Appetizers for the Holiday Season

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I'm still trying to decide how much to do re: food since we can start on Wednesday and carry it through to Sunday. I have decided to do the Scandinavian thing one of those days--probably Christmas Eve. Christmas Day will be leftovers (because I don't imagine the Swedish Army will show up and I have a hard time scaling things back). We plan to insulate the basement over the holidays (doesn't that sound fun). I say "we" but I think I'll be in the kitchen more than I'll be in the basement. We will start with cold dishes around 4, have the hot dishes around 6, and finish with desserts later. I know which hot dishes I will make. The cold dishes are more like appys...there will be pickled herring, there will be hard boiled eggs topped with caviar, if my fishmonger can get me a decent piece of Pacific salmon, there will be gravlax, there will be Swedish cucumber salad, and beet and potato salad with herring, and open-faced mini sandwiches--I'll have to do a pork roast and a beef roast between now and then...I need that "plan" to get everything organized...I guess I could start making breads this weekend and freeze those. I have to dig out my recipes and previous years' plans...and then decide who else to invite...
 
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kgirl....those TJ's feta and caramelized onion pastry bites ARE AMAZING! :yum: We had some at a baby shower last year, and they were gone in a heartbeat.

TJ's also has ham and cheese pastry bites, they are really good, too. But I love the feta and onion better. :)
 
:sigh: Our nearest TJ's is 3 hours away. We came out with a pretty good haul over Thanksgiving, but I'll have to add these to the list!
 
kgirl....those TJ's feta and caramelized onion pastry bites ARE AMAZING! :yum: We had some at a baby shower last year, and they were gone in a heartbeat.

TJ's also has ham and cheese pastry bites, they are really good, too. But I love the feta and onion better. :)

Cheryl, we're looking forward to trying the Beef Tenderloin bites too!
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We tried the Camembert Cheese & Cranberry Sauce Fillo Bite and the Aracini bites last year for our Christmas snacks...
meh
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I like to make goodies with TJ's Pita bites... one with goat cheese and roasted peppers and the other as homemade bruschetta :yum:
 
These were in the most recent edition of Wegman's holiday magazine.

Endive with Creamy Dolce GorgonzolaÂ*- Wegmans


Goat Cheese, Grape & Pistachio TrufflesÂ*- Wegmans

I will make an AB version of the Endive recipe and maybe an AB version of the second one using an olive in place of the grape.

I always have trouble following directions! :ermm::ohmy::LOL:

These little spanakopita are also very nice. In my area we have Athens, Appolo and this version from TJ's.

spanakopita.JPG
 
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Aunt Bea, IF I could ONLY find double cream Gorganzola I would be SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy, but alas I live in cowboy country... :)

One of my husband's DF's works for Wegmans as the pastry chef, love her!
We have tried TJ's spanakopita and they are lovely!
I think that I may pinch your idea on using the olive in that second recipe for Wegmans.
 
I hope the TJ's spanakopita is better than the stuff at Costco. I found that pretty tasteless.
 
K-Girl, if you're planning on making the apps yourself rather than unbox and heat, I have two that always fly off the table whenever we had set them out.

The first is a popular one in Greater Cleveland, called a Hanky Panky. It can be as simple as browning Italian sausage, mixing in Velveeta, spreading it on the little party rye slices, and baking for around 10 minutes or so to make it "one". This recipe I found has more ingredients. I've never tried it, so I can't vouch for its quality: Hanky Panky

The second recipe is another 3-ingredient one, Bisquick Sausage Balls. Made from raw ingredients, then baked, Himself's cousin always had a bag of these pre-made and frozen in case someone popped by. All she did was pull them from the freezer, "defrost" them on the tray while we all had our first drink, then bake them up until they were done through. Easy-peasy! Bisquick Sausage Balls
 
A friend of mine made this for a neighborhood potluck. People loved it.

One can Ro-Tel tomatoes, one block cream cheese, one roll Jimmy Dean maple sausage. Brown and crumble sausage, mix in Ro-Tel and cream cheese, heat until cheese melts. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.
 
Here's another I've had good reviews on.

Prosciutto and Gruyere Pastry Pinwheels

1 Sheet Puff Pastry
4 Oz Prosciutto, thin slices
2 Tb Fresh Basil, chopped
¾ C Gruyére cheese, finely grated (about 70 gr.)
1 Ea Egg
1 Tb Water

Place the thawed pastry sheet on a work surface. Cut it in half, creating two 9½" x 4¾" rectangles (half the measurements on the box). Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough piece to make a slightly larger rectangle.

Sprinkle half the cheese on the first rectangle of pastry and gently press it into the dough. Leave a half-inch border along one long side bare to facilitate sealing the roll.

Arrange half the prosciutto on top of cheese.

Sprinkle the prosciutto with half the basil.

Beat the egg with the water and brush the plain border with the egg glaze.

Starting at the long side opposite the plain border, tightly roll up the pastry jelly-roll style, pressing gently to seal the long edges.

Wrap the roll in plastic. Repeat the process with the remaining pastry.

Refrigerate the rolls until firm, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

Position the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the logs crosswise into [FONT=PC&#47749]¾[/FONT]-inch-thick rounds. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until the pastries are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the pastries to a cooling rack. Serve warm.
 
I have yet to read any of the notes yet except for K-girl's chicken skewers and CG's Hankie Pankies. So I haven't seen if anyone else thinks guacamole is party worthy. It Is.

I made Hankie Pankies for a tailgate party, must have been the year Pac was doing tailgate sundays and the Browns played the Vikings. Boy, did those slide off the plate!

One of the things I like at a party is simply devilled eggs, and not too gussied up either.

One of our (extended) family's traditions for any get-together is to set out bowls (plural) of M&M's, preferrably in holiday colors. Almost no one eats these anymore, except there is a complaint if they are not visible. Now, with little kids, they must be set up out of reach, and funny, they can find them no matter where they are.

I like to make smoked salmon/ pin wheels with dilled cream cheese, very thin sliced cucumber and snipped green onions. I think the original recipe used lavoush, but I just use flour tortillas.

Another one we make is simply a bowl of homemade pesto to spread on already cream cheese spreaded baguette slices. If you don't want pesto, we have something else like jalapeno cranberry sauce.

A pretty simple appie is blue cheese and toasted pecan and Bacon wrapped and baked stuffed dates. An even easier one is stuffed orange scented cream cheese and (canned) smoked almonds stuffed dates. You can use dried apricots too, although I have not done this.

We did some Scandanavian appies one year. Small Swedish meatballs on picks, pickled herring on triscuits or ritz crackers, cheeses and sliced pickles and pickle beets. Sliced Danish sausage, which I can't find anymore, Probably devilled eggs. Oh, and I remember we made a special Danish meatloaf, which I no longer have a recipe. Well, it was a fun party, I remember that and which apartment we lived at the time.

Party time. Fiesta. Feliz Navidad!
 
Oooooo, Swedish Meatballs!

My Aunr use to make some sort of grape jelly deal with Lil Smokies... RECIPES ANYONE?

There's a recipe in my vintage Betty Crocker cookbook for meatballs (not Swedish) in a mixture of grape jelly and chile sauce. I've had it at a friend's Super Bowl party and made it myself. It's pretty tasty :yum: I think browned Lil Smokies would be good in that sauce, too.
 
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First off I go to the Dollar store and Purchase a pretty plate so I don't have to worry about getting my plate back.

I do the very same thing! I keep a few different serving dishes, platters, bowls, cake carriers, etc. I even found Guacamole serving bowls with a chip dish! (we have Dollar Tree here, I like them best)
 

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