2 days ago

holiday appetizers! our GRAND ideas!

Thursday, December 19, 2024

The countdown is definitely on, isn’t it?

Are you feeling ready for the coming week?

We sure hope so!

This is the time of year when

LOTS of festive gatherings are taking place!

Last week, we both had fun parties on our holiday calendars!

Laurie attended a get-together with her retired teachers group.

Everyone brought a favorite beverage with the fixins.

We played a dice game to exchange the gifts

and everyone went home with something new to try!

Directions can be found on this Instagram post!)

There's Laurie (on the far right)!

Meanwhile, Laura co-hosted her own celebration

with former colleagues!

Can you spot Laura (under the lamp on the right)?

What fun to be with friends that we worked with for many years, sharing life’s ups and downs while teaching side by side! We cherish the years spent together and we’re always grateful for these opportunities to reconnect and reminisce! In fact, there’s nothing much better!

When we do head off to a special gathering,

especially this time of year,

we’re always looking for a festive appetizer to share!

Of course, it’s even better if it’s

DELICIOUS, SIMPLE & QUICK!

If you agree, read on!

Today, we’ve got our GRAND ideas to share with you!

First - a recipe that’s out of this world

and second - a few of our favorite ways to dress up a simple app

with a festive touch or two!

This appetizer is well worth the bit of time needed…

It’s a yummy bite of warm holiday flavors

and would be a great addition to a holiday, New Year’s or winter menu!

INGREDIENTS (I doubled this recipe for our party)

🔴 8 oz softened cream cheese

🔴 1/2 cup mayonnaise

🔴 1 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded

🔴 1/4 cup honey

🔴 1/2 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped

(you could use dried cranberries instead)

🔴 1/4 cup chopped pecans (see our “GRAND Tip” below)

🔴 1/4 cup chopped green onions

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a pie plate with cooking oil (I used an 8 x 8 pan since I was making a double batch).

1. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise together until well blended. Fold in the shredded cheddar cheese and combine.

2. THIS NEXT STEP IS OPTIONAL: While you do not need to do this step, it adds a lot of flavor to the dish and only takes a few extra minutes! Once toasted, let the nuts cool briefly.

3. Add the cooled pecans, honey, dried cherries and green onions. Mix well.

4. Pour mixture into your prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top.

5. Serve warm with crackers or crostini - I thinly sliced a baguette loaf, brushed each slice with olive oil and baked these at 400 degrees until brown.

We promise… your family and friends will love this one!

The following appetizers are easy, fast and YUMMY!

None of the ideas are really original

(we’ve seen them - or some version of each -

highlighted in different places over the years)

However, we have adapted them, and added a festive touch to each!

(You’ll quickly discover that we like a wreath or tree motif!)

Most importantly, each comes with a BIG thumbs up

from our friends, our family and our Littles!

A Caprese Tree!

Laura took this to a holiday party earlier this season!

It was simple to put together once I had gathered the ingredients: tomato slices, mozzarella slices (I bought the fresh mozzarella sliced cheese which made it extra easy), fresh basil, balsamic glaze (not balsamic vinegar as it’s too thin; I buy mine at Trader Joe’s) and a baguette loaf.

I used a large wooden board as the base. Then, as you can see, I layered the tomato slices, the mozzarella slices and pieces of basil in rows to make the tree. I cut a small section of the baguette in half to make the trunk and then drizzled the balsamic glaze all over the tree. I served it with the same crostini I described in the recipe above. (Sliced french bread would work great, too!)

A Veggie Wreath!

Laura brought this festive veggie platter to her gathering last week!

Older Littles would have fun helping you create this one

Once I had the veggies prepped, this was easy to put together. You’ll need a round platter or board. First, I added my bowl of dill dip to the middle of the platter/dish. Then I made a ring of sliced cucumbers around the outer edge. I then added a ring inside of the cucumber of more green veggies - celery sticks, pea pods and green pepper. I added a few carrots and then made a smaller ring of broccoli florets around the bowl of dip.

For added fun, I randomly placed cherry tomatoes, black olives and mozzarella pearls (tiny balls of mozzarella cheese) around the wreath as “decoration.” I used a small cookie cutter to add stars made from a yellow bell pepper and I cut bow shapes out of a red bell pepper. Festive and healthy… It’s a win!

A Festive Fruit & Veggie Tray!

How much fun would young Littles have

putting this together for any gathering with family and friends?

Laurie put this bright and healthy tray together!

I had a clear tree platter that worked well but you could use any platter or plate to create your own pattern of red and green veggies and fruits! We used red pepper, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, green grapes, strawberries and green pepper!

A Wreath of Shrimp!

This platter was devoured when Laura took it to a family party!

This was so easy to put together! I bought 2 packages of frozen cooked and deveined shrimp and let them thaw. Again, I used a round platter to serve this appetizer.

When the shrimp were defrosted and rinsed, I was ready to assemble my platter. I lined the outside edge of the platter with a ring of parsley. Then I made the ring of shrimp next. I added a bowl of cocktail sauce to the middle of the platter and then used some fresh rosemary to fill the space between the shrimp and the bowl of sauce. Finally, I added some lemon wedges and halved grape tomatoes for some fun decor! This is always a favorite appetizer at any party!