Often the best bites at a party are the simplest ones. Ones in which each ingredient can be easily identified at a glance, (an important quality, unless you eat everything and don’t mind an occasional surprise) the canapé isn’t overly complicated and is easy to eat.
Tidy, bite-sized, and fresh are other qualities of a perfect little appetizer. I’m also partial to cheese, and nuts, apparently, as this post demonstrates. OK, I’ll admit it, I love nibbling my way through the holidays! Canapés are a must at events whether the occasion is an open house, a church reception or a rocking Christmas party.
Making appetizers isn’t work, as far as I’m concerned, but perhaps that is because I avoid the really finicky ones. Yes, it can be repetitious to reproduce the same little item over and over, but it’s rewarding to see them all lined up.
And I’ll tell you a trick…I’ll often have all the ingredients prepped and a platter on standby for when the first guests walk in the door. As soon as they are settled, have a drink in hand, and offer “Can I do anything for you?”, well, I just steer them towards the ready-t0-be assembled canapés and put them to work!
Guests love to feel included, and since the party always happens in the kitchen, why not capitalize on that and speed up the work? Helping hands are another reason to keep your starters simple. Anyone can prepare the appetizers in this post, and with just three ingredients each, the shopping and prep are easy too!
| Endive with Blue Cheese and Toasted Almonds |
Print
|
- 2 heads of purple endive
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 50 grams creamy blue cheese
- Preheat oven to 350°F and toast almonds until lightly golden. Cool. Note: this can be done up to a week in advance and the nuts stored in an airtight container.
- Cube blue cheese (this works best when the cheese is cold), making the portions as generous or small as you like. Allow to come to room temperature before serving to ensure the maximum flavor can be appreciated.
- Remove the outer leaf from the endive and trim about 3/4 of an inch off of the base. Discard. Pull apart endive, layer by layer, and arrange leaves on a platter or tray.
- Place a cube of cheese at the base of the endive and top with a few toasted almonds. Serve at room temperature.
| Almond & Cream Cheese-Stuffed Olives |
Print
|
- 1 jar large green olives
- 24 roasted salted almonds
- 3 oz cream cheese
- Remove pimento (or in my case, a nut) from each olive and trim the bottoms so that they stand upright.
- Scrape an almond tip over cream cheese to pick up 1/4 teaspoon or so.
- Stuff almond into olive and set onto a serving tray. Repeat with remaining olives.
| Cheddar & Hazelnut Stuffed Apricots |
Print
|
- Dried apricots
- Aged cheddar
- Hazelnuts
- Preheat oven to 350°F and toast hazelnuts for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
- Slice cheddar into 1/2 inch pieces and reserve.
- Using a sharp paring knife, slit the apricot half open to reveal where the pit once was. Place a piece of cheddar and a toasted hazelnut inside the dried apricot and place on a platter. Repeat as necessary. Serve at room temperature.
Look for more ideas for simple and fresh finger food on Monday!
This post is brought to you by High Plains Bison. When you’ve had enough of finger food, sink your teeth into a lean and flavorful bison steak. It’s healthy, wholesome, and 100% natural.
Do you serve finger food over the holidays?
About Aimee
These look lovely and so simple. Very different from anything I’ve made before. Interested to try these.
Stacy @ Delighting in the Days’s last post: First Gift Basket of the Season you can make it too
Gorgeous!! Great job!
Amanda’s last post: Red Velvet Fudge
They look so pretty! We’re appetizer people too; nothing fancy of course, but we enjoy them.
These are almost too pretty to eat!!
But I would eat them. Because they also look yummy.
I love how easy they are to make.
Cookbook Queen’s last post: Quick and Easy Holiday Treats
I always like your vlogs, but it’d be better if I could also see your pretty face.
I love how simple these are. Perfect for adding on to more elaborate and time-consuming appetizers or for getting something out quick for last-minute guests as well. Thanks for sharing!
Shaina’s last post: Cranberry Pecan Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing- Share Our Strength
I love this! I like your thinking too – putting the guests to work. Most of them truly do want to be helpful and this is fun and simple – setting them up for success
Michelle (What’s Cooking with Kids)’s last post: Kids- 3 Reasons to Play With Your Food
Beautiful! LOVING the vibrant festive color combos!
Wenderly’s last post: Brown Paper Packages
What beauty! Those endives are terrific!
The easiest hot appetizer- buy sheets of philo dough, stuff with feta cheese ans seal into triangles YUM
priest’s wife’s last post: Random Thoughts 7 Quick Takes
Oh, these look fabulous! This is the sort of appetizer that tastes so much richer and more decadent too, and it’s all natural.
We went to a gourmet restaurant in Duluth last year as a family and ordered a fancy appetizer on the recommendation of the waiter. It sounded bizarre but we took his word for it and LOVED it. We practically licked the plate. It was brie, maple syrup, figs and walnuts, with simple organic crackers to scoop it all up. Ever since then, I’ve had fun experimenting with cheese with flavors like maple and odd combinations. I’m adding these to the list!
Alicia’s last post: 25 Things to wrap a present with besides wrapping paper
The apricots sound so good! I really like your tip for including guests in appetizer preparation – I never know what to get people doing when they ask to help, but I know they want to contribute – that’ a great way to get them in the kitchen with something simple and easy.
Jennifer’s last post: Recipe List for the Holidays
love love love! simplicity is key in the kitchen, esp at this time of the year. this was immediately saved to my online cookbook (http://cookmarked.com)
Love the first picture. I’m definitely going to have to try the endive recipe.
Andre’s last post: What We Ate- Montreal
I would love to try to apricot appetizers, however, I don’t like hazelnut, can you recommend something else? Thanks!
Healthy Snacking-the best kind! Thanks for such a delicious recipe. Pictures are amazing!