taste)
Mix all of these ingredients together and serve with crackers ro toasted baguette.
Hands down the most popular appetizer I make. I’m asked to bring it to parties all the time.
http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/2009/09/croissant-wrapped-baked-brie.html
Store bought brie. Store bought croissant. Baked. Serve with store bought crackers, at room temp. Always the first to disappear at any of my functions.
Oh my good heavens I know I will be visiting this comment thread again and again. Swistle, could you please save us all some search time and go ahead and add it to the favorites?
Something easy that I have used in various circumstances is: buy sour cream + honey. Mix them together in roughly equal proportions. Place in serving bowl. Place bowl on tray/platter (or next to large dish, or if I’m going to a potluck sometimes I’ll place a shallowish dish inside a wide, long, shallow tupperware container). Place assorted sprigs of grapes, whole strawberries, and slices of citrus around (slices of apples and pears are good too but turn brown if they sit out too long). So basically, it’s finger-friendly fruit + a dip.
prosciutto Palmiers
dust your surface with grated parmeasan cheese. Roll out puff pastry sheet to nearly twice its starting size. put one layer of prosciutto over puff pastry, roll tightly and refrigerate. cut into 1/4″-1/2″ slices and bake until puff pastry is golden brown! Yummy!!!
Another vote for cream cheese and jalepano jelly on crackers. It is pretty much the best thing in the universe. (And not spicy, I pinky swear!)
Agree with the can of chili/block of cream cheese suggestion posted earlier. I am even lazier – I just dump both of them in a saucepan and stir until the cheese is melted. People LOVE it with tortilla chips.
Pepperoni Dip. I posted it here: http://www.foodlushblog.com/2013/01/pepperoni-dip.html. Super easy. Super delicious.
I have a spinach dip recipe that is by far the best I have ever had, and it is a HUGE hit with almost everyone I know.
1/2 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
1 package Knorr dry leek or vegetable soup mix
1 package chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 can water chestnuts, diced
Mix everything together, being sure to squeeze as much water as possible out of the spinach first. Serve with cubed sourdough or French bread, water crackers, or tortilla chips
I usually just make vegetable or onion dip (you know, the sour cream and soup mix kind) and bring a big huge bowl of fresh vegetables, the kind I don’t have to prep much, like baby carrots and red pepper sticks and celery and grape tomatoes. The dip makes the veggies seem fun.
But I also have a really easy, fast recipe for a sweet orange/ cream cheese ball that you eat with graham crackers. I usually make it at Christmas. If you are still in need of an appetizer sometime, let me know.
COMPLETELY off-topic: I was reading through your archives about decluttering last night right before bed. Then I dreamed that you were decluttering your kids and movies: I recommended that you keep “Keeping the Faith” because it’s my favorite movie EVER but that you get rid of “Independence Day” because even though it’s also my favorite movie, it’s on tv all the time.
I also recommended that if you need to donate some children to Goodwill, you should keep Rob because he seems useful and keep Elizabeth because she’s unique, as the only girl. We were discussing this LIGHTLY and JOKINGLY and tongue-in-cheek and not at all SERIOUSLY, so please don’t worry that I want you to get rid of ypur children! Oh, dear, now I am afraid you will think I am crazy and evil.
Alexicographer- Good idea!
Bettina- *fantasizing about donating a child or two, after a bit of a Challenging Morning with some of them* (If I went TODAY, I’d donate Henry and William.) (It would be Elizabeth too, except that’s a good point about girlness.)
Cheddar bacon dip from Pinterest –
16 oz sour cream (use lite if you are feeling semi-healthy)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
3 oz real bacon bits in the glass jar
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Mix and chill 24 hours. YUM.
I just saw something on Pinterest from a site called Joy the Baker a couple of nights ago: Baked Brie Bites. It involves rolling out premade dough and crimping with a fork. Popsicle sticks are optional:
http://joythebaker.com/2011/12/bite-sized-baked-brie/
Have fun at your get together!
Do you like Mexican food? If so, I recommend 7-layer dip. It is ridiculously easy and everyone loves it. I am happy to share my recipe but I’m sure it is also an easy google search.
Here are 2 very easy recipes that end up looking very involved and fancy – win win!
Artichoke Dip
One cup of mayo (I like to use full-fat, Duke’s brand)
Half cup grated parm cheese
One cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
One jar of quartered artichoke hearts (I use our local store brand) roughly chopped.
Mix it well with a spoon and bake in a glass dish for 20 minutes @ 350 degrees. Serve warm with triscuit thins or any type of cracker you like.
Mexican Dip
(1) can of refried beans (I always choose vegetarian for some, but I’m not a vegetarian)
(1) packet taco seasoning
(1) container sour cream
(1) packet pre-made guacomole
(1) container pico de gallo (You can use regular jarred salsa, but I find that it can make things a little soupy. If you use the regular pico de gallo, you can make this a few hours before you need it and it will still look pretty by the time you eat it)
(1) bag of shredded lettuce (you can buy a head of iceburg lettuce and cut it yourself, but it is SO MUCH EASIER if you buy it pre-cut)
(2) cups shredded cheese – mexican blend
small can of sliced olives – if you like them
I like to use a glass 13×9 dish for this, but really, anything you have about that size will work.
