Serve hot appetizers to impress your guests.
Serving hot appetizers at a party is one way of showing that you care about your guests. No matter how long the preparation actually took, trays of hot bites look more difficult than veggies and dip. Impress your guests at your next gathering and prepare some hot appetizers for the crowd. You'll get credit for a lot more work than you actually did.
Pigs in a Blanket
Pigs in a blanket has been a classic hot party appetizer for decades. Make this old standby new again by mixing up the ingredients a bit. Instead of biscuit dough, use crescent roll or pretzel dough, which can both be found in grocery stores, and smoky links instead of little hot dogs. Add a strip of cheese with the frank when preparing them, and make it an unusual cheese, like pepper jack or smoked Gouda. Serve the pigs with a variety of dipping sauces, from barbecue to hot mustard. Pile the pigs on platters and keep them over chafing dishes so that they stay hot through your event.
Cheese Dip
Make a smooth cheese dip and keep it hot in a slow cooker. Prepare any cheese soup recipe, but add less milk to create a thicker consistency. Add tasty ingredients like liquid smoke or tiny bits of jalapeno. Serve the hot cheese dip with cut up vegetables, like carrots, bell peppers and cucumbers, cubes of crusty bread and an assortment of unusual crackers.
Meatballs
Use a slow cooker again to keep meatballs hot through the evening. Purchase frozen meatballs or make your own. Create a tasty sauce in a sweet barbecue flavor by using ingredients such as pineapple juice, cider or grape juice. Heat the meatballs in the oven, then fill the cooker with meatballs and top with a hot sauce. Serve with a glass full of colorful swords or toothpicks.
Mini Quiches
Purchase phyllo dough cups already prepared and turn them into a variety of mini-quiche flavors. Make your basic quiche recipe, based on six eggs and one-half cup of cream, seasoning to taste. Drop bits of tasty foods into each dough cup and pour spoonfuls of quiche liquid into each one. Try combinations like broccoli and cheddar cheese, bacon and Swiss, ham and Swiss and a variety of veggies. Serve these golden cups in trays suspended over a chafing dish to keep warm.
Tags: your guests, cheese with, into each, over chafing, slow cooker