Spread the refried beans on the bottom of the dish.
Spread the guacomole next.
Mix the taco seasoning and the sour cream together, then spread over the guacomole layer.
Spread the pico de gallo over the sour cream layer (use a slotted spoon to keep as much water out of the dish as possible)
Spread the shredded lettuce over pico de gallo.
Spread the shredded cheese over the lettuce.
Garnish with sliced olives, if you like.
Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.
Enjoy!
This might not be fancy enough, but it’s so good, and very easy. Ingredients: salami, cream cheese. Get some of the Oscar Meyer hard hard salami slices (in the same section as lunch meat) and some cream cheese. Spread cream cheese on the salami and roll up. Spear with a toothpick. Very addictive! PS: Let us know which one you use and how it goes!
1. Frozen mini-quiches from Wal-Mart (I think the brand is Nancy’s)
2. 1 bag frozen meatballs, one jar (the medium-size one) of grape jelly, one small bottle ketchup, bottle worschestire (sp? I have no idea) sauce. Dump the meatballs, all of the jelly, most of the ketchup, and about 1/3 to 1/2 the bottle of worchestire (seriously I can’t spell this) in a crock pot. Cook on high for a couple hours till the sauce blends together. Serve w/ toothpicks.
3. What’s wrong with Velveeta dip? People pretend to be all fancy, but you never see a full crockpot of cheese dip taken home…
I’m always a fan of the caprese salad. It SEEMS elegant, and decadent, and fancy, but really all you have to do is put basil, tomato slices, and mozarella slices on a plate and drizzle a little olive oil on top. If you want to be EXTRA fancy, make bite-sized caprese salads (instead of layering all the ingredients in a circle around the plate, make lots of little stacks — tomato then mozarella then basil). One bite, three flavors, heaven in your mouth.
Super easy taco dip – if you like cheese and cilantro. Mix 1/2 of a large container of cottage cheese,a brick of cream cheese, and 1 packet taco seasoning (using a mixer works best). Spread in bottom of 9×13 pan. Top with shredded cheddar (about 1/2 cup), quartered grape tomatoes (about 1 cup), and a few handfuls of cilantro, coursely chopped. Serve with tortilla chips. This was a staple at our house over the summer and makes a well balanced meal with margaritas.
Cream cheese, dill, crescent rolls. Let cream cheese come to room temp, mix in bowl with spoon until softened, add dill (ne measurements here, taste it to see if there’s enough, if not add more!
Spread crescent rolls onto counter, pinch together seams, plop cream cheese & dill in the center, shape into whatever you’d like, wrap crescent rolls around it.
Bake according to instructions until crescent rolls are nice and browned (may want to use parchment paper for ease of transport). Crescent rolls are used to eat cream cheese and dill, can also provide crackers if you’d like.
Equal amounts of cream cheese and sour cream, crumbled (good) blue cheese to taste, very, very finely chopped walnuts (about 2-3 Tablespoons for 4 oz cream cheese and 4 oz sour cream). Garnish with a few more chopped walnuts, serve with baguette slices. Easy as pie, french (so decadent), and delicious!
Going with the cheese-rolled-in-whatever theme (maybe a plate of various cheeses-rolled-in-whatever would be a good appetizer) my sister-out-law makes this AMAZING appetizer which is super simple. Buy a big log of chevre, roll it in either lightly toasted pine nuts or roasted, shelled pistachios (I prefer pistachios, but both are amazing), drizzle the whole thing generously with honey, serve with crackers or bread, take a bite, die from the awesomeness that is in your mouth.
Candied Maple Walnuts! Everybody loves them and they’re suuuuper easy to make.
Now I want appetizers for breakfast but must deal with oatmeal and coffee instead.
I would suggest anything wrapper in puff pastry or phyllo dough. I see some phyllo cups, baked Brie, etc. up in the thread. As a college student, I once used defrosted and drained spinach mixed into herb cream cheese to make puff pastry spirals. Mix up the spinach and cream cheese (chopped artichoke hearts would be wonderful mixed in too), spread across the whole puff pastry rectangle (from the freezer section), roll up, cut into maybe 1/3-1/2 inch thick rounds, bake until golden brown and delicious. Three, maybe four, easily available ingredients, 10 minutes of work, yum!
I agree with the figs and fancy cheese theme mentioned a few times. My personal favorite is sliced, toasted baguette topped with room temp goat cheese, then sliced figs, then drizzled with a little bit of balsamic. If you really want to get crazy, you could throw a couple leaves of arugula in between the goat cheese and figs. Fabulous with wine!
I forgot to add that I hope you let us know what you do end up making – so I can add it to my own appetizer recipe ‘files’ (cluttered brain)!
Well you said it was okay to keep adding recipes here, so here I am, posting after the party.
I really like this Buffalo Chicken Dip, but do NOT buy the pepper sauce that’s listed in the recipe. Buy the buffalo sauce. Same brand, WAY different taste.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buffalo-chicken-dip/